Month: September 2019

Benefits of Journaling

Hello friends. Thank you for checking into my little space of the webosphere. I am so happy to have you back! I wanted to delve into the benefits of journaling today. To be completely honest, I don’t journal (GASP), so it feels super hypocritical to write a blog post about an activity I don’t participate in. I have convinced myself that there is no time amidst working full time, writing manuscripts and blogs, and enjoying time with my family. Still, maybe if I write the blog it will persuade many of us to start journaling. 

I watched a video teaching in a writing program I am enrolled in through compel training last night. I was reminded in the class, that journaling benefits writers because it provides you with writing practice, IF you focus on grammatically correct writing. Also, you may use some of that journal content in a blog post or book. I decided to dig into some of the other benefits of journaling, and thought you might appreciate me sharing what I found out.

One benefit that stuck out to me is the link between journaling and memory. We draft our ideas in words, and forming those letters causes our minds to compose and edit, forcing us to recall information. That continued recollection strengthens your memory.  I know I could use that, jeez—what did I go upstairs for again? 

Additionally, discipline is a key benefit of journaling as well. If you commit to journaling every morning, for say fifteen minutes, that discipline becomes a habit. And habits are just that—habits. So, if discipline in journaling exists, then that same dedication will bubble over into other areas of your life. 

There are some more obvious benefits as well, such as increasing your vocabulary. Unless your journaling is purely an emotional outlet, which is beneficial and therapeutic in itself, then you will have a natural inclination to research new words. And if anyone else remembers the SAT, vocabulary is a systemic measure of intelligence. Would you agree? And has your vocabulary increased through journaling?

The artist in me could not leave out the creativity and healing journaling provides. If you let loose, and allow ideas that pop into your mind flow through to your fingertips and onto your keyboard, you will probably create some magnificent language-art (like that word?). Also, if you write through any challenges you face, working through them in words, might actually resolve them for you. Journaling increases your emotional intelligence as well by allowing you to process your own emotions, and empathize with others’ feelings. If you journal, have you noticed enhanced empathy?

Finally, journaling can help you hone in on your goals, and improve communication, which are relevant skills in almost any line of work. And those who communicate well on paper are linked to being better speakers. 

So, if you weren’t convinced to journal before, hopefully you are now! (I am a little more open, folks.) What did you think of this blog post? Do you journal? And if you don’t, will you start? What have you gained through journaling?

Thanks for stopping by my blogspot. See you soon, same time, same place. 

Book Review: The Gifted School

Hi there, friends! Today, I am sharing a book review on The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger. It was published in July of 2019. The novel was brilliant, and I can’t wait to share my thoughts with you. You can buy the book here.

The story takes place in the prosperous, liberal, high-achieving, fictional town of Crystal, Colorado. It follows the lives of five families, four of whom have been friends for over a decade. The fifth family cleans the houses of some of the other four families. The author wrote the story in the third-person omniscient point of view through one member of each family’s perspective. The title of each chapter tells you whose perspective you are going to hear. I thought it was nicely done, and I loved how one person from each family made you feel connected to all five families.

The community of friends are well intentioned, but when a gifted magnet school opens up for all local communities—not just Crystal, all of their kids are competing for a spot. Or maybe it’s just the parents competing, because most of the kids seemed to feed off that energy. And, of course, in the land of Ivy league degrees and old money—all of their kids are gifted—right? Even if their parents hire the best tutors to ‘teach’ their kids how to ace the gifted test, they are still gifted, right? High expectations for their children and individual ambitions end up colliding in a mess of emotions, old dark secrets, and special surprises.

Though we hear the perspectives of members from each family, the most amplified voices come from Rose and Beck. Rose works in a hospital where some kids fight to live another day, yet she still obsesses over her daughter Emma’s entrance into the magnet school. She is especially consumed by competing with her best friend Samantha’s daughter, also named Emma. Beck is characterized as a self-focused, alpha male. We have all met the type, right? His first marriage failed, and his second one seems to be on that same path, but his twin boys are talented and need a strong father figure. I won’t say anymore, because you need to read the book to find out.

My favorite character is the son of the cleaning woman, and grandson of the family member whose perspective we read in the novel. His small, service-oriented town falls within the qualified region of testing for the magnet school, and to say the boy is gifted would be an understatement. The eleven-year-old boy is an intricate paper folding (origami) genius. In my opinion he has to be the most gifted kid in the whole novel. But truly, within every kid, like every person, lives a unique gift, even if not the kind of gift required to get into a magnet school. And shouldn’t we all be grateful for our unique gifts? And shouldn’t we all be proud of our children’s unique gifts? 

The author held my attention with the suspense, intelligent writing, and a whopper of a surprise ending. I cannot recommend this book enough friends—5 out of 5 stars.

I will say goodbye with a quote from the book that made me chuckle: There is something so tantalizing about having a gifted child that some parents will go to almost any lengths to prove they have one. (Sheila Moore and Roon Frost, The Little Boy Book)

Hope you enjoyed this book review about The Gifted School. Will you be scooping this novel up for your next read? Have you read The Gifted School, and if so what did you think of it? Do tell, I would love to know.

See you again soon at my blogspot for the next bookish topic. Keep reading, fellow bookies.