Journaling, Writing and Publishing

When I hear someone say, as I did yesterday, “I like to write,” I cringe a little. They could as well be saying, “I like to go out in my yard and pull weeds and sweat.” Both activities are goal oriented. Both are work. So, who really likes work?

By contrast, I say I like to take out my fiddle and play a tune. Now, we’re talking about playing. Who doesn’t like to play?

I also go out into the yard to do work. At least twice a week I go out with my pruners and loppers. My project is to remove all the unwanted plants in the yard. Originally I though it might take about six months. It’s now been almost a year and I’m not done.

But, what a difference from when I started. Much of the jungle has been removed, cut into smaller pieces for the trash can and sent away.

The purpose is twofold. One, to put in plants that grow food. Two, to feng shui the yard.

Decluttering my living areas in my home is part of the project, too. That seems to be going even slower than the yard.

The point I’m getting to is the goal or target of the work is beyond the work. Yes, yard work is good exercise. But, even exercising is a purposeful activity, not a joy in itself. Playing a sport is a joy in itself.

Let’s put playing aside for the moment. We all work. Let’s look at writing, journaling and publishing as work and ask “What’s in in for me?”

My friend Mike use to edit for Allegro Press. He said the pride and self esteem shown by a new published author was its own reward.

That’s the clue for writing and publishing. That holds for writing and blogging, too. We bloggers write and publish to only a few people in the beginning. Maybe later also. But, we have something to say. So we write, even though it is work.

Journaling is another matter. That’s not for publication. That’s for self introspection, or self expression. That can be very personal. I have not typed up any of my journal entries.

[Spell check has an issue with journaling as a gerund form of the verb to journal. Check out this authority for Journaling.]

Every now and then, while journaling, I’ll begin writing purposefully for publication. The mood changes. Now I have a reader in mind. Before, I had no reader in mind except myself. And maybe not even me.

Alison, my wife, says I write a lot. I don’t think so. I did write a lot when I was journaling every day. I’m going through a different process this year.

Sometimes when she sees me writing, I’m just putting down on one sheet of paper my top 10 to 15 goals. It’s a Brian Tracy exercise I decided to do this year. I t does disconnect me from the free flow of journaling. It’s a different mind set, for a different purpose.

If I want to write in the morning, I have to do that instead of the top 10 to 15 targets. Intentions. Purposes. Results desired.

One thing is certain in my experience. I don’t really like to write. I like to have written.