Are you feeling overwhelmed? Stressed? Anxious? Excited? All of the above? Don’t worry; as cliché as this sounds, we are all in the same boat.
To release, process, and understand these emotions, I decided to journal. Whenever I took even five minutes of my day journaling, I felt a sense of relief, like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders. It was refreshing. So far, here is how journaling helped me get through the pandemic.
Processing and Understanding the Current Situation
At the beginning of the pandemic, I struggled with processing the sudden and surreal situation. I found myself reminiscing the times that my friends and I hung out in the common rooms, and when I could go out and not worry about getting infected with the virus.
To deal with the situation I wrote about the bleak situation, how much it broke my heart. The more I wrote about it, the easier it was to understand that wearing a mask and staying six feet apart would be the new normal until a vaccine is found. Even if I am not happy with the situation we are in, I would have to adapt and make the best out of it.
Staying Positive
Constantly swarmed by news about the rising death rates and cases day and night, I found it hard to keep a positive mindset. This led me to feel blue and anxious about the future for weeks.
To get out of this slump, I would list five things that made me happy or that I was grateful for at any point in my entries. Looking at the bright side helped me appreciate the small things and the blessings that I currently had, such as being with family. It relieved me of my everyday stresses and lighted up my spirits no matter how dreary the situation felt.
Finding Creativity
As a writer, one of the obstacles that I encountered was finding inspiration. For a while, I had felt like my creativity had died down, and wondered if I was going to find it again.
When I journaled, I found that spark of creativity by drawing inspiration from my own life or looking at a situation from a different perspective. Whenever this happened, my heart would start racing and motivated me to start writing.
Reflection
When I felt frustrated, lonely, or even excited, I would write down my experiences in my journal. Whenever I did this, the main question I asked myself was why do I feel this way? What can I do to make it better? How can I improve myself?
For five minutes, I would try to understand why I felt that way or how it prevented me from being who I was meant to be. From this, I found myself learning more about who I was and accepting my flaws and past mistakes. These are tools that will help me develop into the person I want to be.