Private Penstrokes Run Deep

Ink strokes are like tears.

Each one has meaning. Each one is significant. Each has a message, even when the stroke is only one part of a greater whole. Each stroke you make carries energy and emotion.

You feel like you're falling apart, but you're creating.

You feel like you're crying out, but you're crying up to the only One who can hear what words do not say.

Ink strokes can be as private as your unseen tears and deepest prayers.

Dear Scribbler

Q. I work a lot, and I have very little privacy when I come home. I live with seven people. We all have different schedules. I share a room with another roommate. Most everyone is cool, but sometimes you need some space. I don't feel comfortable writing in a journal here. There's at least one person here who snoops, I think. I need to start writing stuff down, though. I don't want to keep it all on my phone. What should I do?

A. Your best bet is to journal away from your home and keep the journal in a place where no one will find it. This means hiding it super well.

Consider disguising it and putting it inside a hollowed-out book nobody reads.

Try placing it on grips and hooks behind picture frames or on the underside of a drawer where you keep your clothes.

Are there any spots in the attic you can hide it?

Please don't put it in the basement. Sometimes there's unexpected water damage or possible carbon monoxide issues from appliances possibly kept there.

If you can't hide it in the house or don't feel safe doing that, consider keeping that journal on your person pretty much all the time. Buy a different bag to put all your gear in so it will fit too.

Depending on the situation, you might consider renting the smallest storage locker (bank deposit box even?) and leaving the journal there for safer keeping.

There are several digital journaling solutions. Some third-party journaling softwares also comes with encryption. I do not explore those heavily at the moment, so cannot recommend a good digital solution.

I know from previous personal experiences that keeping the notebook or journal on my person at all times was the best method.

If you're worried about it falling into the wrong hands, consider using coding or special characters to cover up some of the letters and words you write. Instead of a person's full name, Alice, write "A" instead of Alice's name. You could also have a code written down you reference while journaling but then store the journal separately from the code.

If you know another language, you could try journaling in that too.

My grandmother kept her journals in legal shorthand from the 70s in spiral-bound notebooks.

She kept many of her secrets close.

Don't wait to journal until you have the perfect solution. Just start. Keep the journal with you or locked away somewhere safe when you can't. Worry about a perfect solution later.

One Line

One-liners are sentences meant to prompt your memories and stimulate your creativity. Use them, if you want, to see what your brain comes up with. Do you see an image in your mind, feel something, remember something?

Whatever it is, start writing it down. There's no right or wrong answer. 🥳

His body seemed relaxed, except his hand rubbed the edge of the chair.

Mission

Sit in the first chair you see. Look straight ahead. Write down what you see. Do your best to be as descriptive as possible. It is not necessary to get it in the correct order. Just write down what you're seeing as it comes to you. Talk about the color, the textures you think are there, and the emotions you think what you're looking at it feels or causes you to feel.

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