Creative Journaling – A Quest for All Ages

I am just beginning an interesting and probably erratic or perhaps sporadic journey into creative journaling.  In truth I am still trying to come up with a definition of what this process is.  It seems to me that it means different things to different people…. for example, some seem to liken it to just letting your “crayons” flow out onto blank paper and seeing what happens.  Others, like Dr.Lucia Capacchione, see it as a tool for self-reflection, growth, and/or healing.   And still others see it as a fun, inspirational and colorful way to journal – using illustration, collage, and painting to enhance journal entries of a variety of sorts (example).  I took a workshop in Creative Journaling through the Thinkwell Center in Hartford, CT recently with a small group of women and found the experience of drawing and sharing and analyzing quite a lovely and very fun experience; so much so, that I am trying to enter into a more committed practice with my beautiful leather-bound journal. 

So you may be wondering what this practice has to do with simply Jewish parenting and practice!  Well I think self-reflection and nurturing self-awareness can beautifully support one's parenting by grounding and centering oneself.  I think getting out the crayons, markers, paints, cray-pas (and more - be creative!) can surely endear oneself to their child(ren), fill them with wonder, and encourage them to explore and express their “inner artist” as well.  What is so Jewish about this?  Delighting in others, in yourself, and in the world you inhabit can also nourish our sense of awe, love, appreciation and gratitude.  It’s spiritual guidance, it's holy work, it is certainly approaching your life and your family’s life through a Jewish lens.  Of course you may also find that you wish to journal about specifically Jewish themes as I did this past week meditating on the periodic coincidence that Tu B’Shvat (see earlier blog post) fell on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) this year.