Personal Ponderings has developed journaling systems to organize not only the record of daily life and deep spiritual thoughts and feelings, but also insights and understandings of literary works. These journals are simple tools that provide a safe place for powerful personal thoughts and beliefs. They easily organize the record of one’s experiences. By dividing life into three areas: day-to-day living, literary works, and spiritual experiences, we can more easily organize our own record, the great ideas of others, and our personal revelations.

Systems can simplify, create convenience, organize, and liberate. We would like to introduce you to our journaling systems and encourage you to give them a try.

All of our journals are loose-leaf ring binders, which allows you to add or take away pages at any point in time without destroying your journal. They were created in a way that gives you the versatility to organize them as best suits your needs. The following suggestions have worked for many, but you are not locked in to this method. The systems can easily be personalized to your unique needs. Refills are available for all journals online or from distributors. For those who keep a journal on their computer, it’s important to keep a hard copy on hand. We sell blank sheets that you can print on like a book. They fit nicely into the journal. Adding pictures here and there provides a wonderful visual aspect to your pages.

With every Personal Ponderings Journal you receive a “Travel Companion.” In the back of the ring binder you will find a gummed pad of paper that easily slips into the inside right pocket of your Travel Companion – just like a book of checks.

Take this little Companion with you when you leave home. It is great to travel with, easily fitting into a purse or briefcase, keeping your journal safe at home, but allowing you to journal away from home.

Personal Journal – The first section, “Index to my Life,” allows you to write one-line entries. Write down the most important thing that occurred that day, date it, and you are done. If you don’t write every day, it’s OK. If you want to write more than just the one-line entry, you can. Take out a sheet of lined paper, record the date in the upper right corner, record your entry and file it according to the date. Put a check mark in the box next to your one-line entry reminding you that you have written more about that day. Put a star next to the check mark if it is a very important day. Enjoy the versatility of coming back to a one-line entry at a much later date to tell your story. For most of us, the important days are too busy or emotionally charged to take time to journal. A one-line entry reminds you to write about it later.

We provide you with 8 blank tabs to use as you please. You should use some as year markers - put the year on a tab and file your entries in order behind that tab. You can use other tabs for different journaling topics like Goals, Business, Gardening, Workouts, Humor in the Family, etc. When it comes time to write your memoirs it will be so much easier to do because of the “index” you have already created.

Scripture/Spiritual Journal - Journaling of this nature is usually done according to topic. Therefore, we have included A-Z tabs for you to file your recordings by topic. If it is faith you are studying and would like to jot down some notes, look under the “F” tab to see if you already have something recorded about Faith. If so, add to it. If not, take out a clean paper, write Faith in the upper right hand corner, record your thoughts on the subject, and file it alphabetically behind the “F” tab. As the years go by and you add more and more to the subject of Faith, your knowledge and understanding of the subject will deepen and increase. You also have a wealth of wonderful thoughts and opinions to refer to – all in one place. We also include blank tabs for you to keep different types of spiritual journaling separate. Some suggested uses for the extra tabs are: Spiritual Experiences, Blessings, Dreams, Visions, Revelations, Meditations, etc. By recording similar experiences in the same section, you create a powerful place of discovery, testimony, and understanding and it will be a place you enjoy revisiting as years go by.

Literary Journal: This journal was originally created as an educational tool for commonwealth schools, scholar classes, and university students. It is also an incredible organizational tool for those who want to continue their education, love to read, take classes, attend lectures and seminars, and need an organized, safe place for the thoughts and ideas they find of value.

The first section – is for your Literary List. Write down the name of the book/article you read, the author and where it is filed. You can file according to Title or Author. For Example, if I read Pride and Prejudice and I wanted to file by title, I would file it under P – 1 (if there is already a book review under P-1, I would use the next available number). If I filed according to author, I would file it under A -1. Some people will separate their book list into sections ie: Book List, Lecture/Seminar List, and Magazine or Articles List, and put them on different pages. It is really up to you.

The first set of A-Z tabs is called the Synopsis and is where your notes, reviews, or write-ups go. The second set of A-Z tabs are for all the great Quotes you come across in your books, lectures, etc. If you file them according to topic as you gather them, before long you will have a wealth of great thoughts and saying from many different resources – all on the same subject. To have them all in the same place gives you an incredible resource. Finding those quotes again takes only minutes.

There are blank tabs provided for you to use any way you wish. Some create a separate section for specific classes they take, some keep a running vocabulary list of words they want to define. Again – it is really up to you.

These are the Systems of the Personal Ponderings Journals – Give them a try!