I don’t have an article this month.
I tried. Honestly, I did. Spring stole my attention. Grass needed cutting. Flowers pushed through the dirt. Even my little red tractor demanded affection.
So instead of telling you how to journal, I’m going to suggest something else.
Go for a walk.
Take a slip of paper and pencil. Your phone is acceptable only if you promise to leave it in your pocket. Walk fifty paces. Maybe a hundred. Then stop.
Listen. Not casually. Really listen.
I walk a lot. There aren’t many bad ideas that survive a long walk.
This time of year awakens something inside many of us. We throw open windows. We stand outside longer than necessary. We remember we own lawn chairs. Spring doesn’t politely arrive. It barges through the door demanding attention.
Most of us experience life through noise before anything else.
Traffic rolling down Main Street. A dishwasher humming in the kitchen. The soft drone of a ball game through an open garage. Church bells. Barking dogs. Friends talking over one another at a backyard grill.
Recently, I sat inside a coffee shop while meditation chimes played through hidden speakers. The music was slightly off-key. Not enough to annoy me, but enough to keep pulling at my attention.
Oddly enough, I liked it.
The unevenness felt human.
It reminded me that we spend too much time trying to eliminate the rough edges from life. Silence every distraction. Filter every inconvenience. Organize every thought into productivity.
Maybe that’s why journaling matters.
Not because writing itself is magical, but because journaling forces us to notice things we normally step over.
As a child, I loved visiting a waterfall tucked into the woods. I still remember the cold spray hanging in the air and the deep chatter of the water rolling over the cliff face. The sound filled the entire valley.
Years later, I returned as an adult.
A metal staircase had been bolted along the rock wall so tourists could climb beside the falls. Every footstep rang against the steel. Clang. Clang. Clang.
The waterfall was still there, but the soundscape had changed.
Funny how life works that way.
The older I get, the more I realize journaling is less about recording events and more about recording awareness. The sound of spring rain against a window. The rhythm of your own footsteps. Wind pushing through fresh leaves. Coffee shop bells and imperfect chimes.
Those moments disappear quickly if we don’t stop long enough to notice them.
So maybe this month’s journaling assignment is simple.
Go outside. Walk. Listen.
Then write what the world sounds like.
That is enough.
John Wilkerson writes a monthly column for MNN to share his love of journaling. According to John he “works most days writing and fiddling with his computer. His new, old, home in Menomonie is constantly subjected to DIY mayhem. His background includes ghost writing, newspaper reporting, and a stretch in marketing and advertising.” John may be contacted at [email protected]
