An enjoyable and often surprisingly illuminating approach to the Imaginal is Creative Journaling. What distinguishes this from conventional journaling, which often resembles a diary, is a subtle shift of intention and attention.

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The INTENTION in Creative Journaling is to evoke the unexpected, to glimpse the unseen. While in many journaling practices the focus is on understanding our experiences, thoughts, and feelings in a more integrative way, Creative Journaling is about surprising ourselves. It’s like stepping through a door with some sense of what might be on the other side, only to find an utterly new, perhaps even incomprehensible, world.   

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The subtle shift in ATTENTION could be described as from the mind to the breath.  In other words, from a deliberative thought process such as reconstructing an experience from memory to a “streaming awareness”—a flow of feelings and images that seem to lead in some direction. Attention, then, is on following that flow wherever it might lead. 

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This approach to journaling may take many forms: various types of poetry, spontaneous writing, drawing or collage making. You might even be able to use photography or recording (audio or video) in a contemplative way to access revelatory images and impressions. If you would like some coaching on these modes of journaling, please contact Angelika (lovefordance56@gmail.com).

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