Chapter 1

Exploring Life with Journaling

IN THIS CHAPTER

Figuring out what journaling actually is

Setting yourself up for journaling success

Considering all the different ways to journal

Giving journaling a go

Discovering the world of journal writing - also known as journaling - is to find, all at once, unlimited and creative personal expression; a way of exploring, investigating, and making meaning of life; and a self-help tool for increased self-knowledge and confidence.

With a regular journal-writing practice, you can create a safe space in which to express your deepest fears and hopes, disappointments and satisfactions, heartaches and joys. By writing down your feelings, thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs, you can discover behavioral patterns, become more self-aware, and improve your ability to learn from and build on significant life events.

Exploring the variety of journal-writing approaches in this book can help you find the methods that work best for you and provide you with the most meaningful benefits. And you can develop and deepen your journaling experience by practicing it on a regular basis, on a schedule and duration that fits your unique lifestyle.

In this chapter, I provide an overview of what journaling is and isn't as well as some of the different ways to approach journaling to help determine which journaling practice is a good fit for you and your lifestyle.

Defining Journaling

Journaling is the deeply personal practice of writing for personal development. It uses a variety of methods for recording life events, processing thoughts and emotions, increasing self-awareness and understanding, and achieving success through improved organization systems.

Journaling is similar to the once-commonplace practice of keeping a diary - a simple record of daily events. But with journaling, you take a deeper look at your life experience.

Whether you're brand new to journaling or have journaled in the past, you may have a few preconceptions about journal writing that could limit your approach to it. When you think about beginning or resuming a journaling practice, understanding what journaling is and isn't can help you approach journaling with a willingness to experiment and find a method that works best for you.

Appreciating what journaling is

At its essence, journaling is a self-help tool that is

• Open-ended and flexible
• Personal and private (not designed for publication)
• A place to freely express feelings and thoughts, and to explore any topic of interest
• Designed to fit your lifestyle and schedule
• Relaxing and enjoyable
• Beneficial for mental, emotional, and physical health
• Used alone or in combination with professional psychological/mental health counseling and other services

Recognizing what journaling isn't

Because journaling can be adapted in unique ways for each person, it's not a one-size-fits-all form of exploring life's meaning and experiences. Here are a few other things that journaling is not meant to be or do.

• Not a substitute for professional psychological or mental health services if you want or need help that a professional can provide.
• Not rule-based or rigid.
• Not focused on writing craft such as grammar, spelling, punctuation - or even full sentences. As long as you understand what you write, that's all that matters.
• Not limited to writing - it may also include drawing, doodling, and other visual art forms.

Taking First Steps Toward Journaling Success

You may be wondering if journaling can work for you, and you probably have a few of the following questions: Will I enjoy writing? Will I be able to fit it into my schedule? Will it help me deal with some of the situations I'm experiencing?

Let me assure you that journaling is so flexible and effective that it works for just about everyone. The key to success is finding a method (or methods) and schedule that fit your lifestyle and feels comfortable.

To decide whether journaling is a good fit for you, it helps to understand your preferred communication style and your underlying reasons for considering journaling.

Determining your preferred communication style

Are you the sort of person who likes to talk out your problems with a close friend or confidante? Do you prefer reading and writing to watching videos? Do you enjoy working with your hands, perhaps with arts and crafts, or creating collages or scrapbooks? Do you practice or have you explored other self-help practices, such as mindfulness? Do you seek to better understand yourself?

If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, you likely can find journaling a natural extension of the ways in which you like to communicate and express yourself.

If you answered no to all of the questions, then journaling might not come naturally to you. That doesn't mean it's not for you, but you might have to work a little harder to find a method that feels natural and comfortable. If journaling doesn't come naturally, I recommend reviewing the different methods presented in this book and trying those that appeal to you.

Understanding your motivations

Why do you want to journal?

Although journaling has many benefits, what do you personally hope to gain from it? Answering this question and understanding what's drawing you to the idea of journaling can help you feel confident about your reasons for beginning or resuming a journaling practice.

For example, if you're interested in journaling because you want a safe place to express your most personal and private thoughts and feelings, that's a clear indication that journaling can benefit you.

On the other hand, if you're interested in journaling solely because someone told you that you should journal, then your motivation is externally based and may not be strong enough to carry you through the learning curve. In this case, answer the question: Why do you want to journal?

YOU'RE IN GOOD COMPANY: FAMOUS JOURNAL WRITERS

The practice of keeping a diary or journal is as ancient as writing itself. Some of the oldest discovered travel journals and writing that contain personal experience and inner reflections were created as early as 900 CE.

Here's a list of a few history-making journal keepers you might recognize:

• Meriwether Lewis, explorer (of Lewis and Clark)
• John Adams, second president of the United States
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer
• Charles Darwin, naturalist
• Charlotte Brontë, novelist
• Henry David Thoreau, writer
• Vincent Van Gogh, artist
• Beatrix Potter, writer and illustrator
• Marie Curie, physicist and chemist
• Virginia Woolf, writer
• Carl Jung, psychiatrist and psychotherapist
• Anne Frank, diarist
• Frida Kahlo, artist

Still not sure? Browse the chapter titles and subjects in this book's Table of Contents, noting which ones appeal most to you or draw you in. That point of reference should help define what you're looking for in a journaling practice.

Introducing the Many Ways You Can Journal

Because journaling is unique to each person, there's no one right way to keep a journal. That said, there are some commonly used techniques and some techniques that have specific purposes or benefits. The chapters in Part 2 focus on particular methods, and the chapters in Part 3 focus on the reasons and benefits of journaling.

Writing without structure

The most common way to journal is to simply open your notebook (or digital app) and write or draw whatever is in your mind, whenever and for as long as you need. There's no specific format for filling a page. This way of journaling is often referred to as free-writing.

Free-writing (unstructured journaling) allows you to be in the moment with your thoughts and feelings, and to take a stream-of-consciousness approach to your journal.

Unstructured journal entries - and, in fact, entire journals - tend to meander across numerous time periods, topics, and situations. They can include prose, poems, sketches, doodles, and lists.

One drawback to unstructured journaling is that it can get boring after a while, especially if you tend to circle around the same topics over and over without gaining self-knowledge or increased understanding in the process. In this case, try another journaling method for a while (you can choose from the options in Part 2), just to mix things up.

Using writing prompts

The second most common way to journal, after free-writing (see the preceding section), is to use writing prompts. Prompts are helpful when you're not sure what you want to write about. And when you're feeling uninspired, a prompt can help engage the mind and start the creative juices flowing.

I'm a big proponent of journaling prompts, and I provide a lot of them throughout this book. I recommend journaling prompts to help you jumpstart your writing, approach a sensitive topic in new ways, get out of a journaling rut, and break through fear or writing blocks....