The fountain of personal wisdom may be as close as your
nearest pen.
That's because keeping a personal journal can be
a powerful way to ease anxiety and nurture your spirit.
The word "journal" may mean 100 different things to 100
different people. For a psychologist, it denotes a tool
for a patient's self-analysis. For the writer, it may be
a notebook of ideas and ramblings. For most of us, the word
denotes a day-to-day diary, a log of action and reaction.
For me, a journal is a notebook of ideas and solutions
that I have discovered using my conscious and subconscious
mind.
Journaling is a remarkable device for easing worry and
obsession, for identifying hopes and fears, and for
allowing your creative self to expand.
Journaling harnesses the power
to tap into successively deeper layers of your subconscious
mind while it zaps the nervous, passive energy that ties
your stomach in knots and leads to more guilt and worry.
Journals are tools to help you discover the wisdom you
already possess. Sometimes, this wisdom will surprise you.
Other times, it will challenge you. Always, it will come
directly from you, empowering you to trust yourself and to
take action by giving you the deep-seated knowledge that
you know more than you think you do.
In addition to revealing your personal insight and wisdom,
the journaling process can help dispel feelings of loneliness
and confusion by helping you discover a unity within yourself.
As your conscious and subconscious mind work together to solve
problems in black-and-white, the ideas are validated and more
easily applied, even if you never share these ideas with a soul.
==>Writing for Insight
The act of writing has tremendous potential to tap the
subconscious and to arrange conscious thoughts in a clear
pattern as words flow from your mind down your arm, into
your hand and across the page.
But first you must banish your internal editor by:
* Writing quickly, allowing the words to freefall from your
subconscious.
* Writing continuously. Don't erase or cross-out any words.
Date each entry in your journal. Note the time, place,
and any details regarding your mood and emotions that
will be necessary for context when you read back on your work.
After you've finished a journal entry, take a walk or
get up for a glass of water before you reread your entry,
and remember to reread your writing with compassion.
Then, write an Insight Line--a sentence or two about what you
think the piece is trying to tell you.
==>Journaling Techniques
There are as many journaling techniques as there are people
who practice the craft. The important thing is to explore the
underlying layers of your mind--using whatever conduit works
for you.
Get creative with the techniques you use. We all have a
subconscious mind that communicates to us in a different
way.
If you are stuck and have nothing to write, try
recording snippets of conversations, facts, feelings,
fantasies, descriptions, impressions, quotes, images,
and ideas. Draw pictures. Make a collage from a magazine.
Use the technique that best suits the way in which you
express yourself. You know your own mind and how it best
communicates with the world.
Clustering is one method that works well when the ideas
don't flow on their own. Put the central idea in the center
of the page and circle it. Then, without pause, make associations,
placing them in new bubbles and tying them to the main idea.
The result is a complex matrix of ideas, many of which you didn't even
know you had. If you wish, compose these thoughts later into a
cohesive essay that says exactly what you want to say. Or simply move on.
==>What You Need to Begin Journaling
* Paper. The only thing you need is a notebook so your ideas
don't get lost. Some journal-writers swear by the loose-leaf
notebooks so they can insert pages, but I'm always afraid of
losing some of the more personal pages, and I don't want
anything to inhibit my ability to write freely and honestly.
Other journal-writers opt for the expensive, hard-bound
journals, reasoning that the journal will be a keepsake.
These work just fine, as long as you are able to write
freely in such a formal book. Some of the things you will
be writing will not be pretty. If you are afraid of making
mistakes or you feel inhibited with this kind of notebook,
you're better off with a plain old spiral bound from
Wal-Mart (my personal favorite.)
Some of you will be creating more drawings than essays.
If that's you, consider a wire-bound sketch pad.
* Pen. Treat yourself to just the right pen.
Test some of the expensive
pens. See how they feel in your hand and how the ink
rolls across the page. The best choice is one that
allows you to write quickly and smoothly.
I personally love the easy-flow fountain pens because the color
comes out so bold that it makes me feel more confident.
And it practically glides itself across the page.
* Environment. Your journal should always be there when
you need it. Write on the bus, in the office, or late
at night when insomnia strikes. If you have the time,
a regular writing ritual can be very soothing.
If you do wish to write in the same place and at the
same time every day, create the ideal writing space
for you. Maybe you're most comfortable in a rocking
chair surrounded by pillows and candles and Schubert
tunes. Or maybe you prefer silence and a cherry wood
desk or a gentle breeze and a rickety porch swing.
Whether you set a time for writing each day or you do
it on the fly, make sure the time you spend writing in
your journal is time solely devoted to you and your task.
About the author:
Susie Cortright is the founder of momscape.com and Momscape's
Scrapbooking Playground - http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking.
Join her scrapbooking club here:
http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking/scrapbookclub
or learn more about starting your own scrapbooking business with
Susie's help: http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking/business.htm