The Power of Journaling: Healing, Clarity, and Self-Discovery
Introduction
Journaling has never been one of my favorite things to do. It all sounds so romantic—what a hoot, writing down what our life has been like. The very intimate secrets that one wants no one, and I mean no one, to know. Personally, I would have loved to read my grandparents’ journals, had they been written. But then there is the unsettling part… someone else seeing exactly how we feel and think.
Vulnerable
My grandparents were raised to keep secrets, never to tell. Do we really feel safe enough for our own personal truth to be exposed? That can be very intimidating, yet very freeing at the same time. Vulnerable, to say the least.
However, I have found myself taking pen in hand on more than one occasion, and now I have a stack of journals. Am I a faithful daily writer? No. But I do make it a habit to write when unsettling circumstances or emotions arise.
Therapeutic
Even with sporadic writing, it helps me to notice patterns of behavior—in myself and in others—that would have taken me much longer to notice if I had not written it down. This has helped me with my children’s behavioral patterns, enabling me to be a better parent.
Journaling is also a great tool in both healthy and unhealthy relationship patterns. One may learn to know themselves better, gaining clarity about situations. This may lead to one realizing their own unhealthy patterns, enabling change, and therefore reducing stress.
Expressive & Healthful
One 2005 study found that the kind of “expressive writing” often connected with journaling is especially therapeutic. The study found that participants who wrote about traumatic, stressful, or emotional events were significantly less likely to get sick, and were ultimately less seriously affected by trauma, than their non-journaling counterparts.
Stress is a known trigger for many diseases. The more science studies stress, the more it is shown to correlate with disease. This I have learned from experience as well.
Stress
When I get caught up in life and go too fast, refusing to take time for myself, my body revolts against my decision. I should say it reflects the lack of decision to take good care of myself. When under much stress, we stop making decisions that support our well-being—engaging in self-sabotage.
Leadership
Skip Richard believes that journaling assists in great leadership by helping to organize and cement ideas. Many famous people kept journals or diaries. These people came from all walks of life: business (John D. Rockefeller); military (George Patton); inventors (Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison); presidents and prime ministers (John Adams, Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill) and many authors (Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway). I definitely feel clearer and healthier when keeping a journal faithfully.
Healing Heartache
While some may consider it overanalyzing, studies have shown that ruminating on a past relationship actually speeds up emotional recovery and helps build a stronger sense of self-identity following a breakup.
Strengthens Immunity
Psychologist and researcher James Pennebaker contends that regular journaling strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes. Allowing ourselves to communicate our emotions, feelings, and gut reactions creates health.
Are we paying attention to what our needs are? Are we supporting ourselves, or are we suppressing our emotions and losing touch with ourselves—losing our own emotions and opinions in a sea of social expectations?
Upheavals
“Emotional upheavals touch every part of our lives,” Pennebaker has said. “You don’t just lose a job, you don’t just get divorced. These things affect all aspects of who we are—our financial situation, our relationships with others, our views of ourselves… Writing helps us focus and organize the experience.”
Emotional Freedom Technique
Writing helps us focus and organize the experience. When we choose to learn from our own experiences because of what we write, it is beautifully valuable. Emotional Freedom Technique is benefited by journaling, being especially helpful in identifying our triggers and wounds, enabling faster healing.
Upleveling
By giving issues and stressors a different meaning, one may change the story to serve instead of hinder. Agony may be released and recycled—upleveled—into a very meaningful story. The story we tell ourselves will either hinder us or help us heal.
Fear
Isn’t it fear that keeps us repressed? The fear which keeps us from experiencing the fullness of life?
What would our lives look like without the fear of our story?
The fear of:
- Being seen
- Being judged
- Reliving the pain
- What our story says about us
- Feeling our own emotions
What would our lives look like without the fear of being honest about our story? Recycling energy enables us to enliven who we have been created and called to be. Loving, caring, gracious souls, free from anxiety and fear.
Ready to Start?
Write for five to ten minutes. Write whatever you think without censorship. If you are looking for specific guidance, “Explore my guided journaling and tapping prompts: Daily Journaling & Tapping Prompts”
May you live your life full of love and grace,
Lesley V.
Lesley VanDeventer
Resourses:
https://www.skipprichard.com/why-journaling-makes-better-leaders/