The Benefits of Journaling
In an increasingly paperless world, the idea of putting one’s most intimate thoughts into a booklet lined with blank pages is a concept that’s become foreign to us. Journals and journaling as a task remind one of a younger age when writing within the lines of a page was an outlet for emotions at home or at school. The older we get, the easier it becomes for our time to be consumed by our digital tools. We often look back on the simpler time of journaling writing with nostalgia, but there are major benefits to returning to the old form of writing out your thoughts, ideas, dreams, and emotions.
1. Journaling can improve your writing skills. It’s no surprise that auto-correct and a quick search on the internet can make it so that our writing skills tend to become stagnant after a short period of time. Journaling is a good excuse to become a better writer. You can use journaling as a chance to write fact or fiction. Tell your personal story or use a prompt every now and again. You’ll discover your own voice.
2. Developing your writing skills can help you develop your creative potential as well. Write without a purpose, write without an agenda, write just for the mere task of writing. Don’t concern yourself with what you put down on paper. Remember that journaling can be fiercely personal. Tell the stories you want to tell, and cultivate the creative nature that you might be holding back.
3. Write down your thoughts and emotions. Journaling can help you strengthen your emotional intelligence. Through writing, you’ll be granting yourself the opportunity to reflect on your emotional states, and develop a greater understanding of how you think, feel, and react to happenings around you. It can also help you strengthen your social relationships with others.
It’s no surprise that when we’re able to check in and understand our emotional strengths and weaknesses we can’t extend that emotional intelligence in our relationships with others around us. Through journaling, we can become better partners, friends, and people.
4. By organizing your daily thoughts, and processing your actions on paper, you have the chance to seek out new perspectives on a past event. Never underestimate the power of self-reflection.
5. After you process your emotions, journaling can help you let them all go. If you have to go through the loss of a pet, a loved one, or job, journaling can help you work through what’s happening, and then heal from it. Not only can writing help relieve stress, but it can benefit you in a wide array of ways:
- Increasing your focus
- Greater levels of learning
- Self-empowerment
6. Use journaling as a way to practice gratitude. Make it a habit to write down what you’re grateful for. Whether it’s abstract, simple, or small gestures, take note of it. Try to make it a habit to make a not of gratitude once a day. Within a week, you can look back at what you felt grateful for and reflect on what you’ve acknowledged appreciation for.
7. Write yourself into history. Your words and your story are vastly important, even if you don’t think so. Journals are a chance to voice your daily opinions, to dream about the future, and to plan for the present. Your voice matters and your thoughts are warranted. A journal is a safe space to share your written history. This could be purely for yourself, or you might like to share it with others in the future. Regardless, never be afraid of personal honesty when writing.