BEGIN YOUR Journal Journey Part 2

Sounds good, but are you unsure of how to start? Here are six quick tips.

1. Begin with the date.

Dating your entries gives you a chronological timeline as well as allows you to note the space between journal entries. You can also begin to track cycles, patterns and trends in your writing. People who journal often describe the rhythm and flow of handwriting with words such as calming, soothing and focusing. They report that insight and solutions are more reliably accessed; clients remark that answers bubble up and spill onto the paper when they write by hand.

2. Start small.

Set your timer for five minutes and start with what you already know or can easily remember. Sentence stems such as Today I want to…. or I’m thinking about…. or Three things I want off my to-do list are…. are all great starting points.

3. Ask yourself a question.

How do I feel? What do I need? What’s my next action step? Questions tend to take us deeper, often into reflective or more emotional territory, contrasted to the narrative or more cognitive focus of sentence stems.

4. Don’t plan to write every day.

Aside from your own personal preference, there’s no particular advantage to daily writing. Even writing once or twice a week is sufficient to develop a journaling habit, and you’ll likely benefit from a more relaxed approach.

5. Protect your privacy.

Think through where you’ll keep your journal so that it’s out of sight and out of mind for curious housemates. I reserve the first two or three pages of every new journal for privacy protection. On the first page, I write the starting date and a note: This is my personal journal. Please don’t read it without my permission. Thank you for respecting my privacy. On the second page I write, As I was saying…. Please don’t read! Under this, I draw a large stop sign. Note that this will not deter anyone who is intent on reading your journal, but a healthy boundary often gives an impulsive reader enough time to close the book.

6. Don’t fret about your handwriting.

If your writing is illegible, that’s a great privacy protector! No one is grading or judging you.

June 14, 2024 0

Begin YOUR Journal Journey Part 1

Not everyone is willing to try writing as a primary or supplementary approach to problem-solving. Those who are—even when they are skeptical at first—almost always find writing to be a powerful and surprisingly accessible means to insight, healing, growth and change.

There are many reasons to journal other than emotional healing. Here are five benefits to expressing yourself on paper.

1. Writing by hand can make learning easier.

Neuroscientists are strongly opposed to the decline in teaching penmanship, or cursive writing, in public schools, “When we write, a unique neural circuit is automatically activated,” said Stanislas Dehaene, a psychologist at the Collège de France in Paris. “There is a core recognition of the gesture in the written word, a sort of recognition by mental simulation in your brain. And it seems that this circuit is contributing in unique ways we didn’t realize. Learning is made easier.”

2. Writing by hand can improve memory.

A research study comparing college students who took notes on laptops and those who took notes by hand found that students remembered lectures better with handwritten notes. It seems digital note-takers tend to transcribe a lecture rather than assimilate it. Manual note-taking requires discernment about ranking information according to its relative importance, allowing the hand-writers to remember core learning more readily.

3. Writing in a journal, by hand, helps you achieve the maximum benefit of journaling.

My anecdotal research as a journal therapist suggests that clients who write by hand are much more likely to have positive attachment to their journals and sustain the practice longer than those who write digitally. The handwritten journal, which is portable and accessible, is what therapists call a “constant presence.” It’s deemed by clients to be a more intimate, personal and relatable experience than writing on a phone app or computer; thus, the results tend to last longer and embed more deeply.

4. Writing by hand can have similar benefits to meditation.

In an article called “The Simple Joy of Writing by Hand,” Barbara Bash writes, “It is something about the physical act—the holding of the hand and pen—that is meditative, bringing me into the present.”

5. Writing by hand can help enhance creative expression.

According to British novelist Jon McGregor, “Pen and paper is always [at] hand. Writing on the page stays on the page, with its scribbles and rewrites and long arrows suggesting a sentence or paragraph be moved and can be looked over and reconsidered. Writing on the screen is far more ephemeral. A sentence deleted can’t be reconsidered.” For decades, my own journals have been incubators for creative projects. Each time I start a new book, workshop or business expansion I use my journal to work out questions, obstacles, details, procedural notes and deadline management. I also benefit from the safe container for my own self-doubts, uncertainties, frustrations and other feelings that are part of the creative process.

June 14, 2024 0

Positive Mental Health

Positive mental health is a combination of feeling good and functioning well. It can include:

Emotional healthFeeling positive emotions like happiness, joy, pride, satisfaction, and love, and being optimistic about life events
Physical healthFeeling physically healthy and getting enough sleep
Social healthHaving fulfilling relationships with others, and feeling good about yourself
LifestyleBalancing school/work, play/leisure, and rest/sleep activities, and participating in life to the fullest

Some habits that can help promote positive mental health include:

Journaling: Can help clarify thoughts, regulate emotions, and identify negative thoughts
Mindfulness: Can help you become more aware of your thoughts and feelings so that you can better manage them
Exercise: Getting regular exercise can benefit your overall wellbeing
Diet: Eating a balanced diet can benefit your overall wellbeing
Socializing: Spending time with friends and family can benefit your overall wellbeing

June 14, 2024 0

The Dark Night Of The Soul

The Dark Night of the Soul

In the heart of a forgotten forest, where ancient trees whispered secrets to the wind, there lived a solitary soul named Elowen. She was neither young nor old, but her eyes held the weight of centuries. Elowen had seen empires rise and fall, witnessed love bloom and wither, and felt the ebb and flow of hope and despair.

Elowen’s days were spent tending to her garden—a patch of wildflowers that defied the shadows. Each bloom held a story: the crimson poppy that remembered lost warriors, the moonflower that sang to the stars, and the black rose that thrived on sorrow.

One moonless night, as Elowen sat by her hearth, a visitor arrived. His name was Alistair, a wanderer with eyes as stormy as the sea. He carried a burden heavier than any mortal could bear—a heart shattered by betrayal. Alistair sought solace, and the forest led him to Elowen’s door.

“Welcome,” Elowen said, her voice like wind through leaves. “What brings you to this forgotten place?”

Alistair hesitated, then spoke of love betrayed, of promises broken, and of a darkness that threatened to consume him. Elowen listened, her eyes reflecting the pain etched into his soul.

“Ah,” she said softly. “You are in the dark night of the soul.”

Alistair frowned. “Dark night?”

Elowen gestured toward the window. “Look outside. See how the moon hides, leaving only shadows? That is the dark night—the time when the soul grapples with its deepest wounds. It is a journey through despair, but also a path toward transformation.”

Alistair scoffed. “Transformation? What good is that when my heart lies shattered?”

Elowen rose, her bare feet touching the cool earth. “Come,” she said. “We shall walk the forest together.”

They stepped into the night, the trees leaning in as if to listen. Elowen guided Alistair deeper, where the darkness thickened. He stumbled, but she steadied him.

“Feel the pain,” Elowen whispered. “Let it wash over you. Only by facing it can you emerge anew.”

They reached a clearing, and there, bathed in starlight, stood a mirror—a mirror that reflected not their physical forms, but their inner selves. Alistair gazed into it, and what he saw made him weep.

“I am broken,” he confessed.

Elowen touched his cheek. “Brokenness is the soil from which strength grows. Look again.”

Alistair looked, and this time, he saw not shattered pieces, but threads of light weaving together. His heartache became a tapestry of resilience, his betrayal a lesson in forgiveness.

As dawn approached, Elowen led Alistair back to her cottage. “Remember,” she said, “the dark night is a passage, not a prison. Let it shape you, but do not let it define you.”

Alistair left the forest, his heart still tender, but no longer shattered. He carried Elowen’s wisdom with him, and as seasons turned, he became a healer of hearts.

And so, in the heart of the forgotten forest, where ancient trees whispered secrets, Elowen tended her garden. The black rose bloomed, its petals kissed by both sorrow and hope.

For in the dark night of the soul, even shadows hold the promise of dawn.

June 14, 2024 0