No-Pressure Journaling- One Line A Day, or More!

I remember the first diary I regularly wrote in. It was a pink, paperback teddy-bear embellished affair that I had started using in fourth grade, and I quickly filled it with all my juvenile hopes and dreams (many of them involving a certain undeserving boy). I also remember being devastated when I lost it at school in fifth grade, and later found it in pieces all along the hallway...Oh, the cruelty of youth. But back to the subject at hand...

One of my resolutions for 2013 was to start journaling again, and I had found the perfect plan for me- the "line-a-day" journal! Imagine one diary that would cover five years, by dating each page with the month and day, and then allotting just a few lines for each year. So at the end of five years, you have a brief history of the time period with only the most noteworthy (pun intended) moments recorded in one consolidated book. There was one you could buy that was already dated just for this purpose like this one, which you can click if you want to check it out:



but I wanted something more unique, and, yes, cheaper! So I found a lovely red, hardcover journal with cream colored, lined pages, on SALE! I have been methodically dating each page as I go. I loyally wrote an entry a day for the first 15 days of January, but since then I have been rather sporadic. I am happy to report that I have still recorded most days, and that mostly I have recorded what I made for dinner! I love this idea which I borrowed from Jenny Rosenstrach, the author of Dinner: A Love Story: It all begins at the family table. It allows me to look back at which meals and treats were our favorites and those which need to be tossed out of my repertoire. I've also recorded special dates with my husband, fun things that we've done as a family, and milestones and funny sayings of my kids. If you've been thinking of journaling as a way to document the special memories or meals of your life, but you don't have the time or desire to put too much effort into it, the line-a-day, or, in my case, paragraph-a-day, method is probably perfect for you.