My recent post on Letting Go received an insightful comment. “Letting Go can be so hard, especially when you've experienced something difficult long term. I appreciate your suggestion to free write to help release the things we hang on to and determine why. Journaling can be such a cathartic practice and can reveal underlying issues, that, when addressed, can change your life. Writing about the things we treasure can also help unearth what really matters to us.” With that comment came an interesting invitation. Dawn Herring, Host of #JournalChat Live and Links Edition on Twitter went on to invite me to her weekly journal discussion where “Letting Go” was the the @JournalChat pick of the day and pick of the week. I was honored to be part of the discussion and to learn about her great journaling resource. Visit the latest edition of Dawn’s Refresh Journal to read more about last week’s chat. You can also sign up to receive your own weekly copy.
Journaling was just one of my suggestions for letting go after a loss or lengthy grieving process. Let’s talk about journalling a little more. I use free-writing every morning in order to both let go and discover more about myself. I can’t recommend this practice enough. Since this is a creativity blog I encourage journaling to get in touch with hidden stores of creativity that may lay untapped within each of us. And you might guess journaling is extremely useful for unblocking. All types of journaling will be a regular feature in my upcoming zine, Outlet, because it’s the easiest, and most overlooked, way to find yourself.
Journaling was just one of my suggestions for letting go after a loss or lengthy grieving process. Let’s talk about journalling a little more. I use free-writing every morning in order to both let go and discover more about myself. I can’t recommend this practice enough. Since this is a creativity blog I encourage journaling to get in touch with hidden stores of creativity that may lay untapped within each of us. And you might guess journaling is extremely useful for unblocking. All types of journaling will be a regular feature in my upcoming zine, Outlet, because it’s the easiest, and most overlooked, way to find yourself.
No fancy tools are necessary--just a spiral notebook a pen and 20 minutes of your time.
Free writing, or stream of consciousness writing is the simplest way to begin. As I said last week, “go buy a spiral notebook, put pen to paper and keep it moving. That’s the important part. The motion of the pen will connect with the flow of your subconscious and you will let go.” Buy a bunch of college-ruled spiral notebooks when they’re on sale. I prefer gel pens because they flow so smoothly. My best time to write is in the early morning before too much information invades my thoughts. But of course, there are no rules here. Write when it fits with your schedule, whether that’s after the kids leave for school, at lunchtime when you have some down time or before you go to bed. Write for about 20 minutes or 3 pages in your spiral notebook. If you’re doing this for the first time you will have to work to silence your inner critic and simply write. To be perfectly honest, when I first started this practice more than a decade ago I thought it was silly. But I kept at it. And now I can’t really do without it. Even my husband notices the difference in me on the rare occasions I miss.
What about you? Do keep a journal? Or is the time right for you to get started? Add your experiences in the comments section below.
What about you? Do keep a journal? Or is the time right for you to get started? Add your experiences in the comments section below.
