Journal-o-Rama

That's the title that just popped into my head...hmmm....have been avoiding this blog...have also been avoiding sending out 'The Second One' even though it's been finished for days. Today, however, is the day...Journal #2 will be off to Vancouver in no time...I swear! This morning, I figured out why I've been slowwwwwwly working on the journals...it's 'cause I've started missing them already! What will I do when all six are out of my hands....ahhhhhhh....so...here's the relief part: this project is no longer simply about 'Six Travelling Journals' - I'm going to send out ONE-HUNDRED TRAVELLING JOURNALS!!!! (and when I finish those, I will send out another 100). I realized that I have way too many people and places to send journals to. (a good dozen have already expressed interest in writing in one, which bothered me at first -- 'you can't just ask me for one of my journals, I have to feel it -- gimme a break Claudia' -- but now I realize that it is a compliment and another step closer to reaching an infinite goal. The goal is to touch the whole world. Six Travelling Journals. What was I thinking? Ha! I wasn't. I did dream that only one journal travelled the world - now I'm making that dream a reality that is even bigger than the dream itself. Wow.

So much love,
Claudia :)

PS: Each journal is a unique gift to each person that it's passed on to. My dear friend Kate and the girl who co-received the first journal said that when you give something to someone, it makes them feel like they're valuable. Too many people don't feel cherished. This journal gives you permisson to celebrate the greatness that's in you. You are important and your greatness needs to be shared.

PPS: The song 'Message in a Bottle' is a perfect example of what's going on here. One of my students told me that the guy sends out 1 Message in a Bottle and at the end of the song, he goes back to the shore and receives 1000 Messages in Bottles back! Now imagine, the entire world communicating via journals! I am going to keep fighting against our soul-sucking, electronic world by 'handwriting' my thoughts to the world. It is more touching to receive a letter in the mail that someone took the time to write, than a quick message via email. Isn't it?
Yesterday, I requested my Danish friend's mailing address and she replied with her email address! When she realized that I actually wanted to send her something in the mail she called me 'sooooo old-fashioned'! I say go old-fashioned, go!

PPPS: My ps's are long winded. I don't even know that they stand for or how to do a third PS - anyone care to enlighten me?

The Second One is Ready to Rock (and a thought outside the box)

Heya, just wanted to mention that I just finished writing 15 pages into The Second One -- the book is smaller, but still, it received a lot more attention and TLC than The First One - and this of course suddenly makes sense to me - You see, the first journal was sent to NYC - NEW YORK CITY - everything is fast-paced and full of haste...just like I was in getting it there...the second journal however, is going to VANCOUVER, BC, where people are chill..laid back...'tis perfect...I spent a few hours writing down my teenage girl thoughts -- I'm 30 yrs. old, but when it comes to boys, I turn 16 again. Ha!

Now for...

A Thought Outside the Box

Ok, so ever since I first thought about this project..I always pictured the journal going to many, many people and each individual person filling out a few pages and then passing it on...until... this adorable & rather intelligent boy (who I'm recently getting to know) told me that the journal in NYC would probably end up in the hands of a homeless man who would fill the entire book, pass away on the street leaving the journal to be found by police who would mail it back to me. Wow.

Now of course...this led me to think ahead to a future journey of the travelling journals...the awesome possibility of creating a movie out of this!!!

Enchanted.
Enthralled.
Thrilled.

Claudia :)

(I wanted to sign-off: Magically Yours, but felt too dorky)

The First One - travels to New York City! The Second One...

On January 24th, 2008 - I woke up at 3:30am to drive Kate & Ben to the airport - they were heading to NEW YORK CITY - (sigh) - all of a sudden it hit me - The First Journal!!! There was not a doubt in my mind that this was it. The first journey of the first journal. So excited. I also felt compelled to place a gift inside 'the gift' for my friends. I stopped somewhere near Kate's house to hastily write my first message - no getting this right - nothing profound - I simply wrote down exactly what was happening in my life at that moment. ie: sorry for being late to pick you up -- then I wrapped the journal in tissue paper and placed it in a beautiful gift bag. Don't worry Ben, it was re-used... I insisted that Ben & Kate wait to open the gift until they got on the plane. I was smiling the whole way home.

This evening, I began writing into The Second One - will send this to a special person in Vancouver.

As I started writing tonight, I realized just how different the personalities of each journal will be.

A Trail of Faith -- I have faith that the journal journeys will end where they began.

So much love.

Claudia :)

The Name of Each Journal

To keep things simple and to the point, the following names have been given to the 'Six Travelling Journals':

The First One
The Second One
The Third One
The Fourth One
The Fifth One
The Sixth One

If and when someone comes upon one of these six, please comment on this blog and refer to the name of the Journal in your hands.

Can't wait to hear from you!

Claudia :)

The Beginning

On January 14, 2008 I had the 'journal dream'. Basically, a journal gets sent all over the world and then back to its original place when it becomes full. Today, I purchased six beautiful journals at a store called 'Garden of Light' in Ottawa, Ontario CANADA - I intend to write an introduction and the first journal entry into each one and then send them to six different places. I'm hopeful that each will enter into the hands of people who will participate in filling the journals with their thoughts, wishes, dreams, feelings, favourite quotes, songs, etc... Anything goes - drawings, photos, diary entries, songs, poetry, scenes, monologues, letters, cd's w/ music, etc... The entries can be anonymous...or not. It's entirely up to the person holding the book. The point is to pass it on to another person, by hand or by mail or simply to leave it in a public place to be found by someone else. Once the journal is full, the final person will mail it back to the one who started it:
Claudia Jurt, 2 Daly Ave. Ottawa, Ontario CANADA K1N 6E2
Anyone, who is happy to have their entries published can email a message with contact info to cjurt@rogers.com and/or call 613.255.4796. Also, feel free to make comments on this blog if you have come upon one of the six journals. It will be interesting (to say the least) to see what ends up happening.

Thanks so much for reading (and writing).

All the very best,
Claudia :)