Journaling: A Tool for the Spirit

The fountain of personal wisdom may be as close as your

nearest pen.



That's because keeping a personal journal can be

a powerful way to ease anxiety and nurture your spirit.



The word "journal" may mean 100 different things to 100

different people. For a psychologist, it denotes a tool

for a patient's self-analysis. For the writer, it may be

a notebook of ideas and ramblings. For most of us, the word

denotes a day-to-day diary, a log of action and reaction.



For me, a journal is a notebook of ideas and solutions

that I have discovered using my conscious and subconscious

mind.



Journaling is a remarkable device for easing worry and

obsession, for identifying hopes and fears, and for

allowing your creative self to expand.



Journaling harnesses the power

to tap into successively deeper layers of your subconscious

mind while it zaps the nervous, passive energy that ties

your stomach in knots and leads to more guilt and worry.



Journals are tools to help you discover the wisdom you

already possess. Sometimes, this wisdom will surprise you.

Other times, it will challenge you. Always, it will come

directly from you, empowering you to trust yourself and to

take action by giving you the deep-seated knowledge that

you know more than you think you do.



In addition to revealing your personal insight and wisdom,

the journaling process can help dispel feelings of loneliness

and confusion by helping you discover a unity within yourself.



As your conscious and subconscious mind work together to solve

problems in black-and-white, the ideas are validated and more

easily applied, even if you never share these ideas with a soul.





==>Writing for Insight



The act of writing has tremendous potential to tap the

subconscious and to arrange conscious thoughts in a clear

pattern as words flow from your mind down your arm, into

your hand and across the page.



But first you must banish your internal editor by:



* Writing quickly, allowing the words to freefall from your

subconscious.



* Writing continuously. Don't erase or cross-out any words.



Date each entry in your journal. Note the time, place,

and any details regarding your mood and emotions that

will be necessary for context when you read back on your work.



After you've finished a journal entry, take a walk or

get up for a glass of water before you reread your entry,

and remember to reread your writing with compassion.



Then, write an Insight Line--a sentence or two about what you

think the piece is trying to tell you.





==>Journaling Techniques



There are as many journaling techniques as there are people

who practice the craft. The important thing is to explore the

underlying layers of your mind--using whatever conduit works

for you.



Get creative with the techniques you use. We all have a

subconscious mind that communicates to us in a different

way.



If you are stuck and have nothing to write, try

recording snippets of conversations, facts, feelings,

fantasies, descriptions, impressions, quotes, images,

and ideas. Draw pictures. Make a collage from a magazine.



Use the technique that best suits the way in which you

express yourself. You know your own mind and how it best

communicates with the world.



Clustering is one method that works well when the ideas

don't flow on their own. Put the central idea in the center

of the page and circle it. Then, without pause, make associations,

placing them in new bubbles and tying them to the main idea.



The result is a complex matrix of ideas, many of which you didn't even

know you had. If you wish, compose these thoughts later into a

cohesive essay that says exactly what you want to say. Or simply move on.





==>What You Need to Begin Journaling



* Paper. The only thing you need is a notebook so your ideas

don't get lost. Some journal-writers swear by the loose-leaf

notebooks so they can insert pages, but I'm always afraid of

losing some of the more personal pages, and I don't want

anything to inhibit my ability to write freely and honestly.



Other journal-writers opt for the expensive, hard-bound

journals, reasoning that the journal will be a keepsake.



These work just fine, as long as you are able to write

freely in such a formal book. Some of the things you will

be writing will not be pretty. If you are afraid of making

mistakes or you feel inhibited with this kind of notebook,

you're better off with a plain old spiral bound from

Wal-Mart (my personal favorite.)



Some of you will be creating more drawings than essays.

If that's you, consider a wire-bound sketch pad.



* Pen. Treat yourself to just the right pen.

Test some of the expensive

pens. See how they feel in your hand and how the ink

rolls across the page. The best choice is one that

allows you to write quickly and smoothly.



I personally love the easy-flow fountain pens because the color

comes out so bold that it makes me feel more confident.

And it practically glides itself across the page.



* Environment. Your journal should always be there when

you need it. Write on the bus, in the office, or late

at night when insomnia strikes. If you have the time,

a regular writing ritual can be very soothing.



If you do wish to write in the same place and at the

same time every day, create the ideal writing space

for you. Maybe you're most comfortable in a rocking

chair surrounded by pillows and candles and Schubert

tunes. Or maybe you prefer silence and a cherry wood

desk or a gentle breeze and a rickety porch swing.



Whether you set a time for writing each day or you do

it on the fly, make sure the time you spend writing in

your journal is time solely devoted to you and your task.





About the author:

Susie Cortright is the founder of momscape.com and Momscape's

Scrapbooking Playground - http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking.

Join her scrapbooking club here:

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