Mentally Noted: The benefits of journaling, how to do it well and how it helped me

“Monday, Oct. 11, 2021.”

Starting my first entry with my favorite Pilot G2 pen in hand, snuggled up on an overfilled beanbag, I got ready to write about my recent issues with a person very close to me in my journal. I opened the cover — it has a map design and a cheesy line saying, “the adventure is the journey.” My friend suggested the idea of journaling, as she utilizes it to get through a tough time in her life, so I decided to write myself.

I haven’t been journaling long, but after that fateful Monday, I’ve since incorporated it into my daily routine. It’s made a profound impact on my life in the two weeks I’ve done it, and I would recommend journaling to anyone looking for a way to cope with stress or anxiety, wanting a bit of structure in their life or just looking for a mind-healthy hobby.

When my friend first suggested journaling to me, I was apprehensive. I had the idea in my mind that only teenage girls writing about boys would keep a journal of their feelings, and I didn’t want to perpetuate a stereotype that existed — or make it true, because I am in fact a teenage girl that definitely has boy problems. (I mean, who doesn’t?)

After only five minutes, I decided that I wasn’t going to let a stereotype get in the way of my potential happiness — as no one should.

Mainly, journaling is utilized by people who need to cope with a recent traumatic or tragic event, but I highly recommend people start journaling in their everyday lives — even with no event triggering it. You can kind of beat the trauma to the punch and get an early idea of what you’re feeling.

One of my friends told me that in order to heal, I need to sit with my feelings and understand them, understand what I want from them. 

The biggest reason that journaling is so beneficial is because it forces you to analyze your thoughts and feelings. Taking a predominantly heart-guided thing and applying it to the logistical side that naturally comes with writing can open up new avenues of thought and helps you to better understand what you’re feeling. There have been multiple times when journaling that I connected all the dots of unknown feelings and was able to truly understand them.

According to a 2020 study, conducted by educators at Ewha Womans University in Seoul Yeoun Soo Kim-Godwin, Suk-Sun Kim and Minji Gil, researchers found that “implementing a positive writing intervention is a practical means of promoting psychological well-being as a self-care strategy.”

Organizing your thoughts on paper is so much easier than in your head. Having a method to the chaos is key, whether that be dumping words on a page or structuring your writing around something — which is why journaling is such a good option. It also provides a physical timeline of your mentality, which you look back on and see how far you’ve come mentally.

It’s similar to meditation. You get to take a moment for yourself, your feelings and self-reflection. It gives me motivation to get through the day.

On that note, the main reason I’ve stuck with journaling so far is because of the the structure it provides my life. 

Yes, I complain about how my life is too structured because of all the obligations I have to tend to. But when you pair structure with control, that’s when you start to create mental change, reinstating a feeling of control.

And, the fact that it’s a healthy habit that you’re doing consistently, is infinitely better than either leaving your feelings unchecked or trying to cope with an unhealthy method, such as avoiding your feelings or self-blame.

Journaling has proved to be the best way for me to ‘sit with my feelings.’ Being able to have an outlet that suits my overthinking and overly-logistical self has made everything fall into place over the last few weeks.

It also can take the spot of a person. If you’re closed off, or just don’t feel ready to talk to someone about your feelings, a journal is a great way to warm up to the idea. What I like to do is pretend that I am talking to someone, and write down what I want to say to them. Something like “your (action) made me feel (emotion),” and go into detail on the emotion you’re writing about. This goes back to the organization of thoughts, the glue holding everything journal-related together.

The biggest thing that I see people struggle with when they start journaling is sticking with the habit. It’s easy to let the little things slip through in your daily schedule, but as those add up, you train yourself to give up on the important habits.

I’ve noticed that it’s easier to let thoughts flow at night, so I recommend starting your journaling journey after sundown. If you want to ease yourself into it, start with just writing every other night, with the expectation of writing no more than a page. If you end up writing more than a page, or more often than every other night, then you can start implementing that as your new normal.

Making the habit easy is the key, and whatever that means for you, works. 

And now I look forward to my end-of-day ritual of lounging in that overstuffed beanbag with my aesthetic journal. Two weeks of journaling can’t solve all your problems, but I’ve come far enough to know that these past two weeks have made my life easier.