Journaling as an Invitation
I love the feeling of a good pen gliding over a blank page. There’s something about that that feels like an invitation to my own thoughts. I don’t have to know where I’m going or what to think. I just write and see what comes out. It’s very often not what I expected.
That’s important, and it’s also important that I can’t edit. On a computer, it’s easy to take for granted that I can just hop back and change a word or two, or “correct” my direction, but sometimes I need to see my thoughts unedited. There have been many times that I’ve tried to write about x, but found myself writing about y instead, and it was y that I really needed to pay attention to.
Journaling also changes the way I think. Because it’s hand-written, it forces me to focus in a way nothing else does. My thoughts slow down and get more deliberate, and my ability to explore those thoughts opens up. I often get new, unique insights this way.
If you feel like it, give journaling a try. Find a pen and paper you really like. For me, the tactile part of journaling is part of the invitation, but it doesn’t have to be. Write whenever you feel like it and see what happens. No rules. Just write about whatever you want, whenever you want and see what happens.
Let me know how it goes!
@JustSophia
Thank you for such a good explanation on why journalling is so beneficial.
Simple to do but a powerful release 💚🤗
I love journaling as well! I have at least three handwritten notebooks written over the past decade. My goal one day is to go through them and type them up with some updates from books I’ve read and things I’ve learned since the original writing. I pull inspiration from different resources to meditate on while writing. I find inspirational sources to be enlightening, but oftentimes there are journaling activists or questions included in a lot of self-help texts. Or if there’s a particular question or idea I’ve been pondering or find myself stuck on, I will meditate over that before, and while I’m writing. I’ve arrived at some pretty interesting and deep realizations about myself this way.
@RickestRick86
I've seen you around the forums alot but never formally introduced myself, so just wanted to say hello 💚🤗
Hello there! 👋
@RickestRick86
I've seen you around the forums too, but what a wonderful way to get to know you a bit. It's always great to meet a fellow writer/explorer/"discoverer"/seeker. I love what you've said about how you write and what you find meaningful. It's so interesting what gives us inspiration. Sounds like you go for more specific topics. I go for whatever comes into my wandering brain. hah hah Either way, it works for both of us which is how it works well, I think.
I do believe that journaling is for ourselves, but sometimes there's a little part that we wouldn't mind sharing afterward. If you have a little part like that, I'd love to "listen in" a little bit. But only if it completely feels good to you to do that.
