A Little Background
I have always wanted to be one of those people who kept detailed logs on their life so that one day my great-great-granddaughter could read my journal and find out about how awesome her great-great-grandmother was. But the truth is, being disciplined enough to journal every day is hard, especially for a college student with homework, organizations, family obligations and a social life. It was not until I bought a sketchbook with a gift card from my birthday that I began documenting my life, and I did it through doodles. It was easier than I thought, especially because I had just started a relationship and drawing cute things that reminded me of our dates felt like an important way on remembering our time spent together. I had a trip to Europe coming up, too, so it was one more motivator to carry around my new sketchbook.
What It Is
The point of journaling is to express yourself. I found that having a sketchbook to draw little doodles of things that remind me of that day, such as a strawberry for strawberry picking or a coffee cup for getting coffee with a friend, is much easier for me to do than writing paragraphs about my day. It is less time consuming but provides me with the same amount of refreshing and revitalizing feelings as journaling. It also is a mental break from prose, which is something I encounter a lot as an English student. The doodles also make it a more creative and enjoyable way to reflect on what you’ve done over the last week or month! I write words, phrases and quotes that further help me remember what happened that day.
Doodle journaling is not only for the good days. If I had not learned the discipline of journaling every day, I likely would not have done anything constructive when I had bad days come along. Because of my doodle journal, I have an outlet I feel safe to write in and doodle when I feel upset.
How it Can Help You
Journaling is a highly recommended way for people to work through their feelings and to promote mental and emotional health. The article 83 Benefits of Journaling for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Management, has, you guessed it, 83 different benefits journaling helps you live a healthier life. It states that “journaling/expressive writing has been found to: boost your mood/ affect, enhance your sense of well-being, reduce symptoms of depression before an important event, reduce intrusion and avoidance symptoms post-trauma and improve your working memory.” I always look forward from the mental break of doodling in my book at the end of the day, and whenever I am feeling down, I go back to older pages and smile at the doodles from happier days.
Overall, I feel that having an outlet for me to express my feelings while not feeling constricted to writing prose has positively affected my life, while simultaneously creating a memento and a space where there is no judgment.