Over the past week or so, I’ve been trying to journal daily.
Journaling has always been something that I wanted to do, but never really committed to, possibly for uncertainty of how to approach it. I sort of saw it as this scary activity that required some sort of deep self-reflection every day, or at the very least, interesting events to write about.
But I’ve mostly just been writing about my day, or whatever comes to mind at the moment, and I’ve been surprised at how it’s helped me.
Nowadays, I find myself overwhelmed a lot. My head feels cluttered with thoughts, events, ideas, responsibilities, etc. But journaling helps to relieve a lot of the stress and anxiety I feel.
Having a place where I can write down what I’m thinking any time of the day has helped me have someone to talk to, albeit not a real person, about everything I’m stressed about. I get it down on paper and then it’s out of my head, somewhere concrete where I can see and touch it.
After writing down my stresses and concerns, I’ve also found them to be much less intimidating than they seemed in my head. Through journaling, my greatest fears turn from sprawling monstrosities that consume space and energy in my mind, to simple words written in black ink on dotted paper.
I’ve also realized that I tend to dramatize or emphasize the negatives in my life. I’ve sat down to journal for a few minutes in a terrible mood, but reflecting back on how the day went, I see that lots of good things happened to me too, but I let one bad event spoil the whole day.
In the end, journaling has helped me realize that I am responsible for my own feelings. People don’t make me sad or mad or upset; I let them and their actions make me feel that way. By changing my focus on events in my life, I’ve been able to see the bright side of a lot of things. Journaling has allowed me to turn my negativity into an appreciation for the little joys in life.