I started keeping a journal on January 1st, 2019. It was my New Year’s resolution to document my thoughts and feelings on a regular basis. I had no strict rule- such as writing in it every day. I didn’t even make myself stick to a schedule of writing in it at a certain time. I just asked myself to write when I felt compelled to do so. I was struggling with bouts of anxiety and I found myself writing in my journal when I was going through my weak points— usually every couple of days and at random hours of the night. I am, however, happy to say that this is the first New Year’s resolution I can remember sticking to. It is now almost the second month of 2020 and I am still writing in my journal.
The journal is black, leather, and small, maybe five by eight inches. It has an elastic strap to secure it shut, and it also has a small black ribbon that can be used to hold your place in all of the pages. I think I liked it because it was small. It wasn’t so intimidating to ask myself to write a whole page, because a whole page didn’t look like very much.
With all of the negativity in that journal, I vowed to fill the rest of its pages with positivity this year. Although, now I almost think that this particular journal’s purpose was to hold all of that negativity for me, so that it no longer plagued my soul.
I am now starting a writer’s notebook. This notebook has some similarities with my current journal. This notebook has a leather outside, and it too contains a ribbon that can be used to mark your place. However, this notebook is pink, with a big “XO” on the front. It does not have a contraption to seal it shut. To me, this is symbolic. My journal is used to house my skeletons, things I want to keep secured away. My notebook doesn’t need shutting, because it will contain happy thoughts or moments. My notebook is much larger than my journal, for I hope that the happy moments will outweigh the moments in my journal.
I’m four pages into my writer’s notebook, and I’ve found it challenging to fill up all of the space, considering I’m used to a much smaller writing space. And, though only four pages in, I have a sense of accomplishment viewing all of the cursive I have written across the pages. When I get over the initial fear of sharing my writing, maybe I’ll post one of the pages on this blog.
SERENDIPITY
Ser-en-dip-i-ty (n.) : the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way (https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/serendipity)
In Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal, serendipity is ultimately described as a happy coincidence. One of Rosenthal’s stories involves wanting to give a fan in a crowd a snow globe ring. In the end, she discovers that the lady that receives the ring has the same birthday as her! This is an example of serendipity.
On page 24 of Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal, the phenomenon is also described as when you notice something, and when you’re on the lookout for it, you tend to find it. I have experienced something similar when it comes to cars. When my sister turned sixteen and got her first car, it was a 2005 Toyota Scion. I remember thinking that her car looked funny, small and kind of boxish. I had never seen a car like it before. Suddenly, I began to see many of those cars around town and on the highway. I was seeing that car everywhere. I was unconsciously on the lookout for that car, and so I found them, a lot of them.
This phenomenon makes me think of how “things happen in threes”. I’ve heard the phrase many times. Say my car got a flat tire. I get nervous because I know that bad things tend to happen in threes. So, two more unfortunate things occur. Maybe I only recognized these two occurrences as negative because I was looking to find two more negative occurrences. Since I was on the lookout for them, I found them.
Maybe this is where positive mindsets come into play. If you are looking for positive things to happen, they will. If you’re looking up when you’re walking, rather than looking down at the sidewalk, you may discover a friend who is also out walking on a sunny day. A serendipitous moment.
It just goes to show the power of positive – and negative – thinking.
With hope, my writer’s notebook will turn me into a more positive thinker, finding the joy in simple moments and encouraging serendipitous moments.
Rosenthal, A. (2016). Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal. New York, NY: Dutton.
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