Journalling for Women
If someone were to ask me when my life began to change, here is what I would answer – my life began to change the day I bought a journal. It sounds so simple, and in fact it is. I had no idea that the day I bought my journal, would be the day my life really began to change. The day I bought my journal was the first day of a massive roller-coaster ride of personal growth. And once you get on, you don’t want to get off. It’s like an addiction I might say. There really is no telling what your future could hold for you. I guess that’s the exciting part of it all. You’ve probably heard the thought that we choose our own destiny. Well – writing in a journal only speeds up the whole process.
If you ask me, I don’t know what could be more therapeutic at times than writing in a journal!
When I refer to journalling, I don’t mean you just write out what you did that day, or what he or she said. It’s not that you can’t do that – it’s just that that’s not the purpose.
When I speak about journalling or writing I am speaking of major personal transformation and total transcendence on some level. It’s a transcendence that takes you to a whole new level in this so called game of life. The kind of writing I’m speaking about isn’t something you learn in writing 101. In fact, it’s not really something you learn – it’s something you do.
The writing is an overflow from within, and becomes an extension from the heart – the place that knows total truth. Writing does not lie. Writing brings out the truth, and nothing but the truth, as scary as it might be. To write is to listen. And to listen is to find. Is this not what we all want? To find ourselves? Getting to know one’s self is a lifelong journey, a journey full of life-long complexities.
Journalling aids us in sorting through these complexities and mass confusions. Once you get all this stuff down on paper, life becomes a whole lot easier. In some respects at least, – believe me.
Writing opens up new realms of possibility, and new ways of thinking. There’s no one judging when you write. Only you.
As you begin the journey of self-exploration on paper, you feel total nakedness. You feel total vulnerability. Writing isn’t always easy. No one said it was easy. It takes nerve to be able to explore the unknown realms of yourself.
As you begin to understand yourself, you begin to understand the world around you, and ultimately where you fit in.
Sometimes when we feel we need guidance and help – we feel we should turn to the outer world. We believe in this notion or misconception that the answers are somewhere out there. One of the breakthroughs in writing comes when you realize that all the answers are inside yourself. It’s up to you though to go inside and find them. Unleash your answers. Find the truth and as they say – the truth shall set you free.
One of the first things you will learn as you write, is that you have choices in life. We’ve all heard before that we have choices. It’s as if we’ve heard it so many times before, that we no longer understand the phrase for what it truly means.
As you write, your focus is channelled into that which you are writing. You are totally tuned in to what’s being explored on paper. Your inner essence. As we write, the business of our own lives is lost. We are totally present to the moment, and we are now fully able to live in the moment.
Writing allows us to focus our energies on what is going on inside our crazy, busy brains. Sometimes it’s not really a manner of understanding something – but it’s a manner of expressing something. Writing allows you to do this very well.
In a nutshell, I think writing allows us to get our thoughts out of our heads, and on to paper, so that we can move onto the next thought. It allows us to deal with this lesson, and to then move onto the next. Perhaps what one person may take a year to explore or find, you can discover in one evening of writing.
Writing allows you to connect with your dreams and follow your heart. Writing is not only a means to an end, but is a lifelong journey.
The expression of writing into a journal is like conversing with your best friend. It listens forever, and does not judge your remarks. It simply reflects back to you what’s going on inside of you. Some of the best therapists simply reflect back to the client, what the client has already been expressing. And when we write – that’s what we do. We reflect on our feelings and our thoughts.