Journal Challenge Week 3: Journaling Benefits

Journaling helps us both just in the act of taking time to do it as well as the content and experience we create.  Here are some of the biggest benefits:

Slowing down: Life can be fast-paced and setting aside time to write and check in with ourselves can be calming and stress-reducing.

Mindfulness: We get to check in with ourselves in the present moment: how we are feeling, what we are noticing, what’s on our minds.  Writing these things down strengthens our self awareness and acceptance of ourselves and our emotions. It also trains our ability to focus.

Expressing emotions: Journaling can be a powerful coping tool.  Like therapy, it allows us to express our feelings in a nonjudgmental space, which can bring relief and understanding.  It can be a painful or heartfelt process, and this can be good.  People often feel better after writing about something hard or painful.

Figuring things out: Sometimes just getting jumbled thoughts and emotions from inside our heads onto paper can be clarifying.  Journaling allows us the time and space to map out how we feel about things, make sense of memories, and much more.

Learning to be honest with ourselves: How often do we lie to ourselves or evade the truth?  We do this to protect ourselves at the cost of becoming disconnected from ourselves which impacts how we are in relationships, decisions about our lives, and more.  Journaling allows us to begin to be more honest with ourselves even when it is difficult.  A great place to start with this is just by recording your emotions from the day or in that moment, knowing they are your truths.

Documenting life: A journal or diary can be a record of our lives.  That gorgeous castle you visited in Europe, the mundane routine of a typical Tuesday, the funny thing your pet does regularly, that bear you encountered on the trail, the death of a loved one, a life transition; these are the moments, big and small that make up our lives.

Week 3 Journal Prompt- Mistakes:  How do you feel about making mistakes?  What is one you’ve made?  Are there any in particular you’ve learned from?  Any that are still hard to sit with or accept?  Why?