Why should you try journaling? - Journaling Guide: part 2

In the previous post we’ve seen my personal experience with journaling. That should have shown you a pretty good overview of what I get out of journaling, and why I keep coming back to it even after a long pause, year after year. But everyone has their own reasons to journal, and they can be very different from person to person. Let’s have an overview of what those reasons can be.

A page of one’s own

Everything we do in life tends to be with the goal of achieving something. When we create or build something, the goal is to use it or to show it to other people. Journaling is the complete opposite of that. It should be a space for you to explore, mess up, try new things, be weird, all within the safety and comfort of a notebook. It is a place where no one will judge me, where I can be completely honest but also pretend I’m someone else, play and be creative. Basically, journaling can be exactly what you want it to be.

It is the best thing I can do for myself in terms of calming down my thoughts, fears and doubts, feeling more calm and focused. I never regret having taken the time to write, I always get something positive out of it, even if it’s just the sense of accomplishment from having done something positive for myself.

I don’t like meditating because I feel like I’m wasting my time. While I’m trying to meditate, I just think “Why am I sitting here doing nothing, when there are a thousand better things I could be doing?” Journaling doesn’t make me feel like I’m losing my time, and also brings me most of the benefits that meditation is supposed to.

It leaves my mind tidier than I found it, because there is no need for thoughts to race in my brain when they’ve already been written down.

A blank canvas

Whether you’re into scrapbooking or art journaling, or even writing poetry or letters, journaling can definitely help explore your own creativity. It is a space where you can spark ideas by reflecting on the day, just by giving you new perspective on certain events or making links between things you wouldn’t have otherwise. And contrary to when I get an idea while scrolling Instagram or Youtube, I can jot my idea down immediately and not forget it as soon as the next video catches my eye.

Journaling is a great tool for self-reflection and self exploration, without it needing to be tidy or presentable for anyone else. It is the ultimate creative space, as it should come with no pressure to be prolific or to aim for perfection. When we are not producing for anyone else is when we’re the most free to explore and try anything we set our mind to.

A window into the past

Journaling is a great tool for building self awareness, being reflective about your experiences and learning from them. It helps you put things in perspective, by being able to take a step back when you reread an entry after some time has passed. It’s a good way to find the blind spots in your thinking and see the big picture rather than living day to day without learning from what is happening in your life.

Journaling can show you that things you were worried about a few months back, that were occupying your whole mind, are now insignificant. Or it can show you that your worries are not such a huge deal after you’ve written them down and thought about them in a more rational way. Writing about the same thing over and over can also push you to take action, through recognizing that if you do things the same way, the same results keep happening.

Having a journal is probably the best tool to remind yourself of what happened in your life, and the mindset your past self was in. There is nothing quite like reading an intimate, personal account in your journal after a few years, and realizing how much you’ve changed and grown since that point.

A silent friend

There are some things you might not feel comfortable sharing with someone else, or you might not have the right person in your life to share it with. Sometimes it is harder to say things out loud or to a person that could judge you, than it is to write them down. You can always erase or tear apart anything you’ve written if that makes you feel safer.

Even when you are alone and have no one to talk to or connect with, your journal can be a space to have deep conversations with yourself. Your journal is a silent friend, that will never invalidate you, judge you or interrupt you.

It is probably the closest thing you can do to therapy on your own. Knowing why you feel or react in a certain way, being honest with yourself and overall knowing yourself are things you can work on on your own, with just a sheet of paper and a pen, and that’s a very magical thing to me.

A training ground for the future

In a world where we spend a whole lot of time writing, be it at work or when texting friends, journaling can help you write better. Practicing day after day, exploring new writing styles and tools when you feel like it, is what can help you find your own voice, and see how it evolves over time.

A journaling practice can also help you reframe your thinking, by sometimes writing down what you’d like to think, rather that what you’re actually thinking. You can journal about a difficult decision you have to make, exploring the different outcomes on paper.

Reflecting on your life, day after day, month after month, can help you find meaning in your life and emotions, and pinpoint what actually matters to you.

Journaling can help you live a more intentional, creative and peaceful life. So why not give it a try?

If you want to know everything you need to get started, jump to the next article in this series.