Enthusiastically, Dawn

I have something I have to share with my journaling community today which I think will be a HUGE blessing. If you are not (yet) a journaling friend what I have to share may sway you towards being one. Either way I hope you will explore this review of an amazing event I recently took part in, after it happened. That’s right, I took place after the fact. World Journaling Day hosted by Lynda Monk of the International Association for Journal Writing, took place on January 11, 2026- and journalers from around the world participated in a day of celebrating the power of journaling by… journaling together!

I signed up but for this online event then realized it was on a Sunday! However the great thing was all the workshop presentations were to be made available after for those who could not be present during the live online event times. I finally was able to get through all of the video presentations and wanted to share a bit about this event which felt like an adult playdate with friends!

After participating in the full day, over the course of the past few days as my schedule allowed, I have concluded that this is something special- a unique opportunity worth sharing with you. This event is FREE, and the presenters are SUPER! I know of and have read books by two of them, know one of them personally and the three that were new to me I was blessed and impressed with their shared sessions. Lynda (the host) was also new to me and I appreciated her soothing, soft spoken manner and facilitation style!

Each of the sessions held were around 45 – minutes with a brief Q & A for the presenter at the end. It was very cool knowing seeing so many fellow journalers from around the world as they sat in their writing spaces.

This was a real time workshop that you participate in from home, and through zoom. I will link the “About Me Pages for each of the presenters if you want to see more information)

 I enjoyed the The Focused Journal Method with Eric Maisel– and sat studiously listening and notetaking his 8-step method of journaling which helps one focus on a particular pressing issue and allows them to proceed to a plan of action. Of course we also jumped in and practiced the exercise in a timed writing.

My second workshop video was with Kay Adams. Kay is the one presenter I have had the honor and privilege of meeting in person. Back in 2019 I spent a week with Kay in Colorado for her JTTS (Journal to the Self) Certification and fulfilled a long-term dream in doing so. For the IAJW event Kay shared The Perspectives Journaling Technique and led us in one of her, as always, great journaling exercises. This one she calls, “jumping time”. We were to write from a future time in the year, about something we are hoping to have accomplished or something we wanted to have. We would write as if we were in that moment, writing in our journals, about that thing and all the details leading up the moment. After the first portion we also were led into a reflective writing opportunity to summarize and get insight and clarity on what we wrote.

The next presentation was The Story You Need to Tell with Sandra Marinella. I have read Sandra’s book by the same name and highly recommend it! Sandra led us with a poem (a girl after my own heart!) The poem was “This New Year” by James Crew. Sandra asked us to discover the message or theme we find, and to seek the connection, words, phrases, or images that stand out. One thing she said that I absolutely loved was that we are not just are hard stories. We also are our beautiful stories. She instructed us not to be “stuck” in our broken stories. I am keeping that reminder close to my heart!

 I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation given by Judy Reeves who led us with the journaling practice of Captured Moments. Not only did I enjoy the journaling exercise she led us in but her sprinkled wisdom throughout her talk is captured in my journal! I loved her reminder to slow down and capture the small details, and her writerly quips “about letting the “verbs do the heavy work” and how “the small details make the moment”.

Lynda Monk the lovely hostess of the event rounded out the series of workshops with her own: Life Source Writing. The goal of this 5-step method is to help us listen within. Each of the steps (arrive, relax, write, reflect, affirm) in the process helps us slow down, tune in and listen for that core truth within and draw it out onto the page. Two of the prompts given to get writing were “What wants to happen in my life right now…” and “I am proud of myself for…”.

Overall I have to admit my heart was full of inspiration and excitement over these amazing presentations. I am so glad I signed up, because even though I could not make the live event as it happened, I got to watch them all at my convenience and still experience all the joy, and wonderful input from these great presenters.

Here is the best news yet, next year the event is scheduled for MONDAY, January 11, 2027! That happens to be my day off. Guess who plans to sign up and BE PRESENT (Lord willing). See the little save the date picture below? Head over to the IAJW and sign up for emails so you will get the information when it comes out! Also, mark your calendar now. That’s what I am am planning to do!

I want to add, this is no way a sponsored post. I absolutely loved that I somehow (I don’t know or recall how) stumbled upon this opportunity, but I am so glad I did. I wanted to share the link for the videos but I am not sure that is something I can do without permission! If I get permission to link the videos, I will share in an upcoming post if you are interested. Otherwise you can check out the folks I linked, and be sure to not miss next year’s event!

Enthusiastically, Dawn