How I Journaled Six Million Words

How I Journaled Six Million Words In Ten Years

Sometimes writing is a necessity. Sometimes it is for fun. I had never really started with the idea of writing a lot. I feel the minimalist urge to write better quality and a lot less dribble. My journals were an answer to a problem. To have journaled six million words takes some effort!

Yet, here I am. Some twenty years into the game. I started off writing in my journals to better understand my life, to make sense of something I couldn’t understand. Because there aren’t enough good answers in today’s world.

I do however remember a turning point. It was back in the year of 2005 or thereabout, I remember being inspired by a photograph. Back then there was a challenge to write a thousand words about a photograph. I tried it out and found it difficult to do. A thousand words about a photograph is a lot.

Then between looking at the photograph I had taken, the idea came to me; what if I write a million words about this photograph? Is such a thing even possible?

The goal seemed absurdly high. I didn’t think it was possible, yet in some small way with the seed of the idea planted in my breast, I thought, “Maybe I can.”

What It Took:

I had to design my own journal software to do it. It took a few years to work out the program and get all the bugs out of it. It’s a few simple perl scripts that work from the command line. The text editor I use to write my journal entries in is the text editor VIM. Then perl does all the rest.

It’s been a long journey. There have been a lot of ups and downs in twenty years. Some good times, and a lot of rough days. I can say that it wouldn’t have been as good if I hadn’t been writing. It would have no doubt been much worse.

My journal software is fast, clean, and addictive. It is fun to write it the way I do. Like I said, I never started off with the idea of writing more than a million words. But the snowball effect and the years have added up. And now at over six million words, I think that I understand myself better.

Understanding

And that problem I couldn’t understand, I think that I untangled it sufficiently to at least know something about it. So in some ways I guess it’s a success. I’m closer to myself these days, I just wish that I had someone to spend time with.

My journal software keeps some statistics for me. This year, I have made 961 entries. for a total of 693,006 words this year alone. My typing speed averages 61.01 words per minute, and most entries are 721 words each. The average time it takes me to write an entry is 12 minutes.

After almost fifteen years of writing in my journal, I’ve written four books which aren’t counted in the word count. I’ve also written numerous blog posts, and essays in this time, both of which aren’t counted in the word count.

Drivel Count

Maybe I’ve written a lot of drivel. I learned how to write. It only took five million words to be a better writer. I guess that is good. I’ve come a long ways.

One side effect of this mess is that sometimes my fingers go numb. Job hazards I guess. That said, it is not for everyone; and it may not be for you. For those that dare, I suggest you write your million words in a year. It is possible.

Just remember to move on, don’t stay stuck writing the same stuff week after week. Be productive, be useful. And for heavens sake, be kind in your words. We need a lot more kindness.

Maybe it was shear bloody mindedness, maybe it was being stubborn. Somehow it seems like so long ago that I set the goal. Still I need to write that million words about the photograph. Maybe someday I will.

I wouldn’t expect anyone to read them, Don’t even ask.

Buy a book.

Therefore in conclusion, there is something you can learn from it, like be wise; don’t make the mistakes I did. If you set out to have journaled six million words, plan it out. It’s been years, somehow I feel they are best left to gather dust.

Because, it was written for myself to make sense of something impossible to understand. Do better than I did, maybe your words will change the world. Because, you never know unless you try. Give it a shot.

Written by Ctopher Thomas

See my website here: Ctopher

Photo Credit: Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Wanted: Lasting Peace

Travels

Through the years, there have been many road blocks to understanding, making reasonable progress. There have also been many obstacles in the way of positive change. These are not impossible hurdles, they are merely moments that people have to learn how to overcome.

There are a few things that can be learned from Douglas Adams. Most notably that the whale was conscious of both being alive, and the ground. What is also noteworthy is that the bowl of petunias was also conscious.

This time I have spent on earth has been interesting. You know most people having the human experience don’t reach being holy while having the human experience. It’s only after the experience that they can fully appreciate the experience and understand it.

Journey

While I have been able to do a lot of creative work, I would not say that it has been my masterpiece. These are but raw uncooked and seriously underdeveloped ideas. Not that they are all worthless, only that they have not been fully realized to becoming what they could be. I would like to see your progress under the same circumstances and do better than I have.

I’m kinda pissed about the memories. It’s not the kind of stuff you ever want to forget, but it’s been rough going. Pain of and in itself doesn’t kill you, but the experience is hell. Those that have been understanding of my struggles and my suffering I want to say that it’s most appreciated that you have put up with me this long. It’s not always been fun. It has however stirred truth and light to awaken in my being.

I’m sorry for the unkind words I have been responsible for, however in my search for truth and understanding these have been necessary to uncover my minds grasp of truth to understand and become aware of deeper than surface thoughts. To be honest it’s been painful.

Experience

Many of you have tired of my effort, my sincere apologies. Please note that I was paying attention to everything you said, it was however difficult for me as you were talking in code and I was only trying to be friendly.

What we need is peace of mind, peace on earth, and lasting well being. We also need these same very things in other places in the galaxy and universe. It’s not just a problem on earth, everyone has the need for basic compassion and understanding in life, where we all appreciate each other and love as much as possible. It starts with peace on earth.

I hope that you can find the compassion in your hearts to be kind to each other and be understanding while doing no harm to others. As far as my creative work, it’s only just began. I consider most all of what I have been working as merely research and development. Those that had to put up with dealing with my thinking, behavior, and lack of gravity. You will however have to understand that the work is very important and will be remembered.

When the work is complete you can make heads or tails of the whole situation for later. Until then, be cool. Be well. Have some fun. Thanks to Momz who was very patient while not understanding my creative mind needed to roam the very wild places in the safety of a calm environment.

Photo by Ctopher Thomas - self.

Is Solitude The Only Solution?

What Really Matters In Life

Personal Growth is one of the most important aspects to living when you wish to achieve happiness and fulfillment. Everyone seems to be an expert on how to make your life better. By just a few simple habits that when practiced on a daily basis will bring you a better life.

The problem is we have to many lifestyle coaches and not enough people that will do common sense things. Recently I read an article that while it was well written and even thought out very well. It however leaves an empty pit in my mind about what is important.

A happy and fulfilling life is one where your emotional, spiritual, and physical needs are being well met if not above and beyond what is necessary.

It’s not only possible to have your emotional needs met, it’s essential. Having your spiritual needs met can make your emotional needs feel less difficult. And everyone goes through times that are tough, so it’s important to have something to fall back on in the difficult emotional times. Everyone needs to feel their life has special meaning.

What are your real needs?

When ones physical needs are not being met then life begins to decay and it impacts the persons emotional and spiritual needs. But we have to consider these aspects through the proper field of vision to understand them and what is really important.

In matters of personal growth, all the factors have to be addressed. When someone is prevented from having growth in emotional, spiritual, or physical ways; it harms them. It can often harm them in ways that are very difficult to repair.

People are addicted to distractions. They are constantly totally addicted to not spending time with themselves. People today are going from one distraction to the next without listening to darn thing anyone really says.

The real problem today is that people don’t listen to each other. They are so distracted with their feelings and the thoughts those feelings create. With this endless feedback cycle they can not hear a word someone else has to say.

The problem is not technology. It’s not that the world is so connected that people no longer can have self control and function. The problem is that their expectations for what is reasonable is broken.

Dive Deeper

People have become so shallow and superficial that they no longer have deep meaningful conversations about life. Everything is about what is on the surface. And on the surface is just dross scum that doesn’t want anything deeper than talk about the weather.

The other problem is that people that are well in touch and connected with themselves seem illogical to people that are lost in today’s feedback loops of the heart and mind.

Those who are in touch with themselves seem far too different than those who are out of touch with themselves. We need to address these issues that people are so judgmental that they can not accept anyone being as broken as they are to stay alive.

Again, the problem isn’t with technology. It’s what and how people communicate. And what their expectations are for how they feel. People are no longer thinking, they are only feeling. When someone no longer thinks, then they can not be reasoned with because their feelings are becoming illogical. They have no way to communicate how they feel, and we need compassion for them to sort it out.

How To Change

When a being becomes a logical well reasoned and in touch with themselves then chaos and confusion seem to vanish. It becomes self evident truth that speaks to us, not the noise of what they want us to believe.

Those people that only rely upon their feelings to communicate seem like wild animals that are a danger to the rational mind.

So while being connected is good, if that connection means being away from other people that will spend physical time with you. Then you are going to feel the effects of being more isolated. Then life starts going from one dopamine rush to the next waiting for the fix that makes you feel connected again.

The solutions start in our families. With our friends, and with people that we want to reach. What is sad is when within our own social groups that when we reach out for help that the calls go unanswered. People today will try to down-play your problems as if they are not important. The key to success here is not to make small problems big ones, and always keep the small ones to yourself. Learn to deal with small problems, and only ask for help for the big stuff.

This is the biggest problem, people are dying for help and connection and for someone to listen to them. When we ask for help; no one does anything but say, “I wish that I could help you, but there is nothing I can do to make it better.”

Do Better Everyday

The real problem is everyone has pity on their lips but none in their hearts. Problems like this have to change for the better. When people reach out everyone is either too busy. Or has their own set of problems that they want to deal with and anyone else’s problems are trivial compared to their own.

The only way to stop this madness is to start giving back to others in ways that make them feel needed and useful. To bring back the feeling of physical connection, emotional connections, and spiritual connections.

Instead of trying to condemn everyone, reach out for your own personal growth and learn something new. Learn all you can about yourself as a person. Get to know yourself better than ever before. When you have mastered that, then always do maintenance in keeping what you believe in good repair.

Don’t be selfish in doing things only for yourself. Help others likewise to come to understand and think. If you teach a robot what to think, not how to think, it will live it’s whole life believing it’s not programmed from the start.

How To Journal….

Great Idea’s

Keeping a journal is a good idea, it can get you through many tough times, it can remind you of the good times too. The key is to be consistent in writing everyday and to cover all the important parts of your life and day. It can help you learn, grow, to become better day by day. If you want to stretch you mind, if you want to learn to think better; keep a journal.

Here are a few things I have learned about keeping a journal:

1. Do write the date, time, place at the top of every entry.

If you want to get really creative write the moon phase and temperature too.

2. Write everyday.
3. Don’t be afraid of your feelings, until you put them down you never know what you really think.
4. Review every few months.

Steps Forward

If you carry your journal with you, then that five minutes of down time can be used to write, even if it’s good or bad times, you can make a note of it. Keep writing until you feel grounded in your life, comfortable, confident, and happy.

After years of keeping journals and reviewing the progress you have made you can feel pretty good about your efforts, and remember where you were and what you were doing. Maybe they won’t make a movie about you, that’s not the point; keeping a journal is good for your mind. Keeps you on your toes and thinking, growing, learning. Try to write something different everyday without repeating yourself. Watch your creativity grow.

here is a link that is more in-depth than I am covering here with some good ideas.

http://lifehacker.com/why-you-should-keep-a-journal-and-how-to-start-yours-1547057185