Personally, I think keeping a journal is important for everyone during every stage of life. However, now, more than ever, I truly believe journaling could help those of us self-isolating pass the time and dive into intentional reflection and positive thinking.
I first started keeping a simple diary style journal when I was in eighth grade. My first entree is from November 4th, 2013 and it reads, "Well this past week was crappy!!" Since then, I have filled 5 journals with many more rant sessions but also pages of praise and joy through the best times of life.
Truthfully, there are a million reasons journaling is good for you, but I just want to highlight a few of my personal favorites.
1. Mental Health
A diary is like a friend that you can tell anything to, except better because it's incapable of telling anyone else, getting offended, or reacting badly. Many people are weighed down by the secrets or burdens they carry. Writing those things down can help you feel less overwhelmed.
Human brains are incredible. We can actually manipulate our minds into thinking we're doing fine when we're really not. Journaling can often show you what you've been covering up. Once your thoughts are on paper, it is easier to more accurately assess what you're truly feeling beneath the surface.
Everyone overreacts once in a while. If something makes you really angry or hurts your feelings, writing it down in your journal before physically or verbally responding can help you calm down and even realize that you're about to overreact.
2. Faith
Sometimes I have trouble focusing when I try to pray in my head. When I'm just praying in my head, my prayers get interrupted by my own daydreaming or by the world moving around me. When I pray at night, I even start to doze off. If you struggle with this too, writing your prayers out in a journal like a letter to God can help you stay on topic and stay awake. If you set aside a few minutes a day to write a prayer in your journal, it can help you have more intentional, quiet, and quality time with God.
3. Organization/Structure
Most people think it's crazy that I use 6 different journals at once. One is a diary, one is a prayer journal, one is for taking notes during sermons, one is for poems and short stories, one is for planning these blog posts, and one that I just started is for my new job. Because I write so many things down, it's easier for me to have a separate journal for everything.
If you don't want to have that many journals, you can still use just one journal to organize yourself. Make lists, write down goals, lay out your feelings, and BRAINSTORM. Then stick tabs on the edge of the page and label what's there. This can help you stay on top of everyday tasks and big life plans.
Now that you've read a few benefits of journaling, I want to defuse the excuses I've heard from people who want to start writing in a journal but never make that final commitment.
1. "I'm not a good writer"
I have never struggled in writing classes, but I can tell you with full confidence that if I submitted one of my diary entrees to a professor, I would get an "F". A journal is the one place in the world where you can say anything you want and in any form! No grammar rules, no punctuation requirements, no word counts. Since you will be the only one reading the journal, there is no need for making it professional or even accurate.
2. "I don't have pretty handwriting"
Anyone that has seen my handwriting will tell you it looks like a child's. My handwriting in my journals is actually much worse because I'm not worried about people judging it. Sometimes I can't even read my own entries because I wrote them too quickly. It makes absolutely no difference how your handwriting looks because you're the only one reading it.
3. "I don't have time to write something everyday"
First of all, I bet you do have time to write everyday. Even if you only have five minutes, that's plenty of time to jot down a thought or two about your life. Most importantly, though, there is no obligation to write in a journal every single day. I certainly do not write in each of my journals every day. When life gets too crazy, I might not even write every week. Whatever time schedule works best for you, that is enough. If you only have time to write one paragraph a month, just do that! Overtime you might find yourself purposely expanding your schedule to include time to write because it's so beneficial.
During this crazy time in the world, I hope you all can find some peace of mind and restorative structure through journaling. Write to keep busy, to plan, to brainstorm, and to stay sane.
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