For the Journal Writer in You

Few things provoke such powerful feelings of fear and intimidation as journal writing. Achieving the goal--noting the ordinary and extraordinary events in life--is often hampered by fretting over subject matter, grammar, spelling and even handwriting.

Friends and L.A.-based business partners Felice Willat and Ilene Segalove have taken the worry out of the process with their “Woman’s Book of Changes,� a beautifully bound loose-leaf guide and journal that’s much more than a hand-holding device. It’s also a lot less touchy-feely than it sounds.

Says Willat, who founded the Day Runner brand of appointments books, “At that time what people needed was something to organize their information and their time.�

Adds Segalove, an author and radio producer, “This is a map to navigate your inner world.�

The map contains suggestions, guidelines and exercises that allow interpretation and expression.

“A Guide to Your LifeStory Timeline� provides an actual timeline to record significant events; BodyScape encourages the writer to explore her physical side, as it relates to her emotional side; and “Reflections� gives ideas to inspire the writer, such as, “Review your life and recall two good deeds you performed.� Supplements will be available periodically; the first is “Reflections on Our Mothers.�

“We thought of it as a place, rather than something to do,� Segalove says. “When we started out, we were talking about change, which is very uncomfortable to some people. This book is about truth, your personal truth, and we had to convince people that that’s a positive word.�

The inner voice, Willat adds, “is something many women haven’t had a relationship with. I find when I write in my journal I feel peaceful and that I’ve answered a lot of questions and resolved many conflicts. It’s really quite miraculous.�

Says Segalove, “We’re hoping that women will see that self-awareness isn’t about self-absorption. But self-awareness does lead to responsibility and the ability to give to others.�

* To order Woman’s Book of Changes, $45, call (888) 2-JOURNAL.