Personalized Journal

A Visual Arts & Crafting Project

1. Personalized Journal for the New Year, Naw Rúz, Birthday (or other new period of self-discovery)
   

   There are two main activities/opportunities for creativity in this project, first, the process of creating your yearly journal, and second, using your journal as a tool to: track your life's journey, for self-evaluation, and, a continual source of personalized inspiration. It can begin at any time, end at any time. I suggest creating one for a year but that is just a suggestion. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. You may also want to consider creating one as a birthday gift for a special person in your life or perhaps creating an undated version for someone who is visiting your home, having a baby, or dealing with an illness.

   MATERIALS:

   For Main Book choose one or more of the following:

   Preprinted Book of Days, Datebook, or Calendar--wall style, single sheets to be inserted in a binder, or pocket-sized)

   Purchased journal or blank book or handmade book.

   3-hole punched looseleaf paper (unlined is best if you will be sketching in addition to writing) and a ring binder.

   An alternative activity might be to create a "Year on Tape". Buy a couple of cassette tapes and instead of writing, record a short summary of your day each evening (one or two minutes). You can play the tape back to yourself at the end of the year and evaluate your journey. Create a cassette tape of your favorite songs of the year. Record your impression about why you like each selection, when you first heard them, what moves you.

   For Decorating:

   Use anything that is pleasing to you - rubber stamps, stickers, pens, markers, paint, fabric, highlighters, scissors with decorative edges, gluestick or other adhesive, clipped images from magazines and other print media-choose images that will inspire, relax and entertain you-this journal is for you.

   SET UP:

   Assemble your journal in a 3-ring binder if you are using unbound sheets of paper. You can designate a page per day, per week, or per month - It's up to you to decide how much writing and/or drawing space you will need.

   Set-up Options - Do any or all of the following:

   As Baha'is, each day we are asked to do the following things:
   

   1. Read from the Sacred Writings
   2. Meditate on Writings
   3. Say an obligatory prayer
   4. Say the Greatest Name, Alláh'u'abhá (God is the Most Glorious), 95 times
   5. Teach about the Bahá'í Faith to those who ask
   6. Perform acts of selfless service
   7. And, take ourselves into account, evaluate our choices and actions.

   There are a couple of ways to remind yourself to do these things:

   Each day you can write down each obligation completed using the words: read, prayer, 95, taught, thought.

   Or, you can use different colored highlighters and assign a color to each duty. With the highlights make a small square of each color on each day to use as checkboxes.

   An elaborate but time saving way is to have a small rubber stamp made which lists these duties. Stamp on each day and check off each item as it is completed.

   Choose one day a week to evaluate how much time and energy you are balancing between these four categories: Faith, Family, Career, Avocation. Place a sticker or note to remind yourself to do this.

   If, for example, you took time off from work last week to care for a sick child your breakdown might read something like this: Faith 10%, Family 80%, Career 10%, Avocation 0% (no time for hobbies - too busy!) Please note that Faith not only includes prayer, attending meetings and performing service for your spiritual community - it should also include any service you perform for mankind like hosting a Racism Dialogue or attending an interfaith service.

   Say a special prayer for a loved one on each day. You can write a name on each day in advance, or you can enter names as you use your journal.

   Choose one day a week to call or write a letter to check on someone you haven't seen for a while, someone in your family, community, or someone who's moved away.

   Choose a virtue or attribute of God to focus on each month, week or day. Note when and where you see this attribute manifested, ie: "I saw the majesty of the sun today when I took my walk at lunchtime."

   Using a 3-ring binder for your journal? . Add a few clear, top-loading sheet protectors for storing keepsakes like programs from events you've attended, photos, etc.

   Make a "My Favorites of the Year" list to fill in as the year progresses. List things like: song, quote, movie, television program, actor, actress, etc. Record your impressions about why you chose each one.

   Place an inspirational quote on each page to uplift yourself. Choose joyful quotes. You can handcopy them yourself or cut them from magazines, newspapers, etc.

   Make a list of all the things, large or small, that you would like to accomplish over the next year. Include things that you have been meaning to do but keep putting off, long term goals with small steps to reach them, etc. Include a little space or checkbox so you can tick them off as they are completed.
   

   Examples:
   Memorize a Hidden Word
   Invite Jones Family to dinner
   Visit Louise in Antarctica
   Travel Teach in next town one day a month
   Send an anonymous gift to Sally
   

   You should read over your list every so often, adding to it if you wish, checking off those items you have accomplished, but don't dwell on it.

   Usage Options - : Do any or all of the following:

   Write one sentence or thought that summarizes the day.

   Write down events that happen in the world and in your community as you may find that they influenced your decisions and actions over the year.

   Set aside a few days (or moments if your as over-committed as I am) each month for yourself. Take a journey to the library, park, or just spend the day with a good book - a mini-vacation to expand your horizons.

   Set aside a day each month to evaluate how much you will donate to the Funds: Local, National, Continental, International and Arc.

   Set aside a day each year to evaluate how much you need to pay to Huquq'u'lláh (tithe).

   If you have any ideas on how I might expand or improve these project ideas, please write to me: art4all@gmail.com

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