Maybe not so surprisingly, there have been lots of studies done on journaling and why it’s effective. As journaling has been a longtime habit of mine, I can attest to the fact that it is a helpful practice benefiting both mind and spirit, just as these studies have shown.
If you think back to your childhood, you may have kept a diary. It had a lock and a key to keep prying siblings and/or parents out. It was where we recorded our most private thoughts and dreams, and we often addressed it as if it were our most conspiratorial listener, “Dear Diary …”
Journaling is pretty much an extension of that, a repository for all that’s on our minds, and what we can best share with no one else’s input and commentary. Julia Cameron (“The Artist’s Way”) sees it as a “morning dump”, recommending three pages daily, to get all the troublesome thoughts in our head out and onto the paper so we can leave them behind and start a new day. But you can be totally flexible as to the time, amount, and what you write on or with.
Studies have shown that journaling reduces stress, provides a cathartic experience, and literally, boosts the immune system! And without a medication in sight. Your journal is a place to release emotions, whine, complain, rage, melt into tears, and know that it’s all safely there on the pages.
But it’s also something more, depending where you are in your life. It’s also a way to sort things out, resolve questions, plan, dream, and yes, even write down some joy or occasional delirium. Journaling works because we need to express our feelings, feelings that are not always ready to be shared with the “outside world.” Maybe never. But here they are safe. We can look back at them, or just move on. But there … we’ve said it.
Many of the people who follow this blog are writers, and may already journal and understand its value. But for anyone else? Try it. Start a new habit. Become familiar with the rhythm of writing, of putting down feelings just for you. And while you’re thinking about it, I just happen to have a journal you could start with, or perhaps give to someone in your life who’d enjoy putting their heart and mind on paper. Take a look and happy journaling!
Oh, my goodness: YES! Since I was eight, and every day since. An eye-opener, heart-expander, mind-soother, anxiety repository, creativity lab, memory hospital…I could not live without my journals. xoxoxo Thanks, Jeanne!
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You are so welcome, my fellow journaler! Everything you wrote – it is truly all those things. On the rare days when I have to run out really early and do not have time to journal first, it feels like my whole day is aksew. But it’s not the same when you come back. It really is a moment in time.
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I have journaled in spurts but never stick with it for long, for some reason…
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It seems like such a natural fit for a writer, but maybe try another time, different spot in the house, bigger journal, etc. or maybe … it’s not for you! π
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I’ve done it since I was young and it still helps!
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I wonder if they promote it to kids in school. Or at the library – that would be a great venue to get kids journaling. Does yours ever do anything like that?
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Not journaling, though we do occasionally do creative writing activities. Not sure about the schools.
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I agree β€
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Journaling is a great way to capture scenes and descriptions of them. They can always be polished later for whatever use they will have, but at least the moment has been captured before it is forgotten.
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Totally agree. Writing in the peace of the morning has so many advantages. Peace, actually, is one of them!
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