Third Response: Goldberg, Bullough, & De Botton

Writing Down the Bones: I can really relate to what she says about exposing your life in a way that is human - not "how your ego may want to be represented" (pg. 39-40). That has been really hard for me to get past. Sometimes to the point of ripping out imperfect pages from my journals. The way she described that was well written and spoke to my experience a lot. As for obsessions, I already write about mine quite a bit. Most of my journal writing has been me venting about what happens in my world, aka things I am obsessing over. However, I like the idea of making a list out of them, to give a new perspective. That is a tip I'd like to try. Lastly, I think her suggestion to order a meal and not eat it when writing in a restaurant is all wrong. The rest of the ideas yes, such as leaving a big tip and using the restaurant atmosphere to fuel writing. But I have to say I don't see many restaurants being happy that someone ordered food and didn't eat it. Wasteful. Blah. 
It was very interesting to read the poetry entries. They felt abstract but simple. 

Psychical Distance: Woah. I have a lot of frustrations towards how many times I had to read some sections to really digest what was being said here, and I still feel a bit lost. There were descriptions of the artists formulations of personal experience that I did enjoy though - but still - all very dense and abstract feeling to me. 

Painting: Wow, this is some really great writing, about a really beautiful process. I enjoyed reading about Taylor's draw to the tree after seeing it (following his girlfriends death), and feeling it needed some justice. In addition to the way he gets so lost in his work he forgets to eat and just keeps painting. I like reading about the process people go through when they are really passionate about something. It's truly a whole other type of "working". 

Exploring Three Minds in Writing

  For this assignment I read two different online journals, and one in the form of a published book. The difference between all of them has been really fascinating to notice, but comparing them to each other almost began to feel wrong. Being a student of psychology I experience that feeling sometimes too, like putting people into categories is wrong. But this is how we learn right? So on we go into the abyss of comparison!

The online journals I found are much rawer, and I’m not completely sure why that is. The only thing I can guess is that they want their “rawness” (i.e. thoughts and ramblings) to be heard, so therefor they feel more comfortable putting it all out there. There are a few that I saw with an added note on the side that they appreciate the feedback, which left me thinking “WHAAT?!?!?! How could anyone want feedback from just anyone?!” But hey – it’s not my journal that’s on display.

One of the online journals I read is written by a girl named Sarah, and I didn’t even realize what gender she was until after reading many of her entries. However she uses a lot of slang terms – sometimes to the point where I have to read it a few times to even attempt to guess what she means. She uses pictures from time to time, of things she buys and sees when she’s out, which is a nice touch.

            She has been writing in this online journal for quite a long time, so I didn’t read all of her entries. From what I can tell she graduated high school recently and goes to a community college. Her writing style is very erratic and different from one entry to the next. Sometimes I even had to check and make sure it was still the same person’s entries. She uses periods and other punctuation a lot for dramatic effect; and uses her journal to express how she feels about typical life things, such as school, work, loneliness, etc. With that said, I realized most of the titles of her entries are song lyrics. I can’t help but to feel like that is a front, but hey, I would have done the same exact thing when I was her age. And when I say the exact same thing, I mean it.

She talks a lot about wanting just one friend, and how sometimes she gets jealous of people around her who have great friends in their lives that they always hang out with. This makes me feel really sad. On that note she talks about how annoyed she gets when people seem to ignore her posts on Facebook, saying things like, “Can’t they just pretend to care? For a minute?” She seems to grow in her thoughts and her writing over time though, which is motivating when it comes to my own journal writing.   

The next online journal I wrote was by an older gentleman named Don. This one was quite the opposite of the young girl, and not just because of their clear differences in age and gender. This is a very religious, disabled man, who makes it very clear what a “sin” he thinks homosexuality is. Needless to say this wasn’t a pleasant read for me, but on I red, because this person’s journal and feelings aren’t about me. It’s up to me to remember that.

Don uses his journal to vent about his feelings and religion – but mostly his experience being disabled, and recently suffering a stroke. His grammar is poor and it seems sometimes that he may be on pain medication when typing, because he doesn’t make a whole lot of sense sometimes. His style of writing is very simple, but he does attempt to use punctuation correctly. Unlike Sarah, she uses it to make her writing more dramatic and unique.

            The reason I decided to keep reading Don’s entries was because it allowed me to enter a world I will never experience. Being a much older, very religious, disabled man. He uses one entry to write a very extensive apology letter to his son, for harshly arguing with him about homosexuality. He even stated in the letter that he made it public for the purpose of allowing the world the chance to know how sorry he really feels, and that he wasn’t afraid to put his mistakes on display in such a way. His language is old fashioned sometimes, which I find refreshing. Even with the other journals I skimmed through, none of them used language like that. Overall, it was pretty interesting to read this guy’s thoughts and experiences with his disability. Although I may not agree with a lot of what he says, it’s a perspective I am rarely exposed to.

            The last journal I read was a book called, “Confessions of a BEATLEMANIAC!!” (pictured below). The author of this book walked into the auto shop I used to work at one day, and a Beatles song came on the radio. We both started singing along, and inevitably got into a conversation about the band. I told her about how my Mother took me to a Fab Four (cover band) show when I was a teenager, and I was pissed. But as soon as the music started, I fell in love. She went on to tell me about this book she wrote, about her journey to meet the Beatles when she was a teenager. She was a wonderfully sweet women, who signed the book for me and left a sweet note (also pictured below).

            The book is a collection of her diaries when she was a teenager, from the moment she saw them on Ed Sullivan for the first time in 1964, to the following years where she made it her mission to meet them – and she was successful! With that said, the language is that of a teenage girl in the 60’s. Adorable, sweet, and super dramatic! The book also features the drawings from her diaries (one is on the cover, pictured below), which are a perfect way to tie together how she was truly feeling at the time. She uses language like “Ho-hum!” and uses dashes for dramatic effect like “b-o-r-i-n-g!”, and it all reminds me so much of my Mom! My Mom was close to the same age, and I got her diaries when she died - and man - they used very similar language!

            In addition to her diary entries, she includes letters between her and her best friend Paulette, whom she went on this grand adventure with. These were used for the parts of the book with actual dialog, which is another really nice touch. These girls literally created a world where they are dating Ringo and Paul, and their letters speak of visits to England and dream-like vacations with their loves. Oh, how imaginative a bored, young, and obsessed girl can be! It is all so bright and exciting, a rollercoaster of emotions and adventure. She clearly used her diary at that time as any teenage girl does, to express her dramatically strong emotions.

            Between all three of the journals, I have to say that they all use them for ultimately the same goal, to really express themselves. As many of us do, but every person is so different that it has been truly beautiful to read these different perspectives on life. Emotions and thoughts manifesting themselves in unique and individualistic ways, all expressed through our shared ability to write. The true rawness I found in the online journals was a little surprising, but ultimately very interesting. It also made me really happy to be able to use this wonderful book that walked into my life for an assignment like this! Each writer expresses similar feelings – such as loneliness and excitement – through their own unique language and writing style. I couldn’t see how important this assignment would be to really understanding journals until I was mid-way through it, but I’m happy with the results! 

Second Reaction: The Happiness Project

Pay Attention - Mindfulness: This is a reading I can strongly relate to at this time in my life. In addition to this course, I am taking a mindfulness class (as I'm sure some of you are as well) and the meditation is something that has been difficult for me. With that said, it didn't surprise me that she didn't want to go down the road of meditation. Although, it occurred to me that she only thinks she didn't choose the road of meditation, because to me when she is talking about pondering koans, she is meditating. It may not be the picture in her mind of what meditation means, but sounds like she meditated on those quotes (or koans) quite a bit to me!

When she starts talking about “True Rules”, I start to feel as though she is ranting. Sometimes I think her writing is pleasant and sometimes I kind of get this, “Ahh! Where is this going?!” feeling. However I do relate to the changing of the “I’m in a hurry” thought. This is something that took a lot of time and practice for me. I am someone that truly dislikes being in a hurry, to the point of physical reactions in my body. I begin to over-heat and sweat, and my mind starts firing at a million miles a minute about all the uncomfortable things that may happen due to my lateness. So changing that thought and behavior became very important to me. Now I am proud to say I am much better, I wake up earlier, feel better and am where I need to be often early. This practice helps me to maintain a calm mind and body. In addition, I enjoyed her idea of post it’s around the house to help cultivate certain states of mind. This is something I may have to try some day.

Overall, she makes a lot of good points, and creative ways to help maintain a happy mind and life. What she has to say is interesting, whether I enjoy the way it is written or not!

First Reaction

Writing Down the Bones:

I knew I was going to like this book from the beginning. Natalie Goldberg's writing style and her "voice" in this book is great and easy to read. In addition, I enjoyed her comparison of a writing practice to running, and resisting the practice until you get into it. Even with the amount of journal writing I have done in my life, this is something I can relate to. 

In addition to that, the description of her writing that her neighbor gives is really beautiful. She speaks of rawness and how different it is to see Natalie after reading her journals. It's very interesting and it makes me think how lucky she (Natalie) is to have the confidence to let someone into her life in that way, and to get a reaction to that. I could not see myself doing the same. 

I enjoyed what she had to say about concentrating by allowing the world to exist around us and not by blocking it out. Sometimes I feel that I am trying to block it out in order to write, and I think it took me some growing up and realizing before I even noticed I was doing it! 

The Happiness Project:

This is a reading I can deeply relate to when it comes to "appreciating the ordinary day". This is a a practice I have had to come back to recently because like her, I have a lot to be happy about. However I lost my ability to see that for a while. It is such an interesting way to take on the feelings she describes. It's really awesome when you think about it; someone who is unhappy, researching happiness to take the issue head on. Rock on! 

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work:

This - I have to say - was the reading I enjoyed the least. However I did enjoy the discussion of enjoying your work, and what it means for that to feel meaningful. I think he brings up some major truths in those topic through his discussion of biscuits! 

About Me :)

Hello there fellow journal writers!

As you can see on my page, I'm Natalie! The girl who co-facilitated our first class with AJ. 

I am a psychology major here at Antioch University and I have been living in Santa Barbara for about 7 years now. I am originally from Dana Point - which is a beach city just a few hours south of here in Orange County. 

I work as a peer writing tutor in our awesome writing center here at school, so I encourage all of you to come visit us if you ever need help with your writing! We can help you with any genre of writing - essays, presentations, and even resumes/cover letters! 

I thoroughly enjoy writing, music, traveling, cooking, going to the gym, and just hanging out! I have been with my super awesome girlfriend Hayley for 2 and 1/2 years now - I mention her because you will most definitely hear me talk about her. We live together with my dog, cat, and a few fish. :) I have done a lot of journal writing in my life, and am really looking forward to this course and getting to know all of you! 

Peace, love, and happy writing! <3