Sometimes life can get particularly stressful and you have a lot to say, but not many people to say it to. In my experience, many people seem to bottle up all their emotions inside until they nearly fly out, but I think, the best thing a person can do is pick up a journal.
Plenty of students get journals or notebooks for school, but they can serve much more of a purpose than just that. For me, it’s nothing less than a blank canvas for stories, feelings, random thoughts and more. I’ve found that no matter how hard it is to say something out loud to someone, it feels much easier to write personal things down in a journal. It feels less intimidating and takes a weight off your shoulders.
Since journaling is a big hobby of mine, and I have at least five journals that I write in, I’ve had several friends ask me how to get into journaling or what it does for me. While there is a lot, these are all the points I try to hit.
HOW TO FIND YOUR JOURNAL
The first place to start when journaling is simple: find the perfect journal. The easiest way to do this is to head to a store like Walmart, Target, Michaels or even browse on Amazon. Most of the time, you can search a certain aesthetic you like paired with “journal” or “notebook” at the end, and find just what you’d want. If that doesn’t work, another good option is to get a plain color and add fun stickers to it. Getting the perfect journal that suits your vibe is the best way to make yourself more motivated to journal.
DIFFERENT JOURNALING STYLES
It’s a common misconception that all journaling is good for is writing things down and moving on. However, it can be a lot more than that if you really dive into writing about yourself.
The easiest form of journaling that I do is one I call my “Daily Dose of Dopamine.” It’s an easy way to keep track of positive things that happen. I write the date, and then any sort of good thing that happened. If you got a good grade on a test, or just hung out with your friends, write a short line about it. This is a great way to remind yourself that something good can come out of every single day.
The most common form of journaling is a “Dear Diary” type. You could add the date and write about what’s been going on, how you’ve been doing and anything that’s been on your mind. I call this journal “The Perks of Being Ash Thebeau,” inspired by the book “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” I start each entry with the date and “Dear friend,” and then I just go.
Another more organized type of journaling could be color-coding your emotions or thoughts. The main colors I use are red for angry or sad, green for something that made me happy, pink for a song that’s stuck in my head and so on. This is a good way for me to keep track of how I was feeling and distance my emotions from myself, rather than using them to characterize me as a person.
If none of these seem to tickle your fancy and you’re a person who likes guided journaling with prompts to inspire you, I’d highly recommend finding one with pre-written prompts. You don’t have to think as hard about what you want to write about, and instead can use it as a way of replying to the questions.
HOW TO GET INTO JOURNALING
After you’ve found your journal and picked a format, all you have to do is write. Find a time that works best for you and use this as your time for self-care. To romanticize it even more, you could light a candle, have a fun drink or play some calming music while you journal. Whatever gets you into the right mindset, do it. It helps it feel more fun and personalized.
WHAT JOURNALING DOES FOR ME
Journaling is my favorite form of self-expression. Once I got used to the idea of saying all that’s on my mind, it became really productive for my mental health. I was able to better process my emotions and understand how different events led to different feelings. Now whenever I find myself struggling, or even just having one bad day, I pick up a pen. It is such a simple yet beneficial thing for a person to keep around to pick up whenever they want to give updates on life or need to get things out.