Journal Journeys: Amber Hofland

          Amber started journaling in third grade. She's always journaled. What started her small obsession is the fact that she really wanted to practice her handwriting. It's a way for her to think without speaking, and she thinks way more than she speaks. 
          Instead of keeping just one journal at a time, Amber keeps a rotation of five. Each journal holds a different part of her life. The themes include songwriting, prayers, sermon/life notes, reflections, and the one featured in this blog post; a sentence-a-day journal. 
          The act of writing down a sentence everyday enables her to constantly learn. She writes everything from the superficial to the deep. Looking back, she can remember what enabled her to write down each sentence, which propels her to live a better life. With five journal journeys going on at once, here's a glimpse at one of them. 

• October 28, 2013: If Love does not displace you, you are displacing love.
• October 30, 2013: At my age, every day is and identity crisis.
• November 4, 2013: Love is like a song that doesn't resolve -- unsettlingly beautiful.
• November 9, 2013: Never stop getting to know the people you know best.
• December 18, 2013: If life turns out to be what you expected, you're not living well enough. 
• January 6, 2014: They fell asleep and started a war.
• February 10, 2014: People ruin people. But people build people, too.
• March 31, 2014: If we ever look back on this unwritten page and find words, I hope the say it was worth today.
• April 11, 2014: But time is just a man's illusion, not the disposition of the world.
• April 23, 2014: With every shore we find, be sure, we will get lost again. 
• May 31, 2014: After six years, it's still nice to meet you. 
• June 15, 2014: Normal is a sign that we've taken things for granted again.
• July 30, 2014: This is not an account of my eyes and what they noticed, but rather of my heart and what it became. 
• August 7, 2014: When changing people meet again, 'tis a sweet delight to call you friend.
• August 20, 2014: The world is really just people made of people. 
• September 30, 2014: Just when we think we know what's happening, something happens.
• October 20, 2014: Take what is worthless and make precious my heart.
• November 20, 2014: Remembering is the responsibility of enlightenment. 
• November 26, 2014: I've built a house in Love, and I'm not going back to stone.
• December 23, 2014: Richest is the heart that is poor.
  
• January 5, 2015: Love is like listening to a song for the first time and realizing that somehow it always has been and forever will be your favorite.
  
• January 22, 2015: Love specializes in long shots.
  
• February 20, 2015: Love turns us gentle and makes us powerful.
  
• March 31, 2015: This world is far too dark to close your eyes and far to beautiful for us to fear.
  
• April 19, 2015: Lovely things don't have the privilege of being unlovely.
  
• April 21, 2015: Love refines before it reforms, then repeats.
  
• May 21, 2015: I'll give you my sword, and we'll go to war, you for me and I for you.
  
• July 17, 2015: To find someone who's made out of the same stuff as you, and to keep making each other something new. 
• August 2, 2015: Because love knows where you smile starts.​