Making sense of life through journaling
Our Lives gets messy sometimes, and honestly our thoughts get messy right along with it. One thing that's helped me is just writing stuff down. Not in a professional way, just writing down what happened during the day and how it made me feel. Just a note about a situation and the feeling that was there then, that’s it.
At first I felt like all af that is pointless, as I was just talking to myself pointlessly. But after doing it for a while, I started going back and reading old notes, and that's only when things got interesting. I found patterns I never would've noticed before, like that there are certain situations always makes me anxious, or specific people always leaving me drained. Things or feelings that felt random before actually had a shape to it once I just looked back.
That's basically what sense-making is, I think. It's not about having everything figured out right away. It's about giving yourself the opportunity to look back and just connect the dots, instead of trying to understand everything while you're still in the middle of it.
It's really a simple habit, but it's changed how I understand myself. Doesn't need to be long or perfect, just keeping it up.
Have any of you ever kept a journal and noticed a pattern in your emotions or reactions that surprised you? What did that teach you about yourself?
@6Dreamwish9
Long ago, I started keeping notebooks with my thoughts...any sort of thoughts. Then years later, I would pick up the notebook, and I could so clearly go back in time and relive whatever I had written. In more recent years, If there was something that was bothering me, I would start a Word Document. Whatever was bothering me, I would put into the document. From day to day, I would alter and edit what I was feeling and place it in the document. It was very therapeutic for me. You have a good gameplan-don't loose site!
Wow, your technique is more impressive than mine! I love how you let it evolve over the years , from notebooks to the Word document approach. There's something powerful about being able to go back and literally edit and process a feeling in real time, not just record it. It sounds like it gave you a real control over what was going on inside your head.
Thank you for sharing that @caringShoulder1357 and for the encouragement — it means a lot. I'll definitely try not to lose sight of my gameplan, I may add yours also ! 😊
