"If you don't know where to start

Start with yourself." This little nugget of wisdom come from an article by President Packer. If you feel overwhelmed with the prospect of starting a personal history, I would suggest you start by simply writing in a journal. Go to the store, pick out an aesthetically pleasing journal or notebook and get started. All you have to do is write for 5 minutes a day and within no time at all you'll see pages filled with stories information that will be fun to look back on and helpful to your posterity.

How do you make journal writing worthwhile?

Begins your journal with a thought. I dedicate the title page of each new journal to a poem, quote, scripture, or song lyrics. In many ways, it is how I title that chapter of my life. In my current journal, I began with my favorite speech from Samwise Gamgee to Frodo in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. My favorite part says, "Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something." So while I am in college, I am working to endure to the end because it is worth it.

During my Jr. Year, I worked in Washington DC. On the plane ride there, I started a fresh blank journal with the lyrics from the song "Astonishing". It turns out I picked the perfect "title" because the months held in that journal proved to me that there was somewhere I could be astonishing.  Sometimes it takes me a few weeks of writing to choose some fitting words, but once I do it helps me set the tone for my journals. It's almost like picking out a motto for what you will write. 

Make it more than a journal. This is my current journal. Since I'm not the greatest scrapbooker, I've simplified my life and included some scrapbook elements like pictures. I modge podged the covers with doodles and photos to make it something I would want to write in. 

These particular pages are from when I went on Pioneer Trek. My Ma and I had a lovely time picking wildflowers along the trail, so I pressed them between the pages of my journal. On the bus ride home from Wyoming I "laminated" them in tape.

I tape in movie and event tickets to help trigger memories and provide correct information.

I also throw in plane tickets and other memorabilia from trips like this leaf from DC in the fall.

Write letters to future posterity. I'm sure this sounds odd, but sometimes when I'm stuck in a rut and don't know what to write, I write to my children and grandchildren. It gives me motivation to write because I can picture my posterity reading through my journal one day and seeing a letter just for them. I try and share bits wisdom from my young adult brain while telling stories about my life. It helps to know I am writing for someone, not just for myself.

Writing in a journal can be overwhelming at times, but I've found it to be so rewarding. Plus, I love to look back and see how much I've grown. It's as easy as picking up a notebook and writing for just a few minutes a day. In the words of Maud Hart Lovelace, “Isn't it mysterious to begin a new journal like this? I can run my fingers through the fresh clean pages but I cannot guess what the writing on them will be.”