Journaling

I love this picture.  That could be me… when I am stressed, upset, or struggling with something in my life I often feel so full of the intensity of the emotion and then, if I actually do what I know is good for me and pause and journal, that tension leaves me and is on the paper instead.

Do you journal?  I don’t always do what that type of journaling is portraying, but I do journal daily in short versions.  I truly started journaling 5 years ago when my sister gave me a question-a-day journal that has just a few lines to respond to a random question for the day and it has room for 5 years worth of answers.  I love answering and then looking back at what I had said for the previous years.  It only has a few lines so there isn’t much room for me to write and that works well for me – but I do often jot down notes about what else is happening if it was something really significant in my day.  And then this past Christmas my sister gave me a gratitude journal where I literally am asked to write 3 things I am grateful for each day.  So now I do both of those every day.  And I love them.  But those journals aren’t really the emotional release types of writing that I’d like to talk about.

Last weekend was tough for me.  I was feeling depleted, overwhelmed and sad.  My head was spinning.  I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep.  It happens to all of us sometimes – those feelings where everything seems like it is coming at you all at once.  And so, for me, I know that those are the times I need to write.  I need to pause on what my “to do list” says should happen and focus on what I personally “need” to do.  If I am not in a good mental head space then I am not going to be productive at doing anything else.  And so, in moments like that, I write.  And believe me, I wrote, and wrote, and wrote some more this weekend.  And I felt better!  Did it make my concerns go away? No.  Did it make it feel less like they were controlling me?  Yes.  That is the beauty of writing things down.  Neurologically it doesn’t matter what you do with what you write down – you can write it down on the back of a napkin and throw it out – but your brain thinks, “OK, I have taken note of that, so I don’t have to focus on remembering it any more right now.”  That ability to then free my brain from thinking of it gives me the space to take care of me and get into a better place.  Research would tell us that the same would happen for you too.

So why don’t we all write things down more often about how we are feeling and struggles we are facing?  I think some people think the idea of journaling sounds formal and official.  Others worry that someone will find it or read it.  And yet if I really think about why most students tell me that they don’t write it out when they are stressed or struggling – the excuse is either “I didn’t think about it” or “I don’t have time.”  So this is me trying to remind you to think about it.  Give it a try when you are feeling stressed.  And for the “I don’t have time argument,” I can promise you that the time you spend trying to get your brain to focus on what you “should” be doing while your brain is still focused on the stress you are experiencing is going to be way longer than if you would just pause, write out what you’re feeling and then move on from there.

I know that life is really stressful right now.  There is no doubt about that.  You have me in your corner and I care about and believe in you, but for those moments when you are trying to find even a slice of control over how you are thinking and feeling when everything is feeling very out of control… try journaling.  Just write.  Don’t think too much about it.  Just write.  It doesn’t matter what you say or how you start – just write!

I hope you have a relaxing, safe and peaceful long weekend.  (And if it isn’t, I hope you will be able to create some peace in your heart and mind through your coping strategies such as journaling.)