People sometimes like to make a joke, telling people who are dealing with big emotions to “go journal it,” but mental health professionals would say it’s not a joke at all.
It’s healthy to get those emotions out, after all. And there are many times it would be better to put them into words rather than say them aloud.
Right?
Journaling is just a term for documenting your thoughts, feelings, and experiences on a regular basis. Human beings have been keeping diaries forever, and there are several famous examples, like Anne Frank, that prove how they can impact others on a universal level.
Some might argue that having an active social media page counts as journaling – after all, those stories, photos, and posts document your life.
There are several popular examples of journaling. One is gratitude journaling, which encourages you to document the things you are thankful for as part of a daily or weekly routine.
Another is bullet journaling, which allows for a lot of creativity and flow inside the pages. You can make it whatever you want!
People who travel also favor travel journals, but that concept can be parlayed into other areas of interest, too, like fitness journals, medical journals, or other areas of progress.
If you often have interesting dreams that stay with you when you wake, some people enjoy journaling those – doing it right away when you wake up can help you remember details that will quickly fade as the new day creeps in.
Which is to say, there is no right or wrong way to journal, and anything you choose is likely to improve your mental health. A book by teacher and author Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way, is consistently listed among books that therapists themselves regularly read.
Linda Blair, who is one of those (clinical) psychologists, says there are pieces of the book that she returns to on a regular basis.
“Cameron gets her students to do something called morning pages. You sit up in bed, and before you do another thing, you write three pages of anything, whatever’s on your mind, your dream. Why am I writing? This doesn’t matter. Just write.”
Blair believes this gives us permission to tackle issues we might not even realize are really bothering and us.
“It makes sense. It’s not floating around your unconscious, just making you sort of agitated. You have to put a sentence down when you write, so it has to be logical and you begin to get a form to your problems, which is the first step to solving them.”
It’s basically like a therapy session with yourself – or someone you trust a whole lot.
And yes, Blair recommends the practice (or something like it) to her patients.
“I couldn’t say stronger how important it is and how possibly money-saving and timesaving it is as well.”
Another psychologist, Dr. Martin Seligman, encouraged the “Three Good Things” method of gratitude journaling. The idea is to write down three positive things that happened during the day and consider what it was that made you feel good about them.
“Gratitude provides many advantages throughout development. Engaging in practices that elicit positive appraisals of one’s daily life – like gratitude journaling – could help promote wellbeing and more positive interactions with others.”
A recent study found that gratitude is associated with a longer lifespan in older adults, and while unproven, it’s definitely interesting.
Since there’s no right or wrong way to do it, you don’t have to feel guilty about how often you do it, either, says Blair.
“Getting your thoughts down is the key, however it works for you. It’s like exercise – if you’ll do it again and again, then do it that way.”
Not only that, but some research also suggests that writing by hand helps learning, information processing, and memory. One recent study said that writing from a young age “provides the brain with optimal conditions for learning.”
Honestly, there aren’t any downsides.
“It’s not difficult, it’s not magical, you don’t have to pay for a therapist to learn it – that’s all you do.”
And listen.
No one in their right mind is ever going to say no to new stationary.
If you found that story interesting, learn more about why people often wake up around 3 AM and keep doing it for life.