Do you hear the crickets chirping on this blog?   I have been such a slacker recently about blogging.  Once some time passes between posts I get this feeling that I need to blog about something great and worthwhile.  When that feeling doesn't get any inspiration, more time passes and it causes the feeling to increase.  Anxiety sets in and then...Oh well.  Nothing note worthy coming in this post.   Except to say that I'm missing the blogging world and that I'm sensing a pull back in.

Anybody relate?

I love to journal. I need to be more consistent doing it. My journaling started about 12 years ago. I've been on and off over time. There have been periods where I was very active in my journaling and then there are times when it's been very quiet with long periods of nothing written.

My journal is a stream of my life. I've been thinking about my life stream and I see it consisting of 4 things:

1. This Blog
2. My Twitter Stream
3. My Facebook page
4. My offline paper journal

The one I like the best? My offline paper journal.  I don't think anything can replace a good old notebook and pen.  I seem to be able to think so much clearer when I'm sitting on a couch or oversized comfy chair with a pen in hand.

One issue I struggle with (because I'm an organization freak about notes) is constantly carrying around my "work" notepad/binder and my personal journal notepad.   The thing I'm thinking about doing now is combining them into one.  After all, my business/work, my personal life, my spiritual life is so intertwined that I'm starting to think I should carry just one journal and it will contain the entire stream of my life.  When it fills, I get a new one.

The type of journal I decided upon is this:

This is the most basic of composition notebooks on the market.  It fits perfectly into a thin leather binder I use to carry business cards, marketing materials people hand me at meetings, etc.

Here's my plan: I have a couple different colored highlighters.  Any personal thoughts I have I'll run down the margins with a blue highlighter.  Any work notes/thoughts/etc I'll run down the margins with a green highlighter.  It's about that simple.  

Currently, I carry around a thick personal leather bound journal that I love, but it's heavy and bulky.  I think this streamlined approach will work and it will be interesting to be able to see the thoughts I'm having about work strategy and personal strategy and how they overlap, etc.  I'll keep you posted.

What are your favorite ways to capture your life stream?  Do you journal? If you're on Twitter, post your twitter link in the comments, I'd love to follow you and connect. If you blog, post a link to your blog.

Be honest:  Why did you start blogging?   Perhaps it was to try and just get some of your thoughts out of your head.   I would submit that's what a good old pen and paper journal is good for.   Did you start blogging because you thought other people might have an interest in what you had to say?   Not all bloggers would fit into this category, but I would argue that most do.    I have a journal that I keep that I've been writing in for many years.   When I started to blog it was because I wanted to share some of my thoughts with the world.  I thought perhaps I could speak into a few lives and help pass along a little bit of experience I've gained in this life.

That's why I think most bloggers are like teenage girls:    We just want to be affirmed, appreciated, well thought of, communicated with, valued and liked.

It's a funny balance because when I started blogging I wanted to get a bunch of readers and I find that takes time.  However, when I realized that I blog because I like to express myself and dig deeper into some of my thoughts, that's all that really matters.  It's soothing to me.     That's all that should really matter, right? 

Why do you blog?  What are some other traits you would add to this list about why we blog?  Share your comment and a link to your site in the comments.

[image by claudio_ar]