How to Create a Friendship Journal

There are many benefits to journaling about gratitude, but what about creating a book centered on the good things you experience with your friends? A friendship journal is a great way to help you feel positively about the people in your life, and it can also help you prepare a memory journal or other gift for your friend somewhere down the road.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: As long as you want to do it!

It's an ongoing project.

Here's How:

Start with a book to write in. A friendship journal can be made from a simple spiral notebook or it can be as fancy as a leather-bound book. Purchase a book that looks good to you and is welcoming in its design. You want a book that inspires you to write in it. Many book or craft stores carry journals that would work well for this, but you could also create one yourself if you're a crafter.
Choose a set time to write in the journal. In the beginning, you'll need to get in the habit of sitting down to write, so come up with a regular time each week or day, depending on how often you'd like to do it. Before bedtime, first thing in the morning, or on your lunch break are good times to record your thoughts.
Decide if you will write about one friendship, or all of them. There are no right or wrong answers for this. Some people like to write about one friendship in particular, say, someone they only see occasionally or a friend they want to become closer with. Others prefer to record all thoughts related to their friendships.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself when it comes to coming up with something to write about. The point of writing in a journal like this is to actively appreciate the moments you share with friends, so feel free to write about current things that happen, quotes on friendship or forgiveness you find inspiring, things your friend says that made you laugh, or favorite memories.
Recognize the small. All of the small moments and tiny details are what you would most miss about your friendship, so pay attention to them. For example, it might even bug you a little that your friend always texts and then calls right away, but if she weren't here you would miss that. Write the small things your friend does down so you can appreciate them even more.
Take time to read through your journal. Every once in a while, look back over your book to view the fun moments you've shared with the people in your life. What you'll probably find is that you have a lot of small, wonderful moments with your friends and that you are cared about in this world. What's better than that?

Tips:

Don't use the journal to write out angry moments you might have with your friends. You'll regret writing these when you look back over the journal later on.
Don't force yourself to find the "perfect moment" to write about. You may think something is small or inconsequential, but when you add up all those memories it helps illustrate the positive points of your friendships.
Don't worry about aesthetics, like bad handwriting, crossed out words, or ink leaks on the page. The point is to get the words out, not to make them "look" perfect.

What You Need: