Open Road

Stacey Michaud

From the Heart

Looking back on my childhood, I can vividly remember purchasing my first diary, complete with its very own lock and key.  It was a secret place for me to record my frustrations, dreams, fears and thoughts.  During my late twenties and early thirties, I devotedly kept daily gratitude journals.  I faithfully practiced the craft of journaling for several reasons.  For one, those small books with the pretty covers helped keep me sane during rough periods in life, and helped me express appreciation when all was well.  In essence, writing was my therapy.  Another reason is that I am someone who has some trouble showing affection and expressing my feelings.  The feelings exist, but just don’t flow easily when I have to speak. My emotions have always been better explained when I use a pen and paper.  No matter what the reason or the topic, one thing that remained constant was that my journaling came straight from the heart. 

Nowadays, I devotedly keep scrapbook albums, transferring my journaling to 12x12 sized pages.  All that earlier practice helped me grow comfortable with using heartfelt journaling, a habit in which I regularly participate.  In scrapbooking, heartfelt journaling emphasizes your emotions or feelings about the subject rather than the background details or facts about the story.  Heartfelt journaling is meant to be powerful, sweet, angry, raw or loving depending on the emotion you are trying to convey.  When writing heartfelt journaling, there shouldn’t be worries over how it all sounds. Truly, it should be one of the easiest forms of journaling because there is no right or wrong way to write it.  It is all about how YOU feel, in the simplest and purest form.  Not sure how to put your feelings into words?  Grab a poem or quote that sums it up perfectly.

The layouts below all include heartfelt journaling that capture and express emotion.  The words are powerful and leave a lasting impression.  You can tell each artist spoke directly from a place of love.

Journaling:  Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires an avid faith in yourself.  That is why some people with mediocre talent but with great inner drive go much further than people with vastly superior talent.

Being adopted often makes me wonder what my family history is. I felt compelled to write this 'note' to my son when I found out he had blue eyes.

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