Journaling

 

Journaling is a big thing for me and there are so many places tell you that writing in a journal has so many benefits. Now I'm not going to preach about journal writing, I just want to talk about how and why it works for me.

The journals pictured above hold roughly the last year of my life. Now in my opinion that's A LOT of writing.  I even have a particular pen I prefer to write with. Sometimes I write because I want to pass the time, which especially happens at school. Other times I write because I have some sort of dilemma or emotional issue and I can only keep my thoughts straight if I write them out. Writing helps a lot when I need to explain something to someone else. I'll write it out in my journal then turn around and coherently explain the issue. I also use my journal for writing out my thought processes and planning the best course of action.

I've gone through phases where I just couldn't write in my journal. I would have a whole body reaction of anger whenever I would try. I'm not sure why I was so angry but I think part of it was because I was frustrated that I had to write and thought it was stupid. During that period my cat who I had for 12 years got sick and passed away. That experience for some reason broke down all that anger and I could easily write in my journal again. After her passing I wrote her a letter in my journal which helped me a lot.

Whatever the reason, writing in a journal is a great outlet but is also not very everybody. Either way it's worth a try. Make it what you want, no one can tell you how to express yourself. Happy journaling!