A Month with Day One

Journaling. It’s something we all know about. It’s something we all know is good for us. It’s something we always tell ourselves we need to do. But unfortunately, most of us don’t keep a journal, at least not consistently. I have personally started a journal several times only to find that I quickly forget about it or don’t have anything to say when I do decide to write. But I’m proud to say that with the Day One app, I have overcome these issues, and I’ve successfully journaled every day for over a month straight.


I have been using the Day One app for a little over a month now, and I must say I am impressed. The interface is super-slick. The sharing options are handy. The ability to add context through time, location, weather, and photos is just wonderful. But most importantly, Day One does what a journal app should: It gets me to write in my journal meaningfully and consistently.


The app is so cool and easy to use, it just makes you want to use it. It erases the barrier between your busy life and your desire to write about it. Whenever you get the urge to write a journal entry, just open up the app, hit the giant “+” button, and start writing. There is no limit to how long or short your entries can be. I’ve personally found that writing just one or two paragraphs seems to be sufficient. When I tried to journal before, I would sit down at the end of the day and try to write it all out at once. This seemed intimidating, and the result was never very good. With the Day One app, you can journal whenever and wherever, as often as you like. In the 35 days I’ve been using the app, I’ve written 97 entries, so about two to three per day. But you can write as many as you like.

Often, I get the urge to say something negative in response to a certain situation. And when this happens, I’m tempted to go to social media sites like Facebook or Twitter with these complaints. However, as we all know, comments like these can be very destructive when put in the public eye. One of the ways I use Day One is to vent these negative messages into a private place. I get to express my emotions without having the negative effects of hurting or angering anyone else. Of course, I also write entries when I’m in a good mood, but these usually end up getting shared with others in some way.

But journaling isn’t just about venting anger or expressing joy. Writing about what happens to you and how that makes you feel is a good way to sort through your emotions in a constructive way. Writing about your emotions forces you to think about them and analyze them in a way that you wouldn’t normally do. This has been very helpful to me in understand why I react in certain ways to certain situations and possibly finding better ways to deal with them.

Expression isn’t limited just to words in Day One. You can add a photo to an entry to add a little flair and context. If you’re writing about a significant event that happened to you, you can attach a photo (or take one if you’re writing the entry in real time) to keep forever along with the journal entry. I’ve personally used this feature a few times to remember key events such as a video shoot or a special gift from a loved one. Another way to customize your entries is adding a location, which automatically includes accurate weather information, a very neat feature. Day One also supports Markdown, a very simple coding language used to customize text (bold, italics, etc.), add links, and more. Basically, your journal entries can be just as expressive in the way the words are presented as the words themselves.

And with Day One, journaling isn’t a chore. You can write entries on your own time on a device you always have with you: your phone! Day One is also available for iPad and Mac, if you’d rather journal on those devices. Honestly, using the app is a joy. I wish more apps were built like this one so that I would want to use them more. Day One just makes journaling fun. And if you’re trying to make of a habit of journaling and need a little help, Day One has a built-in reminder feature that can be configured.

Everyone wants to keep a journal, and everyone should keep a journal. If you’ve found a way to journal that works for you, great. If not, you need to give Day One a try. Day One is a fantastic journaling app that makes journaling fun and easy. Plus, it’s created by a great group of people who are constantly updating it (entry tags and search coming very soon!) and love to interact with users. Give Day One a shot, and start journaling today.

Day One is available on the App Store and the Mac App Store.


Mysticism of Ordinary Life

Today in class, we talked about different types of mysticism. One of the types that stuck out most to me was mysticism of ordinary life. Something about that connected with me and compelled me to share this story.

One day early this year, I was walking across campus to the bookstore. I don’t remember why. I had a dozen different problems floating around in my head, and I was completely overwhelmed trying to solve each one. I had just crossed the bridge over Harkrider and was walking underneath some trees on the way. There was no one around; it was almost totally silent. All of a sudden, the wind changed directions and hit me just the right way. I stopped. In that moment, everything changed. My problems melted away. I felt this energy that I couldn’t explain. It was like God had whisked all my anxiety away and left His peace in its place. It was like He was telling me, “Everything will be OK.” I probably stood there for 30 seconds, enjoying that feeling as long as I could. I can’t explain it. But never before and never since have I felt so alive. I praise the God who can use the most mundane of circumstances to reveal Himself and heal our brokenness.

My Super-Busy Weekend

Hi, friends! I know I haven’t been posting enough on here. I’m sorry. Since school started, things have been crazy. I’m working on a new vlog that I will hopefully have uploaded by the end of the week, and I promise to keep my site updated as much as possible. Now I’m going to tell you about my weekend.

This weekend was insanely busy. You know how usually college students stress all week and then use the weekend to cool down? Well, that didn’t work out for me this week. On my way home Friday afternoon, I drove through a terrible storm that wreaked havoc on my town. When I got home, we had no power. So much for cooking a frozen pizza and watching Netflix all night. Instead, I went out to eat with my family, and by the time I got home, the power was back on. But by then, it was late. So I watched a little TV and went to sleep.

Saturday was supposed to be an all-day Three Minutes to Midnight shoot, but that didn’t quite work out. Schedule conflicts arose, so we decided to start later in the day. I spent the morning with my family and then headed to the warehouse to film a few scenes. I packed several costumes but ended up spending the entire time behind the camera, which I’m more comfortable with anyway. We only filmed for a few hours because of more scheduling conflicts. Making a movie isn’t easy. Then, I went to Kevin’s to plan future shoots and headed back to Greenwood to watch the Razorback game with Clayton and his family, which was a huge disappointment to say the least.

Sunday morning, I had the honor of worshipping God at my home church. Going to Cavanaugh is seriously one of my favorite things. I love the people, the music, the preaching. It’s all amazing. After church, I had lunch at home with my family. Then I immediately went back to the warehouse to film for TMTM. We spent the afternoon outside in the heat wearing suits. It wasn’t as hot as I thought it would be, though, and we filmed a really important scene. It turned out great. After filming, Kevin and I went to a youth worker meeting at church (wearing our suits, of course), and then I went to Merge Bible study. Some friends and I went to Cheddar’s after Sunday School, and then I headed back to school. After answering literally over 20 emails, I’m now blogging before bed.

Needless to say, it’s been a long, busy weekend. But it was fun, and I love being home. I can’t wait to finish TMTM and show it off to my family and friends. It’s stressful sometimes, but it’s worth it. I can’t wait to see what this week holds for me. I’ll keep you guys posted. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you on the Internet!