Angie Athanasakos

I am a proud mom to two adult children who are finding their way in the world with self-awareness and admirable resolve, and a wife to a man who's made (and continues to make ) many blessings possible.  Even so, life is not a linear journey.  There are peaks, valleys, struggle, ease and everything in between. I sometimes wonder if we knew what lay before us and birth was voluntary would we even raise our hand...

For the better part of the last two years, I struggled to find the purpose for my blog. I thought, talked, walked, and sadly, confusion and indecision sabotaged every download. Thankfully, my saving grace was my daily commitment to my journal and the words that would inevitably pour out of me. All I knew was that if I kept bringing my desire to the page, it would inevitably do what it does best: it would work it all out.

For several years, I have longed to share the gift that daily journaling has been in my life. Yet, whenever I thought about outlining its profound impact, I would get a knot in my stomach. I mean, where would I even begin? Afterall, hasn't it all been said?

It wasn't until this past summer that I discovered something about journaling that had eluded me. 

The last four years have been the most challenging I have ever experienced. Extreme and abrupt changes layered and lost in a mixture of mid-life reflection and self-awareness found me busting at my seems. Too much. Too fast and for far too long. 

Showing up on the page every day kept my mind tight and my emotions from spiralling. It was during this most challenging time that my daily writing ritual taught me its inherent mission. Above all else, journaling is about pouring out "the excess". The "stuff" that burden us. The answers we carry, only to discover we've been asking the wrong questions and the problems we cannot solve, because we lack understanding. 

By definition, and in its simplest form, "journaling" is a daily record of occurrences, experiences, or observations. 

For me, it is a daily written entry culminating into a collection of writings destined to uncover truth and bring order through self-examination and reflection. An open space which allows me the privacy and freedom to invite in the right questions, and the path for the answers to find me. 

A haven, granting me enough grace to write it out so I can work it out.