I owe where I am today to journaling. I started daily journaling in 2018 and since then have discovered so much about my internal world. There was so much there that I couldn’t comprehend until I got it out on paper. My mind was an expert at avoiding, burying, and denying anything that set me apart from anyone else. I remember feeling that I wish I didn’t enjoy what I did because it made me strange. Since then, I’ve been able to express those parts of myself because of the compassion I could finally show myself once I could see and really accept what was present.
I started just writing a little bit every day. It felt so unsafe. What if someone read what I had written? What would they think? The first things that I wrote were actually about Tarot Cards. I would pull a card in the morning, read the little booklet and write about what the card meant and how it might apply to my life. This is how I started my practice. Over time I got more and more open and brave and would start to write stream of consciousness to try to really see what my thoughts were doing. My anxious mind raced constantly so this was an amazing tool. When I read my writings back I could really notice some the pervasive themes. I also noticed that I started to feel better. It was like telling everything on my mind to a trusted person. There was no judgement. I could actually respond with profound compassion to certain things the way a truly wise person would. And so my journaling practice grew.
It’s been over 3 years now and I am enjoying journaling more and more. It reminds me of the Morning Pages from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I don’t ever force myself to write more than comes up, so maybe working through the process outlined in the book will be a journey for me to explore soon. Most promptings I have like this yield results once I finally get going on them.
The intuitive guidance that I’ve received from my journaling practice has helped me heal and helped me access support of all different sorts to move me to this space. The space I am in right now feels expansive and allows me to feel like I have agency over my life, something I never felt like I had before. I have hopes and dreams that I have explored in these pages and more curiosity and motivation to discover where those journeys lead than I have ever had before.
You don’t need to be a writer to journal. You need something to write on and something to write with- that’s all. Writing by hand has been better for me than typing, but I understand that it might not work for everyone. Even recording yourself talking would work. Just having that record of some of your thoughts that you can explore will yield results.
Reflection can be difficult. I know that I confronted so much when I started. It was such a process, but the healing that has come from journaling has been so much more profound than anything else I have tried. So, I encourage you to try.
To know yourself is a powerful gift for the Universe within and around you.
