Depending on our memory for remembering important things is a pretty lousy strategy. Especially as we get older. One of the most important areas involves the growth of our inner life. This growth happens through the decades of our time here on earth. For many of us, our primary emphasis throughout life is about events that happen to us. It is also about events that we cause to happen. The outward tends to dominate. Life is busy, and time to focus and reflect on our inner responses and attitudes is often scarce.

But our outward and inward lives coming to greater integration do not happen without inner work. And that inner work is the patient work of a lifetime. As with any short or long term journey or project, it is important to have a map or directions. Now these are mostly navigated via our phones. The inner journey also carries with it certain rhythms, certain signposts that can guide our way. For those of us like me that are followers of Christ, we find in the Bible many of those signposts. We also need human guides that can point the way. These guides have gone farther than us in the inner journey. They can provide the encouragement and cautions we need.

One of the most helpful tools to help chart and guide my own journey inward has been keeping a journal. I first started to journal in 1977 when I was 18 years old. I had done some off and on writing even before that as a younger teenager. As my habit deepened, it took different forms. I now have a whole shelf of journals chronicling my life over the past almost 47 years. My journal is not primarily the events that happen to me in a day or week. Though some important ones do show up, it is a record of my inner life and my relationship with God. I normally have not written every day, but the longest period I have not written is about six months.

Over the course of my life, I have read several books on this practice. They cover different perspectives and emphases. Some have stressed the importance of recording the creative life of ideas. Others like Ira Progoff in his At a Journal Workshop, promote whole seminars. These seminars explain how the journal process itself can uncover insights in our lives from family of origin onward. He calls this ‘intensive journaling’. I read a book a few months ago titled Adventure Inward by author, priest and spiritual director Morton T. Kelsey. It has become my favorite one on this practice.

Kelsey is the author of several books on the spiritual life from a Christian perspective. He writes about the connection to depth psychology. He stresses the need to go deeper in our lives. He also emphasizes how important it is to keep a regular record of that journey. As he writes, ‘Without a journal frequently used we remain out of touch with large parts of ourselves.’ (pg. 23). Many times in my own life I look back into my journals. I do this not only to remember an event but also to see how God has been speaking to me. I also look for any patterns that are there in that season. I have a separate section in my journal to record my dreams. These dreams can sometimes give clear clues to the deeper places within.

Keeping a journal should not be an oppressive habit, but something that gives us life and expression. Some mornings are the best time for me to journal. I sit quietly with it before me. Often, I end up writing nothing. But often there will be something to record: a stirring, a Scripture verse, an event I want to remember. Is keeping a journal only for introverts? I would say no. Extroverts will need to find their own way to record their inner journey. For both introverts and extroverts, it has to become a habit and a regular practice.

The best advice for someone to start is to make a beginning again. Many people try to journal, only to let it go too long before writing again and they give up. Like any habit we cultivate in our lives, we need to believe that it is a valuable practice. That motivation will often keep us going when we are tempted to stop. Many of us exercise for the benefit of our physical bodies and outward health. Similarly, keeping a journal becomes a practice that benefits our inward lives.

I love the title of Kelsey’s book, Adventure Inward. Going deep within us can seem scary and isolating. And it certainly can create fear of what we will encounter. We may feel this fear if we are not used to living more from our depths. Having people close to us in our lives to share what we discover with is always important. But as Kelsey says, going inward is an adventure. It is an inner pilgrimage, an exploration that can lead us to a greater integration and greater health. This health is not only meant for ourselves, but to share with others a stronger life and vitality. This adventure can deepen our relationships with others around us. It can also deepen our relationship with our Creator who loves us more than anyone else ever will.

I hope you have found the joy of keeping a journal in your life. If you haven’t, I hope you will try again and make it a regular practice. You can use a notebook, a computer or other device. You can journal through art or poems. The important thing of course is no matter how you journal, make sure you save what you create!!

Let’s enjoy the adventure inward.