Patrons know that I publish a weekly bonus podcast episode via the Roleplay Rescue Patreon entitled, “GM’s Journal”. I just posted the 107th episode of that raw and wild podcast for this week. As ever, it consists of unedited snippets of me talking into the mic which have been lovingly (ahem) crafted into a 30 or so minute log of my week past.

The thing is… as much as I am gratified that the GM’s Journal is enjoyed by my Patrons, the primary reason I record those snippets of thought is because it helps me.

There are basically three types of Journal log that I tend to record:

1. Thoughts arising on the hobby, aka gaming stuff I am thinking about
2. Reflections on the games I have been running or playing in
3. Random comments on life in general which affect how I am able (or not) to engage in my hobby

I record the snippets and I save them to Dropbox. At the end of each week (on Thursday after work) I grab the files and put them into chronological order. I enjoy sprinkling in audio messages I have received from listeners and I tend to add them in chronological order also. The overall effect is that you can see the ebb and flow of my thoughts, ideas, and experiences over the course of Friday to Thursday.

For me, this is incredibly helpful: I can hear myself talking about the stuff I did, the ideas I had, the emotions I express over the period of a whole week. This gives me perspective on the events I am experiencing. It helps me to collect my thoughts and reflect on them later. In short, the whole thing helps me to see the bigger picture of my week.

Taken together, the past 100+ weeks of GM’s Journal give me an audio record of my life as gamer. I can go back and review old episodes – e.g. what was I thinking this time last year? I have noticed patterns of thought and behaviour and been able to reflect on them. All of this from simply opening up my phone’s audio recording app and… well, recording.

Even if you’re not going to share the recordings, I would recommend making some for yourself and reviewing them quietly at the end of a busy week. It’s helpful. It turns out that you can share them as a podcast and people enjoy hearing this stuff too… but that’s simply a bonus.

Game on!