About Me

IvaLou Nebeker Zeigler

If you happened to peek in my journals, you would read how it felt to grow up the sixth of nine children, why I, a small-town Idaho girl, ended up working in Hawaii then South Africa, and what interpersonal communications was really like at BYU. My journal pages document that finding true love isn’t glamorous or easy, but marriage is worth all the sacrifice and effort to develop the deepest bonds of happiness. Add four children to the equation and you’ll see my increased joy, unexpected adventures, and occasional “terrible horrible no good very bad days.” The pages record my work as a paraprofessional counselor where I taught journal writing and study skill workshops. I also confess my secret desire of becoming a published writer and reveal how it felt when I saw two of my short stories in print. I believe—dreams are realized and bumps in the road just make you stronger.

I chose the idiom "Turn Over a New Leaf" because I love the expression. It means to begin anew, to make a fresh start, or to correct one's behavior or attitude. The idiom was born in the 16th century when people referred to pages in a book as leaves. “Turning over a leaf” meant turning to a blank page in a workbook to begin a new lesson. What the expression suggests is that you can change your behavior for the future and begin again as if turning a new page in the book of your life. Today is a good day to begin a journal and/or revive your old one with some creative writing.

Why I created this blog? In the autumn of 2015, as I was leaving a writing workshop hosted by Saint George City Library, I overheard the librarian say, “Now if I could just find someone to teach a journal workshop.”

A multitude of thoughts whirled through my mind. Years ago I had taught a journal writing workshop and loved teaching, but it had been a while since I presented that topic. I wasn’t even sure I could find my file after de-junking scores of boxes with our recent move. And I worried...what if my delivery wasn’t stimulating to the group?

I couldn’t let the idea go. It burned in my heart like a warm cozy fire. A week later, I volunteered. Then I panicked. I couldn’t find my file. “It’s okay,” I told myself, “you can create a new one.”  I began my research and although I found some interesting bits and pieces, the material was limited. My earlier workshop was developed out of assignments and note-taking from my BYU Creative Writing Professor, Louise Plummer.  Not only is she an incredible author, she was an amazing professor. My missing folder was knowledge I deemed irreplaceable.

You can imagine how elated I felt when I located my file! Right then and there, I committed to start this Blog, to build it as a collective resource of past and new journal writing tips and techniques.

May your journal writing adventure be the best to date!