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You’ve heard about the benefits of journaling and you like the idea, but you’ve not consistently put pen to paper. In fact, if you’re being honest, you’ve even started a journal—or several—and have the stack of them to prove it, but there are many blank pages and you never kept the habit.

Journaling, as in the stream-of-consciousness kind of journaling, is not actually writing, but processing. It is moving your pen along a page and creating words of the thoughts which spill from your mind. You are pouring out thought, sometimes even thoughts that seem trivial, but purposefully so that, on the other end, you’ll find clarity.

These are not the thoughts that define you but help you transfer your thinking to the other side—to understanding. What you find in the work of journaling is not meant to be the work of a great memoir, but the path to a richer life that will free you to be your truer self.

In the work of life journaling, you become the one person who knows and understands you best, as it really should be (but certainly doesn’t happen for many).

Here, we will explore how journaling without judgement can be a healing tool and a catalyst of personal growth. We will also discuss how a consistent practice of journaling can become your best friend to leverage more creativity and a better sense of wellbeing.

THE BENEFITS OF JOURNALING

Are you one of those people who doesn’t even know what you think about an experience until you’ve mulled it over a while? Perhaps you reach out to a trusted friend to “think out loud,” or maybe you just talk through it to yourself.

It’s in the time you allow your thinking to take form that you start to hear what you’re “thinking.” Then, it transforms into something concrete.

Journaling gives you the space in time. The empty page is where the dust of a thought or experience settles, and where you can finally see through it all to what you really think and feel.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of stream of conscious journaling is to see more clearly that you are not defined by your laundry list of what you’ve done today or what you’ll do tomorrow. You are constantly evolving, constantly taking in experiences, and constantly impacting the world around you. No need to feel stuck. Once on the paper, you can assess whatever is in front of you objectively, take what works, and move on.

In the article “How Journaling Can Help You Heal” by Lena Schmidt over at The Chopra Center, she outlines several of the health benefits of journaling, including a reduction in stress, a method to address depression and anxiety, and a tool for personal development.

Schmidt says, “If you’re on a healing journey through loss, grief, addiction, or are genuinely interested in personal growth, expressive writing is a beneficial beginning toward improving your emotional well-being.”

Like so many simple actions (such as exercise and eating well), journaling is something within our reach that can provide encouragement and healing, and yet many of us balk at doing it, even when we think we want to.

If you sometimes feel like you are the one person who is most elusive in your life, then explore the benefits of regular life journaling. Let’s work together to make it a daily practice.

WELCOME TO THE LIFE JOURNALING GROUP

We are forming a group that will be on both Facebook and Meetup where we’ll collaborate to share thoughts and questions about journaling. We’ll talk writing—the kind of free-flow, let-it-leak spilling of words that ultimately gets you all the benefits above. It’s something you can do all for you.

We will explore journaling of other kinds, too, like the lists or bullet variety, the creative writing that inspires you to do the re-writing kind of writing, and even the kind of journaling you craft and share.

There will be themes and journaling prompts, each meant to inspire you to take a few and really “think” while writing it out.

In this group, people can talk about the tactile pleasure of writing, too—the paper they prefer, the journaling books they like, and favorite pens or pencils, etc. Creative journaling ideas are welcome.

Although we may focus on “brain dump” writing, we also invite all forms of journaling, from those who bullet to those who doodle, as well as those who craft beautiful pages that are truly works of art. The goal is to raise attention to life journaling and encourage everyone to journal.

COMING SOON: THE FIRST LIFE JOURNALING WORKSHOP

We’ll launch our first 6-week writing workshop before the end of May, so stay tuned for registration links (by the way, it will be free). This will be a vetted and trusted group meant to come together to cultivate the practice of regular stream-of-conscious journaling.

During the workshop, together participants will practice writing free-flow journal entries based on themes and prompts, and discuss how it feels and what they learn from the experience.

As a participant in a Life Journaling Workshop you can examine what holds you back in your effort to journal, and then what you can do to move forward. In the trusted small group of this workshop, we’ll invite the optional sharing of written entries, too.

Perhaps you’ll take a theme we use together in the workshop and craft a piece that is an offshoot of your initial thoughts. Maybe you’ll journal around the same prompt more than once, or discover something you want to develop further. This might include memoir, poems or essays. We’ll make room to share.

In each workshop session we’ll also examine other types of journaling that can heighten your enjoyment as well as the benefits of journaling for you. This might include bullet journaling and art journaling as well as others.

LOOK FOR EVENTS HERE AND A LINK TO THE PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP

Keep your eyes out for our journaling group to appear on Facebook and Meetup! We’ll keep you posted on where to join and will look forward to working together to journal without judgment. Are you in?

Postscript: One comfort is a clean space. If you need help getting going on organizing your home check out Get Organized Gal’s courses for support.

I used her course to organize my office, and it is in pretty good shape these days. Success in one space has lead to cleaning channels to other rooms and photos as well. Check out he courses here.

Sherry is the founder of Storied Gifts a personal publishing service of family and company histories. She and her team help clients curate and craft their stories into books. When not writing or interviewing, Sherry spends loads of time with her grandchildren and lives in Des Moines, Iowa.

STORIED GIFTS SHOP

Need a beautiful infusion of inspiration for your storied life? Please check out the Storied Gifts Shop where we offer Wearable Wisdom & Daily Inspirations.

The shop is a mother and daughter venture for Sherry and Alexandra Borzo of Content In Motion. They both work to help their client's stories sing. The shop is their effort to inspire a focus on healthy minds for everyone through positive thought.

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