Julie Tallard Johnson - Spiritual Journaling. Writing Your Way to Independence

Spiritual Journaling

Writing Your Way to Independence

Julie Tallard Johnson

Bindu Books

Rochester, Vermont

This book is dedicated to Michele Belisle and Vickie Trihy,

who remind me why I write

and why I keep opening my heart.

Thank you.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful for all the teen voices, named and unnamed, that are found within these pages. Your voice is the medicine we all need.

I offer special thanks to the following people at Inner Traditions: Vickie Trihy for your editing wizardry and integrity and Priscilla Baker and Jon Desautels for the wonderfully creative design and layout.

There are so many people who helped make this book possible. Thanks go to: Adrienne Corso, for finding me after thirty years; my Level 2 Psychic Development class for your stories and truth; the fifth graders in Mr. McDermotts class at Plain Elementary; my writers support group; Bert Stitt; all those in my spiritual journaling classes who gave their hearts to this process; my most amazing husband and daughter; my dear friend and soul sister, Terry Haag; Shannon King for your poetry and love; Laurel Reinhardt for your wisdom; the Mostly Mondays poetry circle at the General Store, where I borrowed numerous ideas. My deepest gratitude goes to my friends Michele Belisle and Kathy Crook for their honest feedback and support. And thank you to my artistic sisters, Geri Schrab and Arline Beagan, for their creative touch.

Throughout this book I have sprinkled gems of wisdom about writing and life from writers, poets, and other wisdomkeepers. I thank them for the insight and spirit they bring to this book and to the world, and I hope their words inspire my readers as they have inspired me.

And I thank my journals. Every time I feed them with my words and emotions, they always give something back to me.

Introduction

Morning has broken

Like the first morning,

Blackbird has spoken

Like the first bird.

Praise for the singing!

Praise for the morning!

Praise for them, springing

From the first Word.

ELEANOR FARJEON, CHILDRENS AUTHOR

The following story is found in many traditions. This particular version is borrowed from the Cheyenne tribe of North America.

In my pursuit of boyfriends I keep jumping after what I think is the real thing, and end up all wet and alone like the boy in the Cheyenne story . Honestly, I am not really sure how to know what is real and what is not.

HANNAH, AGE 17

There was a young man who was named Running Barefoot Boy because as soon as he could stand he began to run. He would run about the tribal grounds, and when he got old enough he would often run far out of sight.

Once he went running a bit too far. And soon was lost and hungry. He came upon a plum tree and, although it had been a poor season, three beautiful ripe plums hung from the tree. The branch where the plums hung was high, hanging over a deep creek. So, he took a fast run toward the tree and leapt up into the air with all his strength and grabbed at the plums. He felt the branch shake, but he quickly landed with a big splash in the creek below. As he stood up in the water, he saw the plums had fallen into the bottom of the deep moving creek. He jumped in after them but did not get them. He waited for the water to calm enough for him to see the plums and, again, in he jumped for the fruit.

Running Barefoot Boy spent three days trying to get to those juicy plums. He was hungry and determined.

Then an elder from the tribe found the boy and asked him what he was doing.

I am going after those ripe plums that are sitting down at the bottom of the creek. I am not about to give up now, Ive been at it too long.

The elder smiled and looked up at the tree.

Young man, you are jumping in after the reflection of the plums! The real plums are still hanging in the tree branch above your head.

I wrote this book to help you, the reader, spend less time going after the illusion of what you are hungry forand discover how to get the real thing. Fortunately, the real thing is with us all the time. It lies within us.

At the age of sixteen I began to keep a journal. I now have bookshelves full of journals. No matter what happened in my life, I had my journals to talk with, to return to, to write in, and to read. It is my journals that got me out of the creek and into the treewhere I now regularly taste the real thing.

We are important and our lives are important, magnificent really, and their details are worthy to be recorded.

NATALIE GOLDBERG, POET, BUDDHIST TEACHER, AUTHOR OF WRITING DOWN THE BONES

I write. The longer I live, the more convinced Ive become that I cultivate my truest self in this one way.

TOM CHIARELLA, AMERICAN WRITER

The Internal Flame

Inside each of us is an eternal flame. This flame always burns in our soul. It is our creative flame. Our flame of purpose. Our flame of inner independence and strength. It is our connection to the creative pulse, the divine fire that is in all of life. To some it is the Tao, the unifying principle that connects and lives in all things. Buddhists refer to this inner light as our true nature. This inner fire is the essence of our divinity, our divine right. It is called by many namesShakti, the kundalini force, the Goddess, Sri Yantra, and Bindu.

The most important thing to remember is that this internal flame is real. Real as these words on this page. Real as your heartbeat. Real as the vibration of music you hear from your favorite CD. Real as the plums in the tree. There is another story that helps illustrate this.

It is told that the indigenous peoples of the West Indies could not see Columbus and his three ships as they sat offshore. They could not see them because they had no frame of reference for such thingsthe ships werent like anything they had ever witnessed before. The shaman of the tribe, however, could see ripples in the water and wavelike streams in the air where the ships sat anchored. So, he knew something was there. The shaman, knowing this, would look out each morning and gaze on the ripples in the water and in the air. He opened his mind to the possibilities of the unknown. One day, he saw what others could notthree ships sitting in the water. He then helped his tribes people to see what until then they could not see. The ships were there; they were real.

Some people in your life may not believe you have this internal flame because they cannot see it. But you can see the ripples of your flamein your ideas, your art, your written words, your prayers, and all your creations. You may not see the wind but it pushes the branches of the tree back and forth. Every creative thought, no matter how small, how seemingly unimportant, is proof of the fire inside of you. As you keep a journal, the words and images that appear on your pages will be your ripples. And when you bring your attention to these ripples, you will end up seeing what you could not see beforeyour own internal flame. The ideas in this book will help remove any stuff that is piled on top of your flame, and it will allow you to be able to see your flame, and that of others, burning vividly. From this place of sight your life will truly be your ownyou will be able to set fire to your ideas and your dreams all along the way. Your ships will suddenly appear before you. You will stop jumping into the water after an illusion and go instead for the plums in the tree. You will taste the fruit of your own creativity. And your journal will be your companion and guide.