Browsing Journal Land

In between taking the tree decorations down and putting things away, I've had some time to do something I seldom have time for: cruise or browse the journalers in Journal Land... there are an interesting bunch of writers out there, each with their own style of writing, each with a story to tell, and each with a purpose.

(When you click on the highlighted names, you will be connected to their journal website instantly!)

For instance, there's Robin. She began her journal back in 2004. She likes reality TV, like Survivor and Big Brother (me too!!). She likes to dress her Chihuaua, Princess, who is just over two years old. Cute. She is a Christian, and a dreamer. I love her sense of humor. According to her bio, she is a married Air Force wife living in San Antonio. Quite an interesting young woman, but you should visit her journal to learn more.

Then, there's Lori. She recently began a new journal at blogspot.com for reasons you would only understand if you knew what hometown members have dealt with regarding the banner ads you see at the top of our journals. I won't even get into that. If you journal-hop a bit around the October/ November entries, you are sure to find several fiery remarks from journalers. Anyway, Lori has a ferret, or maybe more, and she's in the process of buying a house. I know her as fitzzer because that's her aol screen name. I hope she finds the house of her dreams.

Penny has serious back problems, and is a former missionary, if I'm not mistaken. She has been writing aoljournals since 2004. Her journals are autobiographical. She is actually telling you her life story, and her memories are often warm and nurturing. She quit smoking in 88, she likes diet coke, and has lots of friends in Mexico. She is health conscious and thrifty, and loves kids. She's a good mother. I know all this because I have read her journal pages.

Another blogger, John, serves up information and articles of interest on the web, and keeps aol journalers connected to the latest and coolest websites. He has a beautiful wife and daughter, and shares photos of his family and pets on a regular basis. He knows secrets about posting on the web, and is a great writer when he's not blogging (although blogging is writing, right?). He posts Weekend Assignments and Monday Morning Shoots to give journalers something else to do when they run out of things to write about.

Another technical expert in aol journals is Joe. He's the journals editor there. One aspect of Joe's job that journalers are very interested in is his selection of a guest editor each week. Guest editors are featured in his journal, and they are allowed to highlight their five top journals.

I love checking out his guest editors and their journal picks... it's a great way to find interesting reading and meet some new and different people, folks you'd never meet in your every day circle of friends because these folks live all over the country. It helps expand one's horizons so to speak, without leaving your home. Not like watching tv or movies, and not like working with people through real life interactions. Sort of in-between.

There are many more journals I've visited, but I haven't mentioned them here yet because I've only just met them. You may find some of them in my list of other journals to theright.

Maybe you are not a journal browser, and you don't really have the time to browse in this manner. That's okay, too. If you keep coming back to my pages, I'll highlight one every now and then to get you started. It's a way to find out what other folks think about, what they experience to be true and real in their lives, how they struggle with their pain (physical and emotional), and how they overcome great difficulties and challenges. I find them very encouraging and inspiring.

Do you remember reading Reader's Digest magazine when you were younger? Or maybe you still do? I used to subscribe to it every month. People's personal stories would amaze me, and I'd think, could I do that if that happened to me? Often, the answer would be "no, I don't have what it takes."

When you read the journals, and you read about the obstacles and tragedies and turmoil their authors have lived through, you think, wow, that person has great courage. I hope I can be that courageous when the time comes.

This is not Reader's Digest, but the stories are real. Check them out some time. You won't be disappointed.

If you are new to journal hopping, one way to access all the entries of a particular journal is to click on the View Archives at top right of journal page. That will take you to a list of all the entries for the current month, as well as a list of previous months. You can scan entry titles and click on something catchy, or even click on First Journal Entry to find out what brought the writer to blogging on line in the first place.

And if you'd like to be notified every time a journal entry is made, simply click on the words alert me as comments are posted at top right (below view archives).

I know, it's all interesting, isn't it?

Okay, the decorations and lights are off the tree... now I just need to dismantle the tree and box it up. Maybe get it done before Steve gets home!