Why Journaling Changed My Life
Finding simple ways to improve your well-being
I used to hate journaling. Let me explain why, and what changed.
For the longest time, I had always hated handwriting. Although I blamed my hatred for it on the fact that my hand always cramped up, I never wanted to admit that the real reason my hand hurt was probably due to the intensely tight way I like to hold my pens and pencils.
Because of this, I turned away from journaling. A very shallow motive, I know. But for some reason, I could not bring myself to journal for more than a week because I would get tired of writing for too long.
However, I’ve heard so many good things about journaling. I love reading articles and stories about people who had found a passion for writing in ways that had no expectations. This is what started to draw me to the idea journaling. So much writing that I’ve done has either been graded in school or written in places where they are shared with others. With this, there were always surrounding expectations about what “good” writing was. But with journaling, there weren’t external opinions that judged my writing — it was just about personal growth.
So I decided to give it a try. I had a small black journal in my room and opened it to the first page: Journal Entry #1. I can’t even remember what I wrote about — it was simply just a reflection of my day and what I learned from it. I actually found it rather fun!
Now it would be unfair for me to pretend I immediately became the perfect journalist. After this first entry, I accidentally left the journal blank for three months as I wanted to focus on school. I revisited my journal a few weeks ago, however.
I started to just write about my day and what I learned. But recently, I’ve also been noticing that whenever I start to feel sad or alone, I turn to my journal and it allows me to express my feelings. It helps me relax and sort out my thoughts in ways that maybe wouldn’t happen if I tried to explain my thoughts to someone else in a frantic state.
So how did journaling change my life?
Journaling allowed me to learn how there can be lessons in everything. I found myself starting journal entries with basic descriptions of my day — today I started a new book, today I went on a bike ride, or today I went on a distance walk to get ice cream with my friend!
However, as I went on I started to write about the lessons that these moments taught me without even realizing it. I had come up with a deeper meaning to the mint ice cream I had gotten with my friend and how even the simplest moments in life can be worth a million memories. Had I not written a journal entry that day, I probably would not have had such a realization that simple moments in life can mean so much to you.
The other way journaling changed my life is that journaling allowed me to reflect on my own emotions before jumping to any conclusions. Sometimes I see myself becoming more upset than I need to be because my emotions get ahead of me and I fall into a dark circle pretty fast. However, journaling has given me an outlet that allows me to reflect and think about my emotions before I jump to any conclusions.
Journaling has helped me improve my mindset towards the small moments and big moments in life. I think journaling changed my life because it gives me time to slow down.
Often life can feel like an ongoing journey that never has any breaks. My journal, however, lets me take a deep breath and detract from the mind-boggling and confusing thing called reality.
I encourage journaling anyone and everyone. Whether or not you feel you have nothing to write about, I feel that journaling always helps you reveal new things about yourself. The things you learn about yourself can be big or small — everything is worth the short time it takes to journal.
I hope this article inspires someone else to consider journaling. Give it time, and allow yourself to be vulnerable. Learn something about yourself!
Best of luck to everyone!
Rashmi
