The culmination of 35 years of journaling led to the recent publication of "My Journal: Remembering and Growing," a book that Bragg describes as a "guided journal" designed to help inspire lifetime growth.
“The idea of a journal is to write a diary,” Bragg said. “But I don’t want to just write down what I did at a certain time of day. I need to evaluate circumstances and figure out did I do OK yesterday? And am I looking forward to problems I’m going to solve tomorrow?”
Bragg, who grew up in West Liberty, has been an educator in the Dayton Christian School system for more than 20 years and said that though he grew up surrounded by a loving family, it wasn’t until he went to college that he embraced the learning process. While in college at Taylor University, he met his wife, Annette and the couple eventually had four sons.
“Plato says the unexamined life is not worth living,” Bragg said. “We can let life happen to us like the wave of the sea or the wind in the air. But we have to decide how we are going to go through it. Life isn’t always easy and doing the right thing isn’t always easy.”
Bragg’s new book offers devotional entries that explain why a person would journal and includes suggestions for topics and thought-provoking questions.
“There are a lot of words in the book and ways to get you to consider your goals,” Bragg said. “But there is also space to respond to the things that are going on in your life.”
Bragg said journals can be vital for people to help them remember family members they have lost.
“My sister died about 20 years ago,” Bragg said. “Her daughter was only six when she lost her mom and she is pregnant with her first child now. Her mom wrote journal entries when she was pregnant with her and she can now experience this precious gift. So, when you have a sister die, there doesn’t seem like there is anything good in that. But sometimes you have to look at the bigger perspective.”
Bragg is starting a blog for marketing purposes and his son, who is a programmer, is working with him to get his journal developed into a mobile app, though Bragg admits he believes there is still value in “picking up a pen and flipping open a book.”
Writing day to day is something Bragg said is important for his life and his career – from devotions to newsletters to announcements. He continues to emphasize the importance of writing and journaling to his students for many reasons.
“I want my kids to be thinkers,” Bragg said. “If I throw journaling out to a kid, it not only gets them thinking about life, it gets them in the practice of writing, thinking and communicating. It’s all a part of learning and growing.”
His book is available at Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble stores.
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