Journaling: A Path to Self-Discovery
Journaling. It's a fun type of record keeping. Why? Because it’s all about you, and only you. You get to decide when, what and how you journal. It's where you get to be completely self centred without any judgment. Journaling is meant for your eyes only. It's for you to track your own experiences, when it happened, and how you felt. Every time you write a journal entry it’s a different time, a different mood, and you’re a slightly different person than you were since the last time you journaled.
Using a journal regularly gives you a great tool for self-reflection. You get to look back and reflect on the things you did, if you liked them, how it made you feel, and why it made you feel that way. When we understand why certain things made us feel a certain way, we get a sense of the things we like and dislike. This probably sounds over simplistic as in, you already have a sense of what you like and don't like. You probably do on a superficial level, yes. But analyzing our own feelings and habits allows you to discover so much more to yourself than you realize. Journaling, and specifically rereading your past journal entries allows you to track your experiences on a deeper level which gives you the chance to find patterns and trends in your own behaviour and feelings, which will help you learn new things about yourself. Understanding what we like and dislike is critical to understanding our own purpose and self-identity.
Image by Brad Neathery
You are more complex than you think. Throughout life, you will constantly learn new things about yourself. The more you get to know yourself, the better you will be able to anticipate how you will react to things which will allow you to plan better.
Physical vs. Digital Journals
Physical Journals have the advantage of being away from your screen. If you want to reduce your screen time before bed, writing in your physical journal is a good way to end your day.
Digital Journals have the advantage of allowing you to search and categorize your entries better. As you continue to journal, your entries will be stored digitally instead of building a stack of physical journals
Journaling Tips
Take steps to ensure your journal stays private
Be honest with yourself
It’s okay if you write something similar everyday, or feel the same way for a while
Progress is progress, no matter how small.
Your thoughts are valid, even the small ones. For example, Samantha, one of our clients wrote in her journal one day that she did not enjoy her tea with hibiscus. Rereading her previous entry reminded her to avoid ordering tea with hibiscus in the future. She eventually learned that she has an intolerance.
Image by Jess Bailey
Reflecting on your experience is something that you will do a lot throughout your life. Specifically, it’s when we re-read our journal entries that we begin to make sense of our lives, find trends and connect the dots. You've come a far way. It’s normal to remember our negative experiences and what we could have done differently, but we often forget the good things. Remind yourself of the good and mundane memories too. You've accomplished so much and you deserve a pat on the back. Journaling is a gift to your future self.
You can guarantee that you will be with you every moment of your life. You might as well get to know and love yourself.
Until next time, stay balanced!