Why did I start journaling?
I discovered, truly discovered, journaling this year. Sitting at the dinner table with my family over winter break, eating our traditional Mexican tamales and chocolate Abuelita, we started talking about happiness. My grandma had read that to find happiness, you needed to find “flow” (I know, initially this sounds really cheesy). Basically what this means is finding an activity in which you can lose yourself; having “flow” meant having something in your life that makes the world melt away and time disappear. When I reflected, I didn’t have anything in my life that made me feel this way. After my first semester of college, I had gotten so carried away with homework and assignments that I had forgotten to look after myself, so I decided to seek out this new concept of happiness, and that’s when I landed on journaling. I thought that journaling would be a great way to express myself emotionally and creatively, and I was not wrong!
Why is journaling amazing?
Journaling gives me a way to express myself for a short period of time any time I need to. I can sit down for twenty minutes and spill my guts, knowing that no one but me will ever see it. I also use journaling as a way to exercise self-love: something I believe is so important for women. I make pages dedicated to writing things I love about myself, or writing a hundred things I am grateful for that day. Any time I express love and gratitude for myself and the world around me, I gain happiness that lasts much longer and is truly meaningful. I also use my journal to write goals, which I glance at every time I open my journal. All in all, my journal is a symbol of love towards myself, and that carries an immense amount of power to me.
I have a journal…now what?
Maybe you bought a plain notebook, or a Moleskin (this is what I did), or perhaps you have seen how much attention Bullet journals have been getting recently so you decided to go that route. No matter what kind of journal you have now, you may feel stuck on how to start, and that is totally okay! I personally have made my journal a little art project for myself, so I spend time drawing artistic headers, drawings, and doodles. This might not be everyone’s preference, but is a very therapeutic option. Like I’ve mentioned, my journal is also a project of love, so I tend to write about my feelings and other things that will lift me up emotionally and spiritually: for example, I have a page titled “My Victories,” in which I write anything I consider a victory for myself (this might be anything from getting an A on a paper to not skipping class). Another tip if you’re feeling stuck is to brainstorm a list of page ideas. You might like to use your journal to write down what you did that day, or any feelings you want to get out. Personally, I like to supplement these types of journal entries with more creative pages, so sometimes I will write down a list of pages entries I want to write in the future. In the past, I’ve thought of writing about things I love to do, songs that make me happy, and reasons to be happy.
Needless to say, journaling helped me find “flow.” I can lose track of time writing a poem and then illustrating that poem through a web of doodles. My journal has become an extension of my heart, and when I hold it, I can imagine myself holding my source of power. So if you haven’t started journaling, what are you waiting for?