Writing to Relax
A Journalist’s Diary
Approaching life with the right mindset unlocks our potential. It sounds incredibly easy in short and sweet documentaries, in which athletes share a few select soundbites to sculpt their public image and that of their sponsors. In reality, however, the human mind is a funny old thing with vast powers when it cooperates and when it refuses.
Motivation, mood, emotions, stress, everyone’s life is an up and down on the spectrum of all of those. Ideally, that up and down self-regulates and creates a balance of sorts.
When I feel the downs threaten that balance, I try to remind myself of the power of writing to rebalance life. I might need a day, a week, or however long it may take, but writing when I don’t feel well, don’t feel like writing, has always helped.
The gaps and stresses
The end of the year caused absences in my writing routine.
My only proper writing day was on December 6. I left JJ and Cas and the gaping holes in what will hopefully one day be a series of short stories alone.
I didn’t feed my journal in November or December; the poor thing almost starved to death.
I know how soothing even a five-minute journaling session usually feels. Yet, I often catch myself postponing one to the next day. That’s often when the hectic of life caused that imbalance I mentioned earlier.
When I had finally convinced myself to open my journal again, I was stunned to find empty pages worth two months. Feeling the soothing touch of the fountain pen’s nib gliding across the smooth paper, I thought about the connection between writing and relaxation.
When I had finished writing, I looked into that a bit more.
Some fascinating readings
And I found a few reads that have sparked my curiosity even further and helped with my motivational rut.
This article on Purdue University’s website mentions journaling as a “highly effective tool for stress relief” and suggests various journaling techniques one could try. Some of those I had heard before, some not. Interesting. I also enjoyed the links to multiple studies.
Harvard’s Medical School featured a fascinating piece about expressive writing and how it can help with trauma. The article explores writing as a coping mechanism and details studies and the thinking aspect of writing, which could be why writing helps to “overcome emotional inhibition.”
Write to start sorting yourself out; I enjoy that idea. And I like the idea mentioned at the end. Writing, for some, might be the equivalent of “a good brisk walk.”
This article is behind a paywall, but I enjoy the idea of seeing writing as a way to communicate with yourself.
If you’re convinced that writing can aid relaxation, Grammarly published a list of prompts. Maybe something is interesting in that list for you. I’ll certainly turn to that list for inspiration if I feel unmotivated to write in the future, similar to this treasure trove of photography exercises that I used in the past (and occasionally still use).
Progress Management
My journaling is back on track for more consistency, with entries for six out of the last 13 days. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s a decent start.
The journal is a special place. I can celebrate, shout, laugh, and cry through the ink I put on the pages. It’s my safe space, my harbor. I was surprised how much lighter I felt after spending the first five minutes with this good friend of mine.
I also lapsed with my short stories. I’m happy to say that I made good progress again recently by porting a technique I use in the real world to the prompts I’m currently still tinkering with.
More on that in two weeks when I’ll share the next writing-related post. I can say that I have a decent number of pages in a small notebook filled with real-world writing using that technique, and I still have to process those.
But some of it, involving pencil artistry, will be featured in that post.
But before I get to that, I’ll have a running update and winter photography (hopefully) next week.
