Seedplanter’s Porch

If you’ve been balking at the idea of keeping a diary or journal, think again. I’ve been at it for 48 years, and I can tell you firsthand that once it becomes a routine, keeping a diary or journal is not a brain drain at all. Besides, you don’t have to write every single day; just whenever you have something worth saying.

Journal or Diary: Tools for Personal Growth is a lens that came about quite suddenly when I ran into a box of old notebooks–personal journals–on my closet shelf. Everyone knows a treasure like that demands an investigation, and an investigation means reading and remembering and reminiscing and shedding a tear or two.

And wondering where the years have gone.

Journals are a slick time tunnel.  Within seconds, I was that young mom writing a sappy poem to my newborn son, begging him to promise me he’d grow up v-e-r-y slowly. Open a different notebook and I’m seeing him off to kindergarten, tucking my toddler daughter in bed for her afternoon nap, then working on my weekly writing assignment.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

My kids are now well into their thirties. Now I journal about grandchildren, home repairs, joint supplements, and flowerbeds. And I make Squidoo lenses about the same things.

In creating this lens about journals and diaries, I discovered how many different types can be found online. I unearthed some real gems on the Web, and think you’ll enjoy exploring them as much as I did. Drop by and add your three cents to my lists, too. There’s something for everybody.

New to Squidoo? Make your own lens today!

Have you joined Tagfoot yet? Why not?

I published a lens yesterday about an aging elf who’s been keeping a diary for decades. He’s decided to go public, but not as a sleazy tell-all. Says he would never betray Santa like that.

Like many of us who journal, this little guy has spilt his frustration in a top-secret diary that he shoves under his bed at regular intervals. He’s honest (sometimes to a fault) and gives us an inside view of Santa’s workshop, where talk of carpal tunnel abounds, and the scent of Ben Gay mingles with the fumes from busy glue guns.

Join Hank (he’s too embarrassed to divulge his real name) as he shares snippets of everyday life at the North Pole, including the ongoing Porchlight Dilemma. Bring a favorite Christmas recipe when you visit, too, ok?  Hank’s going to be passing them on to Mrs. Claus.

New to Squidoo? Make your own lens today!