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“I didn't know how to journal. But, I pushed through, and I must have sat there for, I guess, maybe a half an hour.  And then all of a sudden, a surge just came right through me and out came a poem, and I had never written anything before in my life. I've done hundreds and hundreds of journals since then, and I find that it is an excellent tool for getting to know yourself and for solving problems. Journaling has really helped me grow from the inside to the outside.”

If you have never journaled before, DiBona offers some simple tips. She suggests setting aside a special time every day to write. It should be the same time each day, although journaling throughout the day is encouraged so your thoughts and feelings continue to flow. Have a specific place where you feel comfortable and can relax. As in meditation, she suggests getting quiet and completely clearing the mind, which leaves a space for new thoughts and creativity to enter. 

If you do not know how to write in a journal, she suggests starting by writing a gratitude list of what is important, what you are grateful for that very minute, in the present, not in the past or future, but what is right there for you right now. She encourages keeping a journal with you and journaling all the time, whenever an idea or feeling comes. 

Journals are not limited to writing. Drawings, sketches, notes to yourself or others, ideas, and quotes can all be included. DiBona's journal, which she keeps with her at all times, is full of poems, ideas for her paintings, notes, even collages and other memorabilia glued in.

“ Journaling is a good way to be your own best friend, your own best therapist,' DiBona explains. 'Whether it is a fear that we have, a goal that we want to meet, a dream that we've been thinking about, when you put it down on paper, you can really see it more clearly.  Whatever you think about constantly, you bring into your existence. So instead of just having it floating around, you bring it out to clarify it, release it, bring about a dream, create a goal.” 

A very talented artist and professor of typography at the Portfolio Center, DiBona uses letters and words in her artwork. Her studio features an extensive variety of journals featuring her original artwork and lettering.  She and her staff can design a custom journal, professionally printed in her studio, or teach others to do it on the computer.

DiBona actually paints the cover designs on 24-by-24 inch canvas and reproduces them on her journals. She also helps people self-publish books and journals, sells original prints, collage paper, cards, and is coming out with a line of rubber stamps, chocolates, and coffee mugs.

Freelance writer Debbie Ellison can be reached at write-on@mindspring.com