I really can’t recommend journaling enough.
I’ve been journaling for over 20 years now and it’s helped me immensely to develop emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, interpersonally, creatively… you name it!
During this time, I’ve learned so much more about myself than if I wouldn’t have been journaling. Writing has allowed me to connect to my instincts, process my emotions and solidify my ideas.
Journaling has seen me through good days and bad, through grief, loss and anxiety – and now, even a pandemic!
Journaling is NOT about perfection.
It’s a way to create a space for self-expression, tapping into how you feel and finding your voice.
It isn’t about writing the perfect caption on a social media post, which is often more for show than with soul, or crafting an email and finding the exact right words to ask for a raise.
Journaling is for YOUR EYES ONLY.
It’s time and space for you. It’s a form of self-care, an opportunity for you to show up every day for your thoughts and feelings without judgement.
It’s not about perfecting your wording or judging what flows out of you and onto the page.
The whole point of journaling is to help you make your most powerful tool run at it’s most optimal.
I’m talking about your brain.
And your brain is primarily a thinking tool, not a storage device.
The human brain is even notoriously bad at accurately remembering things, and will often distort memories for the sake of efficiency in storage.
So, don’t waste the potential of your brain, by trying to weigh it down with tasks like remembering things.
Instead, put down all the thoughts and feelings that are using up your cognitive bandwidth, and you’ll feel how much lighter your head will feel, and how much smoother your brain will think.
To quote John Mayer, say what you need to say.
From his song ‘Say’ (skipping the chorus because we all know how that goes):
“Take all of your wasted honor // Every little past frustration // Take all of your so-called problems // Better put ‘em in quotations “Walking like a one man army // Fighting with the shadows in your head // Living out the same old moment // Knowing you’d be better off instead // If you could only . . . “Have no fear for giving in // Have no fear for giving over // You’d better know that in the end // It’s better to say too much // Than never to say what you need to say again “Even if your hands are shaking // And your faith is broken // Even as the eyes are closing // Do it with a heart wide open (a wide heart)”
He wrote ‘Say’ for the movie The Bucket List, which is about two terminally ill guys (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) who create a list of things they wanna achieve before kicking the proverbial bucket, and escape from a cancer ward to go on a road trip and complete their bucket lists.
Not exactly journaling, but not unlike it either!
So, this lesson’s prompts are inspired by the movie (which I highly recommend because it’s just such a beautiful story) and you can find them right below.
JOURNALING PROMPTS:
- What are you grateful that you’ve learned in life?
- What is one thing you’re grateful that you personally achieved in life?
- Think of one thing to put on your bucket list and write it down in a sentence like you’ve already done it: “I’m grateful that I…”
