I got my Theme System Journal this week! I am so excited to try it out! A few weeks ago I wrote about how I was going to transition the way I document my progress on my yearly theme from a spreadsheet to this journal which is more “analogue.” I have my reasons for doing this which include...

1. I think using the journal will be more intimate...meaning that using it will bring me closer to what I am trying to accomplish.

2. It gets me away from using a computer.

I thought I’d share how I have the journal set up as I am going to start using it this coming week. The link I provided above takes you to a webpage that Myke Hurley, creator of the journal set up for people interested in giving this a try. The webpage provides an overview of yearly themes and suggestions for how one might go about using each section of the journal.Here is a picture of the cover. It is black and soft...not leather but it feels like leather...with the Cortex symbol showing proudly.I haven’t filled in the first page which includes space to write my name, contact information and when I started the journal. I’ll get to that before Monday. I was so excited to get started I went directly to the next section titled: “Yearly Themes.” Here’s a picture of that page...As you can see there is space to write the theme, a description of the theme and what the user feels the ideal outcomes would be. If the year goes the way I am hoping...I will be practicing these things daily which should lead to more peace in the present moment.The next page I’d like to show you is in the section titled: “Journal Pages.” Here it is...There are 4 boxes of varying sizes waiting for me to write daily about things. I plan on doing this at the end of the day as a part of my daily reflective writing. Myke’s webpage has some suggestions on how to go about using this space and I am thinking of using his “Good,” “Bad,” “Proud,” and “Forward” concept. My thinking is I will be mindful of my ideal outcomes and reflect on an example for each category. Like, maybe I did something that was a “Good” example of “right effort.” If so, I would write about it. Maybe I said something that I should not have said...that would be something I could write about in the “Bad” category focusing on “right speech.”The last section of the journal is titled: “Daily Themes.” Here is what my first attempt at this is going to look like...I have my ideal outcomes written here with the dates for next week. The circles are meant to be used as a way to rank myself with an empty circle=0, 1/2 circle shaded=1/2, and a whole circle shaded=1. These “points” can be counted up for a total at the bottom of the page daily. My thinking right now is that I will start on this page then go write about why I ranked myself in the journal page section. So if I shade in “Right view” fully I could write about it in the “Good” category. If I do not shade in “Right speech” I could write about it in the “Bad” category.I’m thinking next week’s blog post will be focused on my initial thoughts about using the theme system journal for almost a week.