Power of Journaling

Perhaps you were one of those teens who wrote her little heart out listening to sad music until your hand hurt. Or maybe you were never into writing and cannot even fathom why someone would willingly write.

Regardless, you’re an adult now, a mom, a busy person. You have a million things to do. Lists upon lists. You know you struggle with feeling overwhelmed so why would you add one more thing to your plate? And sitting and journaling? What will that do? If the “answer is inside me”, why can’t I just access it right now?

Here are some reasons why you should consider journaling:

1. Journaling slows us down.

These days we move at an incredibly fast and accessible pace. Our minds can feel addicted to quick, stimulating and shocking input. Journaling forces us to slow the pace and move as fast as our little hand can bear.

2. Journaling can organize our thoughts.

In putting thoughts on a page, journaling allows us to have a shot at spatial organization of what is floating around in our mind. How many times have you wished for a whiteboard to just write it all out so you can figure it all out?

3. Journaling helps combat irrational and unhelpful thoughts.

When we can actually see the thoughts in front of us, it’s sometimes easier to see how wrong or false they are in reality. It’s also difficult to try to make one thought “louder” than another in our mind, but on paper, we can highlight, make it bigger, underline, bold, repeat, and defend it.

4. Journaling is not one size fits all.

Maybe you’ve tried writing in a physical journal and it just hasn’t felt right. Here are some variations you can try: writing with your non-dominant hand, using prompts to get the thoughts flowing, playing music in the background, using a journaling app (with an extra code on it for security), using voice memos, etc. No one is grading your journaling, so why not give it a try?

by: Olivia Espinosa