Start A Christmas Journal

A Christmas Journal is a wonderful way to get in touch with your deep feelings that surround the spirit of the holidays. Journaling strengthens your Christmas connections by providing endless memories, and deeper self-awareness.

Journaling during Christmas sets in motion a timeline of heartfelt memories that will be treasured by future family members as it is passed along through the generations.

In order to give you more insight on journaling during the Christmas season, I asked several people to share their experiences.

Deanne Warren (35) is a mother of two girls. She said, "Holiday journaling has been a part of my Christmas time ever since the girls were little. It gives me a way to organize events and stories from their first Christmas, all the way to the the present.

It helps me remember details of both fun and serious things that happened through the years. You know that you will have both during the holiday season.

It's been empowering because I've gotten to know myself so much more. I can explore feelings that I had on both good, and not-so-great Christmases, in my own life, and take the best from those moments to give to my husband and daughters.

I've journaled about everything from the first Christmas cookie dough my girls tasted, to a home catching fire in the poorer section of town, and a family losing all the presents.

I want my Christmas journal to provide my daughters with some perspective about caring for others at this special time of year.

It not only establishes a legacy for our little family, but also is revitalizing for my own spirit."

Keeping A Christmas Journal Helps You Store Wonderful Holiday Memories

Journaling during Christmas offers the perfect platform for reflective writing. You get to document your ideas, personal thoughts, and yearly memories surrounding a time of intense feelings.

Nancy Edison (26) is a new mother. She said, "I am excited about the thought of starting a Christmas journal. My little girl is almost a year old. She's fascinated with the Christmas tree, the blinking lights, and the new smells coming from the kitchen.

I want to do my best to capture the magic of the holidays, and store these memories for her when she is in middle age.

I put everything from cute quotes about Christmas, to holidays recipes. In a way, it will be like a map as our small family progresses through Christmases as she grows up.

I want her to know about the small milestones she reaches through her first few years, and capture the excitement she'll have when she starts school and begins attending Christmas parties with her little friends.

My husband and I want to establish some simple holiday traditions, and I want to record how those came about, and how they evolve through the years.

For example, we plan to read 'The Night Before Christmas' each Christmas Eve after we attend the candlelight service at our Unity Church. Then, we'll each open one present.

My journaling will allow us to look back and see what insights we've gained into each other and our community, what changes occurred along the way, and how we can become even better people.

I see holiday journaling as an important way to refresh our spirits and become even closer as a family."

Benefits Of A Christmas Journal

The benefits of journaling go far beyond sharing of holidays memories with generations following behind. 

In addition to becoming more mindful during the Christmas season, focused journaling has been found to help you get better sleep during these compressed times, and increase the strength of your immune system.

JoLynn Adamson (38) said, "When I first started with my Christmas journaling, I was thinking only on sharing the sweet memories and experiences we all had as my family progressed from one holidays year to the next.

Along the way, though, I discovered a lot more personal benefits that enabled me to become a better wife and Mom. 

Because I was writing things down, and identifying concrete positive emotions, I found myself becoming more light-hearted and upbeat. Also, my communication skills increased. 

I found that I could share so much more with my husband, and be specific about how much I appreciated the gentleness he brought to our marriage. 

I know it might sound hokey, but I learned what it means to become more mindful. This made me want to create more tender Christmas memories for both my husband and my children.

I become far more heartfelt in validating them, and how they were so valuable in my life. This in turn led to my husband opening up about the closeness he felt with me, and how he admired me.

My children began saying some of the sweetest things imaginable. Actually, they probably always had, but my awareness was not near where it is now after developing my Christmas journal. 

This writing has truly recharged my spirit. I find myself feeling more refreshed, accomplishing more at work, and interacting with others in a way that is both uplifting and empowering.

People actually seek me out to socialize. I've joined a women's book club and I meet several other mothers to walk on the beach and have breakfast together on certain Saturdays.

My life was not like this ten years ago. I was happy, but I was not connected to Life with my heart as much as I am now.

I know it's due to the energy I put into my Christmas season journaling."

A Christmas Journal Can Help Create Lasting Happiness

More and more committed partners are starting couples journals. They see it as a way to spend intimate time together in a way that strengthens the relationship.

Paul (49) and Elaine (53) Bishop take their Christmas journal seriously.

Paul said, "Elaine came up with the idea of journaling during the holidays, about 10 years ago, as a way for us to do something new together. Even though I create content for my own online business, I was a little intimidated about sharing a couples' journal.

At first, I thought it was going to be like some mushy, syrupy slam book like the girls used to pass around in junior high, so I was pretty leary...but it turned out to be something completely different.

Elaine only made a couple of easy rules, and we were only committed to writing in it from December 12th, until December 26th. Two weeks. And our writing contributions didn't even have to be extensive.

What happened, though, was amazing. We started coming up with wonderful new ideas to enhance our Christmas holidays together, and we started complimenting different things about each other. 

It strengthened our bond as marriage partners. Plus, if you go back and look through it, I write more each year. 

She loves it, and it makes me feel great to see her so happy. Especially during what can be a stressful time of year."

*******

Elaine said, "I know when we first started our Christmas journal, Paul was not real gang-ho. He committed to it out of care and love for me, but I could see it was a struggle to accept it in his heart.

On the surface, it just doesn't seem like a real masculine thing to be doing. Paul is a CrossFit athlete. He's a United States Marine who has been in combat. He ran his own private detective agency before he started our Internet business.

Sharing feelings in a diary wasn't exactly what he signed up for.

I laugh now, because Paul has become an exceptional writer. He compliments me on little things he appreciates that I have no knowledge that I am even doing. 

There have been more than a few times that he's made me blush because he'll allude to something intimate, with me as the focal point.

Who knew the spirit of Christmas generated such heat?

Through our Christmas journal, we've created a couple of small new traditions. We've generated ideas about gifts for our adult children, and we've come up with ways to extend more Christmas goodness to those who are in need.

Truly, our holiday journaling history has been a blessing to refresh our spirits.

Our Christmas journal has strengthened our communication as a couple, and strengthened our relationship as partners."

Go to Refresh My Spirit home page from Christmas Journal

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