by Donna Quesada: Five Benefits of Journaling
1. To Have A Confidante—
I remember when I received my first diary for my 12th birthday. It was red and it had a lock and key. I was enthralled. I could freely share my emotions and fears in this private place, where my top-secret exclusives would be safe. I couldn’t have fully put it into words at the time, but there was something therapeutic about divulging my adolescent angst to this neutral source. Because sometimes we’re not ready or willing to share with a person. A journal—great holder of secrets—fulfills this role.
2.To Make Things Clear—
Sometimes life is overwhelming and our head is drowning in garbled ideas. Writing it all out is a way of untangling the strands of thought in order to sort though it all and see things more clearly. Writing it out reveals new perspectives that we didn’t consider before. It brings to light that which was just a bunch of murky notions, so that we can get a better idea of what makes sense and what decision to take.
3.A Safe Place To Purge—
There are times when life is maddening. Sometimes it’s just one of those days. Having a place to give free rein to our outrage and other intense emotions, like frustration and disappointment, is cathartic. The journal is a safe and trusty friend who will tell no one that we are capable of such undignified language and vitriol. It also has the effect of diffusing the intensity so that when we cool off, we can have a calm, reasonable and more productive conversation about it. And sometimes, we see that it isn’t even necessary anymore!
4.For the Pleasure of Writing—
There is a unique pleasure that comes from being able to write in an unconstricted way. With no deadlines, no thesis point, no word count and no objective, other than sharing our thoughts with the universe and playing with random ideas. It is beneficial to the spirit to put the pen to paper, in the old-fashioned way. What I find is that I surprise myself, when I take what is inside my head and put it down in writing… what ends up spilling out is different than what I had planned, and is often better. It is a “happy accident.” To me, this is the beauty of true creativity… giving yourself permission to generate something new, something unexpected, and then, through the interplay of serendipity and design, something truly yours is born.
5.To Retrace Our Life—
I recently went through a bunch of old boxes and found a stack of old calendars, where I had written all kinds of notes about whatever was going on at the time. Like those old Kodak photos that turn yellow with time, memory becomes more muted with every decade. A journal is a way to record and retrace the events of our lives. Something that is written there just may give explanation, and greater appreciation of the present. It also may bring tears or renewed joy, both of which are healing.
