Journaling Helps the Journey


Journaling is a crazy good tool in the process of self-healing. I have come a long way, but I'm still "doing the work" every day. There are several areas in which it is easy for me to get out of balance. There are still old programs in there, perpetuating old story lines onto new situations. There are still shadows in the closet that need to be seen in the light and old wounds that need healing.

Journaling helps this a great deal. I spill my guts to my journal. I tell it my dreams, both ones I hope to experience and the ones I experience when I sleep. I write poetry in it. I practice different techniques I learn. I train myself to see new positive programming in ambiguous situations. I write down notes from phone calls and conversations that resonate in meaningful ways. I take notes from books and videos. I write down phone numbers and addresses I want to make sure I keep. I write notes to friends. I work through things, unpack. 

I've gone through 3 notebooks and 4 ink pens in the past 30 days. I keep a box of all my journals in my Jeep, usually bringing them in with me on house sitting gigs. I intend to, and sometimes do, go back and read my notebooks from 2016, 2017. But it is still pretty intense to return to that energy. The last few years have been the most intense and transformative of my life, after all, and there are times when I do not know what I would have done without an opportunity to journal nearby. 

This open space for you to pour yourself out helps you discover what you look like, who you are, what you want. It helps you see how far you've come...and if you're really brave and ready, it sometimes can help you see your unconscious patterns, cycles and compulsive behaviors. 

When I journal, I talk around a subject, I ask questions, I try to view what comes up non-judgmentally. I try to treat it like I am trying to get to the bottom of a mystery, rather than fixing something that's broken.

Find a type of journal that resonates with you. Find a pen that makes your handwriting look amazing or that just feels good in your hand. Find your quiet space to process, and write away. 

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