Benefits of Journaling

If you are healing emotionally, need to, or are on a spiritual journey, I recommend journaling. I'm also big on Pro/Con & other types of list making. List making is great when you're having trouble making a decision or seeing a person (including yourself) or situation clearly. These are tools I regularly recommend to people I'm helping, coaching. One of my favorite lists was made in 1991 & I still remember most of what's on it. It was a list of aptitudes & skills, total possibility thinking. It's the only one of that type where I didn't limit myself at all & includes things that are now manifesting or about to, like life coaching, teaching, & public speaking!

The benefits of journaling are many. One of the things it's done for me is help me uncover what I'm really feeling. Journaling as a habit becomes a way of delving into our subconscious mind. The more regularly you do it the more it helps. When you first start, you'll probably start with what happened during the day that elicited the most emotion or stuck foremost in your mind. Or you may feel like a blank slate & feel you never know what to write. Those are both common starting points.

I journaled my way through recovering memories of my childhood & the abuse. I journaled my way through both divorces. I started out thinking "I'll write about X that happened today" but soon found that my journaling had morphed over time. During those peak times of stress, I discovered that often what I thought I'd start with wasn't what I put on paper. I journal in colorful spiral notebooks with a pen. I think better that way. Remember, I'm 55 so I didn't have a computer until I was in my 40s. I'm of the "pen & paper" generation, so that's the best way for me to contemplate & get in touch with myself. And that's what journaling at it's best is about. Many younger people find it easier on the computer. Either way works, as long as you're letting the stream of words & feelings flow. I'd sit by myself with my notebook & paper & just think at first - "gather myself," & then start writing. In that gathering moment, whatever was closest to my heart would surface. As I wrote, I'd find out how I was really doing. I also got to vent, or congratulate myself, face my fears & regrets or sorrows, in a safe place. If you use the computer, I really don't recommend blogging your journal. It should be just for you, your safe place. My daughter knows that when I die she's to burn all my journals without reading them. She knows that when you read something personal like that, you're going to find things that make you uncomfortable, bother you. She knows to respect herself & me & not go back on the promise. And so I do feel entirely safe to say anything I want & know it will never be read by anyone but me.

Once you get into the habit & the flow, you discover things you didn't realize about yourself, your emotions, your feelings. We all hide things from ourselves, & when you're ready to release them, if you journal regularly you're providing a readily available outlet. It's also helpful if you ever want to help someone else through trouble - if you've recorded your journey. I seldom read over anything I've written previously in my personal journal, but I sometimes note significant dates at the top of a page, or events. In my spiritual journal, I have all kinds of notes at the tops of pages so I can refer back to various growth events & lessons. Pretty soon I'll probably have only one journal because these days the personal & spiritual overlap so much. But I'll still note references at the tops of pages, because I'm creating a spiritual journey map for helping myself & others.

I've journaled my deepest shames & regrets, faced them, learned to forgive myself. In the 1990s, when I first recovered my memories while going through a painful divorce, journaling helped me handle & release nearly unbearable pain. (Wow - I'd forgotten that I went through both at once!) It also helped me separate truth from fiction - what I was told & what was being said against me vs. reality. It helped me uncover the lies from my childhood & see things in the light of truth. (Victims are brainwashed over time.) At best, journaling becomes an intimate conversation with self that we don't otherwise take the opportunity to have. I recommend it to all of you as a way to take time to listen to your self.