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Learn to Journal Like Ralph Waldo Emerson (Week 2 of 6)

Hello Reader,

This is the second of a six-week series I'll be sending, called "Learn to Journal Like Ralph Waldo Emerson."

I know, it's a catchy title.😂

Here's a quick breakdown of what you can expect.

• Week 1 (Aug 27) - A journal is a savings bank of your ideas.
• Week 2 (Today) - You must be in constant contact with your journals.
• Week 3 (September 10) - The John Locke indexing system of journals and other ideas.
• Week 4 (September 17) - Emerson's improved index of journals and the 400-page master index.
• Week 5 (September 24) - Topic-specific journals and how to use them.
• Week 6 (October 1) - Making withdrawals from the savings bank of ideas.

You Must Be in Constant Contact with Your Journals

Last week, we talked about how Emerson thought of his 263 journals as a savings bank for his best ideas.

This week, let’s look at how he actually drew from that bank.

Emerson was in constant contact with his journals. Of course, he couldn’t carry all 263 volumes around, but he always had his current notebook at hand and relied on an indexed system to revisit the older ones.

Starting next week, we’ll dig into his indexing methods. For now, it’s worth noticing that Emerson didn’t just write in his journals—he read and reread them, again and again. He notated passages, added footnotes, and scribbled afterthoughts in the margins long after the original entries were made. He paid attention to where his thinking had changed, what still felt useful, and what he no longer believed.

That’s the real secret: Emerson didn’t keep journals just to fill shelves. He wrote them to return to them, to study them, and to put them to work.

This Week's Journaling Homework

📝YOUR HOMEWORK: Your Emersonian assignment this week is simple: gather up all your old, half-filled journals and give them a home on your shelf. Then, open them. Read through your past entries. Notice how far you’ve come, and pay attention to the way your ideas and logic have evolved.

Next week, we’ll start the process of indexing these journals so you can get real mileage out of them.

👋 Until next week, read slowly – take notes – apply the ideas.

-Eddy

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Works Cited:
​Richardson, Robert D. First We Read, Then We Write: Emerson on the Creative Process. University of Iowa Press, 2009.

Richardson, Robert D. Emerson: The Mind on Fire. University of California Press, 1995.

New This Week: ​

This Week's Book Recommendation Ethics in a Nutshell Watch the Show How to Journal Like Emerson (Week 1) Opening a Bookstore $10 Can Open a Great Bookstore. Will You Help Us?

This Week's Book Recommendation

Ethics in a Nutshell by Matt Deaton, PH.D.

I love this book. I think everyone should spend some time studying the branch of philosophy we call Ethics. It opens your eyes to the fact that there’s more than one way to think about “good” behavior.

Chapter 5 alone is worth the price of the book ($14.99 on Amazon). If you can, grab it from a local bookstore—but it's hard to find.

Why is Chapter 5 so good? It’s titled The Four Dominant Ethical Theories, and it covers Kantianism, Consequentialism (including Utilitarianism), Virtue Ethics (Aristotle), and Care Ethics.

Deaton is a great witer. At just 96 pages, the book is short, accessible, and a lot of fun to read and learn from.

Watch the Show

Learn to Journal Like Ralph Waldo Emerson (Part 1 of 6)

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In case you missed the first installment, here's the YouTube version.

In this episode, I begin a six-part series on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s journaling habits. Emerson didn’t see his journals as a place to record daily events—he saw them as a savings bank for ideas. I’ll explain what that means and why changing how you view your journal is the first step toward making it a tool for thinking. I’ll also share a book recommendation that can help you choose the right kind of notebook for this practice.

Hi, I'm Eddy. How Can I Help? Feel free to respond to this email. Let me know how I can make your experience in our reading community better, or if you have questions, I'm all ears. ​ As always, read slowly - take notes - apply the ideas. -Eddy

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