Ode to Journaling...A Blog is Born

Journaling is one of those activities that either strikes fear in hearts or connects deeply with leaders. And we are all leaders of one sort or other. I can identify with the fear as this unfinished blog/journal entry has been sitting on my desktop for a week looking at me expectantly. Still unfinished. And my business partner keeps bugging me to “write something, come on, you do it ALL the time”. He’s right. I do, so why is blogging any different. And what value will it hold?

Looking back at your school experiences might shed light on why each of us sides with either fear or connection with journaling / blogging / whatever we now call the semi permanent recording of our world. Having kept a journal since I was a child for personal reasons (in pencil, in case I wanted to go back and change my immature words) and then later in life as a theatre arts student for academic credit (thank you Dr. Norris for allowing us to use images, clippings and scribbles), I eventually identified with a certain sense of security in writing down my thoughts. It gave me, an extrovert, a ready-made sounding board for clarifying my thoughts, a vessel for collecting my emotions and containing them to some degree and helped me identify, stick to and celebrate goals. Now, I have multiple journals for various purposes. There’s the one I keep by my bed – which is always attractive and of high quality – the one that I record home renovation plans in, the scribbler with my poetry and song lyrics and even a portable journal I can slip into a pocket or briefcase. No doubt that when I am gone, my children will wonder if I ever looked up from the plethora of literature I have created through these journals; and that is a fitting legacy, I figure.

So, am I addicted to journaling? Could be. I can’t seem to leave my house without something to write on! And they have all been wonderfully useful; I love them all. There have been many a great plan born inside (that’s how I planned my start in real estate investing), trips dreamed up and executed (when Customs asks just what I bought in Italy or France, I KNOW), notes of greatness (random, chaotic, quotable and delicious) and life schematics (how WILL the furniture fit in the basement) that have seen first light in my spontaneous hand. Some plopped out on the back of a napkin with worldwide apologies to all the wait staff who never got their pens back. Or they shuffled into my tiny moleskin that is always in my briefcase – a ready-made source of Kelly-ism tweets good for at least 10 more years. You might say: timing impacts my journaling. When the mood strikes me, I MUST be able to record it, lest it be lost forever.

And so, I begin the Keystone Leadership Development Blog. Be kind, I don’t really know who’s reading right away, but I trust you will be careful with my Blog Baby. Remember, it’s just a journal with a beautiful cover into which I will pour my wonderings, revelations, curiosities and queries. It’s not that hard I figure; I have been doing it all my life.