My very first diary, from fourth grade, was an American Girl-branded notebook that only provided a handful of lines to write about my day. A few decades later, I easily fill three to five-ish pages every day, even though I only spend about 15 minutes a day journaling. It’s a practice that has gotten me through life in more ways than one.
When I don’t know what to think about a situation? I journal about it.
When I want to remember something silly my kids did or said? I write it down.
When I’m unclear about where a story is headed? I spend some time freewriting.
In other words, a journal can be anything you personally need it to be. Here are five benefits I’ve discovered.
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Stops my Overthinking
It seems counterintuitive. Putting my overthinking into words… stops it? Yup. When I get my thoughts out of my head, I give myself permission to release them. When I journal at night, this process also helps calm my mind, making it easier to fall asleep.
Gives me a Place to Process Life
Journaling is proven to ease anxiety and depression, as it provides us with a safe space to process the things we experience. Most of my middle school and high school diaries are packed full of me figuring out who I was and what I wanted from a relationship (particularly romantic ones). I’ll be honest: I had my share of tear-stained pages. But you know what? Journaling helped ground me, process what I was feeling, and, most importantly, move on.
Helps Me Remember My Favorite Moments in Time
This wasn’t always true (see reason two above). But, I noticed a shift in my journals shortly after college, and I even remarked upon it in one entry. I used to journal every time life felt hard, but over time, I realized I also wanted to document the good things, the things that made me smile, the things I’d really want to remember as I get older. Now, when my kids make a ridiculous joke or tell me a story about their day that was super important to them, I write it down. When I take fabulous trips with my friends and family that fill my cup, I write about the experiences. In other words, the things that make me smile go into my journal now, too.
Practicing the Art of Noticing
For a long time, I kept a separate writing journal and personal diary, but over time (ahem, after I became a parent), these merged. When something catches my eye—like how my kids are playing in the sand in very different ways, or how my sister works to save a bee from the water, placing it gently on a dry leaf in the sun–or when a thought passes through my head that I think: yes, this, I need to record this, I write it down.
Gives Me a Chance to Work on My Stories
Whether I’m writing a short story, poem, or novel, my journals are full of musings, of ‘what if’s,’ of questions I need to answer to make a story resonate. These entries are often only a line or two, but if I’m working on a big plot hole, it might take up pages of my journal. Either way, my pages give me a space to think and work on my stories, and there’s something very different about putting pen to paper (versus typing it out) that allows me to approach things I’m challenged by in a different way.
Those are my main reasons for journaling, and why it’s become such a critical part of my day.
Now, I’d love to hear from you. Do you journal? Why or why not? What are some benefits you’ve found from keeping a journal or diary?
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