Daily journaling was quite a popular habit until Social Media infiltrated our healthy habits & took over our lives. Humans are recording and documenting their lives as an age-old stress buster for many. When we were little many of us kept a diary or a journal. We jotted down plans and wrote about people we like, and places we dream of visiting.
Why journaling?
In a day we think over 6000 thoughts. If you start to pay attention they are mostly patterned and are running in loops. If you start to write them down you will notice it is humanly impossible to write everything down. Even if you use a text-to-speech you won’t be able to note everything down. Hence, the purpose of journaling is to slow you down and capture that basic source from which everything is spiralling unhindered. You get a grip. You slow down. You know yourself deeply & build a trust with yourself, now that you know how your mind works.
Some of my personal journaling tips –
- Gratitude Journal – elaborate points you feel grateful about. Jot down the points, initially 5 points per day for a month, followed by details of how you FEEL about each point and how has it made a positive & healthy difference in your life.
Self-Reflective Journal – your deeper feelings about the day. Start or End your day with a journal by writing down in general how you are feeling just then. Then elaborate it. Go deeper into your feelings. Keep writing till you have a lighter feeling in your body and nothing left to put it on that paper. With a little practice you are going to get better, more intuitive and lighter.
Example: I am feeling anxious. I experienced an argument with my friend on a topic that I was avoiding in my mind since a few weeks now. Her bringing it up all of a sudden left me with no choice but acknowledge how I feel about it. It was difficult at first as it made me uncomfortable due to the shame attached to it… continue pouring your heart out.
- Vision Board – goals you want to achieve with detailed feelings associated with it.
- What went well today – and how you feel about it.
- What went not so well today – and how did you feel about it.
- Your own idea of journaling – Be candid, open with yourself, no one is watching, don’t hide at all.
What really happens when we journal daily?
Clarity. Immense and intense clarity. Let’s understand this from the perspective of the body. Every situation you are into or you want to manifest, is basically an experience your body is craving for or wanting to experience. A dream job. A vacation. That car. The new gadget. Wanting to settle down with your partner. Planning to have a baby. Trying to come out of addiction. Wanting to get better at your daily life by fixing your mental health. Want to cure anxiety or depression. Lose weight. Wake up on time. Anything under the sun. Absolutely anything. Is an experience.
Let me invite you to journal about it daily. On a paper write down word by word, by carving out time and knowing yourself deeper, truer and clearer. Wouldn’t life get easier & more fulfilling if only you knew you better? This is your miraculous opportunity to do just that. Know yourself one word, one emotion, one mental patter, one conscious decision at a time.
Eventually i guarantee you, your life so far will start to make sense. How nothing, absolutely nothing that has happened was out of order. How every single episode and event was literally your will. You willed your life to happen so far. Why not will it the way you like, the way you want, not jumbled up, confused half hearted will. But a clear, confident, bolder and fully you WILL.
You got this.
Let’s do it.