Start the new year with a fresh House journal

If Father Christmas did not put one of these new guided house journals from Insight Editions under your tree, it is worth your while to pick one up now to make a fresh start with a new journal for a new—and, we all hope—much better year than 2020.

If you are a Gryffindor, your red-bound hardback journal will encourage your to “embrace your inner Gryffindor”. The house crest, as well as the quality of “COURAGE” for which Gryffindors are known, are both featured on the cover.

Inside, an introduction explores the qualities of courage, bravery, and determination that characterise Gryffindors. Each week the journal exhorts you to record your “Gryffindor moments”, that is, “daily acts of courage, braver, and determination”.

Each week also offers you an exercise built around the character traits for the house, often using quotes from Dumbledore, Sirius, and other characters to prompt reflection to fuel your writing. Interspersed among the pages are concept drawings for iconic moments in the films, such as Snape wearing Neville’s grandmother’s clothes and Harry on his broom dodging the Hungarian Horntail.

The other house journals follow suit: Ravenclaw’s is bound in blue, and reminds you of the “WISDOM” for which the house is known.

Hufflepuff’s journal is yellow and highlights the “LOYALTY” of its members.

Slytherin is green and notes “AMBITION” as a common trait among those chosen for this house.

Initially I assumed I would want the journal for my house but the phrasing to “embrace your inner” traits for each house gave me pause. No-one embodies only the traits of one house; there are facets of our characters that represent all four houses. We may already be most in touch with the qualities of our primary house and have need to develop traits that are associated with houses other than our own. With that in mind, I think I will choose a different house and spend the year focusing on how I manifest its qualities and how I might employ them to make good choices, model the best character qualities of each house, and make the world a better place. That is, when you think about it, the heart of each house’s purpose, in its own way.