Keeping a Journal
Keeping a journal is like keeping a diary except that thoughts and feelings are recorded and not only specific events. Our emotions tell us how well we are meeting our life needs and how we are achieving our life goals. Journaling helps us understand the reasons we feel a certain way at a certain time.
Journaling is a highly individual pursuit. Some make daily entries; some less frequently. Some note and comment on the activities of the day. Others record what spontaneously emanates from their inner selves as they write. Some type/keyboard their entries or blog, others use a pen and Journaling notebook or simply three hole binder paper.
If you are new to Journaling experiment with it. With practice you will find a way of doing it that works best for you.
To get a sense of what Journaling is like, for four days keep a Journal of your thoughts and feelings. Set aside a particular time of day, perhaps just before you go to sleep, to check in with yourself by writing how you feel at that moment or how you felt that day. See if you can explain why those feelings occurred. Also note memories, dreams, and other mental processes that occurred.
Use a special notebook for your Journal. (You can experiment with keyboarding later).
Write in a quiet place, undistracted.
Keep your Journal private so you can be honest with yourself.
Write continuously. Don't worry about grammar or spelling.
Be expressive. Don't worry about being logical or writing perfectly.
A wise teacher once told her students that the human spirit seeks wholeness. The wholeness she referred to is not an end but a process; you get there by being there. Which is not always easy since daily life is filled with activities and thoughts that disconnect us from our wholeness and cloud the path for finding it. Journaling can help focus attention on the process of being whole and thereby foster self-awareness, clarity of thought, inner peace, health, and well-being.
