Journaling
3 Quotes
“Journal writing is a voyage to the interior.”
- Christina Baldwin
“Journal what you love, what you hate, what’s in your head, what’s important. Journaling
organizes your thoughts; allows you to see things in a concrete way that otherwise you might
not see.”
- Kay WalkingStick
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”
-William Wordsworth
If you love journaling, you’re not alone! Guided journals, art journals, bullet journals: there are so many options for those of us who love keeping a written record of our lives.
In the previous post, I told you about my New Year’s Journal. I’ve kept a journal most of my life. As a journal enthusiast, I’ve kept (with varying regularity) a daily diary, a mother’s journal, a travel journal, a New Year's Journal, and have abandoned several bullet journals. I might have a problem!
There’s something so soothing about the process of writing things down. Have you experienced the clarity that comes with writing about a problem? Sometimes it feels like the process of writing slows down our brains and gives us a chance to think through a problem in a new way.
It’s also fun to read back over old entries to see how I’ve changed over the years. A few months ago, I read excerpts of my diary from when I was 16 aloud to my husband. We laughed till we cried. I was at best extremely melodramatic, at worst a full-blown psychopath. It’s hard to say what was going on back then.
I think the only downside to keeping a journal is the risk of someone finding it and reading it. This has happened to me several times. My mom has read more than one of my diaries, which is just mortifying. She even read my diary in the past couple of years. I’m married and live 45 minutes away from my parents! But she found and read my journal! This is no less mortifying in my 30’s than it was in my teens. So please be careful with your journals, lock them up or password-protect digital documents if you have nosey people in your life.
Enough of my rambling! What do the experts say about journaling?
2 Podcast Episodes
The Savvy Psychologist
Ep. #54 “Use a Journal to Get Healthy”
https://savvy-psychologist.simplecast.com/episodes/054-sp-use-a-journal-to-get-healthy
This episode of The Savvy Psychologist gives a quick overview of five ways to use a journal to improve your life and mood. The most interesting thing I took away from this podcast is that different types of people have different outcomes from journalling. But if you’re an emotive person who feels drawn to journaling, there are some considerable benefits. If you’re more stoic, listen to this episode before you pick up a pen.
Power of Journaling Podcast
Listen to this episode now on Spotify
Episode: “Journaling to the Rescue” https://open.spotify.com/episode/02AurllsTRL3eJWNOCyWUV
Which brings us to the Power of Journaling podcast. The “Journaling to the Rescue” episode features writer and art therapist Lucia Capacchione who blew my mind. I haven’t fact-checked her statements about cancer recovery, but I immediately tried her method of journalling with the non-dominant hand to boost creativity. I found it calming, but not earth-shattering. Capacchione shares her own personal experience with journaling when she was ill. She’s an art therapist who has worked with countless clients using art and writing. Listen for yourself, this is sure to contain information you haven’t heard before!
1 Resource
This week’s resource is a book recommendation The Power of Your Other Hand by Lucia Capacchione, PhD. If you enjoyed the episode of the Power of Journaling Podcast mentioned above, you may want to read a book by the guest on that episode. I had never heard of writing or drawing with the non-dominant hand before, so I definitely wanted to learn more about this practice.
