Today is Mother’s Day! If you’re a mom, thank you! Thank you for holding the special title and role of nurturing, loving, pushing, and prodding us kids when we need it, no matter how old we are! 

The emotional roller coaster that is high school graduation continues for us and our kids this week. There will be lots of pictures – pictures with friends, with mentors and teachers, important adults, and of big groups. I think posting these on social media is important. It chronicles the milestone, helps me appreciate the moment a bit more, and social media tools do a great job of bringing back these memories, sometimes at just the right time when I need a boost.

Whether it is social media, or some other micro-blogging platform like Tumblr (https://www.tumblr.com/), I hope you’ve thought about your posts a bit more deliberately. Personally, I have been trying to post a bit more on Instagram and LinkedIn. The latter is more for professional endeavors, but Instagram is purely personal. When I put pictures up there, I’ve been thinking about what it means to me and how I feel about it. It has been interesting because I’ve decided to not post some pictures I might have normally as I realized they wouldn’t have significance to me later. 

If You Want to Do More 
Social media and micro-blogging tools are great because they are simple, fast, and easy to use from multiple devices like a phone or tablet. But, what if you want to dive deeper into your thoughts, opinions, and experiences? Then, you’re probably looking at blogging and/or journaling.

A blog is “a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.” If this is something that you’ve thought about, I’d encourage you to dive in, even if you feel intimidated. It is hard to put yourself out there at first, but the more you write and force yourself to publish, the easier it is. My personal blog is shiftfocus and if you poke around, you’ll see a whole history of attempts and different permeatations.

A journal is “a record of personal events of a personal nature.” Although I’m not sure it is a word or verb, I use “journaling” as the action of writing in a journal. A journal is something more private, but equally as powerful and probably more valuable than a blog. You can do a journal that is like a diary; something you do on a regular basis that becomes a bit of a chronicle of your life. You can also journal about specific events or situations. For example, when I was going though a difficult time with my work, I journaled about it, which helped sort out my thoughts and feelings.

Options to Start a Blog
If you are ready to start a blog, don’t let excuses get in the way Pick a platform and go! If your blog takes off, you can always migrate the content to another platform, so don’t worry too much about what you pick initially. There are lots of options out there, but here are three.

Blogger – https://www.blogger.com/
If this is your first attempt at a blog, I’d recommend this platform. It is free to get started and I used this for some of my early blog attempts. It is very functional, allows multiple people to contribute to one blog (such as a family blog or a dinner club blog), and it is easy to migrate the content to another platform later, if you so desire. It is owned by Google and so presumably, it is easy to try and monetize your content, though I’ve never tried that.

Wix – https://www.wix.com/
I’ve seen some blogs done on Wix and they are beautiful. I have not used it, but it does look like there are free options and upgrade paths to a premium version. If you think you are going to grow your blog and want a platform you can stick with for the long haul, this would be something to check out.

WordPress – https://wordpress.com/
If you’ve done a little research into blogging, you’ve probably come across WordPress. It is the granddaddy of platforms, so you need to know about it. I think they have a free, hosted option, but for first timers I would still recommend Blogger. If you’re thinking you are going to make blogging part of your life and you want customization and control, then you will end up looking into WordPress. However, be ready to invest some time learning it and some money into hosting. 

Options for Your Journal
I am conflicted about the best format for a journal. I type faster than I write, so I like electronic formats. On the other hand, I think there is something very comforting about pen and paper and freestyle writing. 

If you’re the type of person that likes the paper option, you can go something as inexpensive as a composition notebook or go high end and get something like a moleskin notebook. 

For the people looking to go electronic and Mac users, I’ve heard the Day One app (https://dayoneapp.com/) is the best in class. There are lots of options for phones, which seem geared to recording daily activities. If you’re looking for an electronic notebook that you can just write in, and you haven’t checked it out, I recommend Evernote (https://evernote.com/). I have landed on using an iPad, Apple Pencil, and Penultimate (https://evernote.com/products/penultimate), which is a complementary product to Evernote.

Starting a Journal Habit
It is pretty hard to figure out what to write when you are staring at a blank screen or sheet of paper. One technique that I have found effective (thanks to Michael Hyatt) is to create a template that you use for your journal entries. 

Below is my outline. I have a custom paper type in Penultimate with these written out and space to fill them in. You could achieve the same with an standard outline you follow. 

• Things I’m grateful for
• What I read that day
• A prayer list for the day
• Current thoughts – this is just a free form area

Just Write
I know this weeks post was a little technical. I won’t be going down this path often, but wanted to touch on some of the tools I’ve explored. The truth is, anything will work… a piece of paper or a blank MS Word document on your computer. Whether a blog or journal, the key is to write. Writing opens up creative thoughts, allows you to step outside of yourself, forces you to slow down your emotions and ideas and evaluate them, and can provide meaning to seamlessly insignificant occurrences. 

I hope you can find some time during this Sunday, and each Sunday, to write a little it contributes to making all of your Mondays awesome!

Brian