Admittedly, I never quite understood how journaling could have such a profound effect on your mental well being. Creative spaces can often offer us so much internally, from clarity to soundness of mind. The process of emptying out on blank pages in the morning isn’t performative, but almost a necessity at this time in my life. Sometimes I find it hard to release stuff without sharing it with someone but not everything needs to be shared. So whenever I feel too full, I grab my journal and once paper meets ink, I release it and empty myself out.
Journaling for many of us isn’t something new but more so something that we forgot worked so well for us in the past. In our adolescence, we used to call them diaries. They usually came with a little lock and key that you naively thought was equivalent to a vault. I remember when my sister bought me my first electronic diary. It was called, ‘Dear Dairy”, a purple pocket sized gadget that really stepped up my “journaling” game. Now, more space has been given for our male counterparts to express themselves in the form of written word. Journals aren’t just pink with daisies but are also available with a more masculine appearance.
The University of Rochester Medical Center wrote an interesting article on the benefits of journaling https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content?ContentTypeID=1&ContentID=4552.
If you haven’t tried journaling, give it a chance. You may initially feel uncomfortable at the thought of disclosing your most personal and intimate feelings but once you’ve made it past that discomfort, allow the rivers will flow until the wells runs dry.
Happy journaling! Let me know what journaling has done for you?
