For years I
referred to my journal by the name of the manufacturer (I’m a fan of large
Moleskine journals), because “journal” was not quite right. I incorporate some ideas
from the bullet journal format, but that’s not quite right either because I do
bullets, paragraphs, drawings, diagrams, and more.
Earlier this year
I stumbled upon the term “zibaldone” as another name for a journal that is a
collection of stuff from all across life. This term fits my journaling
process, and the “Z” matches the Z in Zettelkasten, a personal knowledge system I also use (more
another time).
After this
discovery, I began to develop my Z-Process, which is simply the series of steps
I take daily/weekly/etc. to transform sundry Zibaldone notes into concepts that
hold together.
My Z-Process is
still in flux, so the current components are as follows.
- Writing in the Zibaldone locates, structures, and connects the bones of ideas while writing to the blog and the Zettelkasten adds flesh to the bones.
- Discerning idea threads from the Zibaldone
- Processing the threads through iteration. For me, this entails (1) writing reflective notes on what I’m reading, doing, thinking about, (2) rereading the prior day’s notes to discern the threads, and (3) processing the thread by summarizing each relevant entry, grouping the summaries, and composing my thoughts about each grouping.
- Tangentizing (a definition related to group dialogue can be found on this blog) is an integrative process by which allegedly off-topic mental tangents are leveraged to add insight, depth, breadth to other topics. This will get an updated entry later.
My Z-Process is
guided by some important values:
- Reflection within and across ideas stimulates realization of connections.
- Reflection should go somewhere other than in the journal, whether written for public consumption or lived out in the dailies of life.
- Truth and honor are much in need in our time.
I am developing
and using my Z-Process because it leverages how God made me. It provides a way
for me to worship God with my capacities and preferences while acting as a tool
for spiritual growth. I hope it can help others grow as well.
These are my initial public thoughts.
Insight welcome.
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(C) Laura Springer
Musings of a peripatetic wannabe-sage by Laura Springer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License..
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