Why are u writing? To know urself, to sort through ur thoughts, ideas and feelings? To be a better writer? I think knowing the ‘why’ can point u in a direction for the ‘how’ and ‘what’ to write about.
I handwrite in a journal, black fine liner so I commit to my words and can’t erase. I’m not afraid to rip pages, sometimes I colour and draw in it cuz that’s expression too. I do not censor myself but try to get at what I’m really feeling. As true as true statements as I can make them, trying to be as clear as possible. I do not edit and wont let anybody ever see it - this keeps it sacred and honest. You’ll know when u write out something true and important cuz you’ll feel it. The suggestion to write out the surface happenings to get at the insightful ones is a good one.
Routine is key like building any habit…though I journal whenever I want to cuz I love it, not as something to check off a list. That’s the real reason I’ve been doing it as long as I have and as consistently.
Best of luck to u ❤️
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is whatever works for you. i used to feel daunted by journaling, until i listened to a "psychology of your 20s" podcast episode about it.
here are some notes i took (with my personal takeaways mixed in)
• journaling doesn’t need to be "good." it doesn’t need to look nice. it’s strictly for you. no mistakes, no bad entries—except for ones that weren’t written—no wrong thoughts, no assignment grade. it’s a self-care, self-love practice. one of the only times that everything gets to be about you, and you get to do it in the way that works best, as long as you’re doing it.
• write about something going on in your brain. journaling is organizing, cleaning things up, making sense of things you can’t work out just by thinking about them over and over again. try to think about them in a way you normally wouldn’t, by writing about them. not looking for a solution or answer, but just to process what you’ve been through.
• write 1-2 pages, even less than 500 words. small investment, can take as little as 5 minutes.
• only journal when you really feel the need. making it a goal to journal everyday takes the fun out of it. journaling should be something relieving, joyous. it can be one line, something you thought about, something you heard. what is really important to you?
• journaling = life course correction, not an intense commitment/practice. like a painkiller. you take it when you need it. when you feel the urge to write, just do it. drop everything. put the thoughts begging to come out down somewhere. don’t ignore inspiration when it randomly strikes. that desire isn’t something you can consciously call on. take advantage of the moments, even if just a second, even in the notes app. get in the habit of letting it be expressed.
• find a way to journal in a manner that suits you. find your reason. snapshot for future self?
• let someone else do the initial thinking for you. journal prompts, structured journal, online inspiration, write one prompt a week in the afternoon
• write quickly and without judgment. not worried about exactly how you wanted to say it, word it, doesn’t matter. there's no audience or grade. journal "badly" = more in-tune with self. journaling helps you remember who you are from the inside out at the time of writing.
• if you feel like you don’t know yourself, keep one notebook you put everything in: thoughts, quotes you like, postcards, to-do lists, diary entries, favorite songs, letters, dried flowers, brain dumps, gratitude lists, sticky notes, pictures
hope this helps some people get started !
Nov 8, 2024
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if don’t know what to write I will just locate myself with extreme specificity and then describe my bodily and emotional sensations. usually that is enough to get me going
I journal once a week for a specific purpose and have that as part of my routine/to-do list for that day. i highly recommend journaling by hand and with a really good pen
Apr 27, 2024
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I journal nearly every day and it has changed my life. I feel like I know myself much more deeply and remember things better because of it. Sometimes I write many pages and other times just a few sentences. I like how it can be as silly or serious as I want and I like how it’s only for me.
Feb 7, 2024
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Ripping into fruits on a hot summers day, juice dribbling down my exposed chest pooling at my feet. Sitting in cool river streams, a part of the natural world around me. Not a thought beyond the immediate. Stuff like that.
Jul 10, 2024
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I have many Ideas. I ponder over them like an obsessive collector; organizing, re-organizing, packing them into words so the meaning is captured, transferable. Most of my transformative experiences are unexplainable - how does one capture the depth of a still, silent night? The whispering of leaves in warm summer breezes. Vague feelings of wholism while sitting in the grass, photosynthesizing like plant ancestors - a fish swims without direction. Many call it god but the church is alienating; the word massacred and butchered beyond the recognition of what it once meant.
One idea I have kept unmolested by the opinions of others, is that these holistic experiences in nature, with friends, live music shows, where the pulse of life beats strongly, are everything. An anchor point for a life well lived. It’s not enough to just be in nature, alchemizing the circumstance missing the key ingredient. A couple of friends and I went on a trip to where the ocean went on forever, unbroken horizon. We were down by the water, sunset and glistening, warmth of the sun and sand beneath my feet. But it was nothing more than looking. I did not have access to this other way of being - locked out, truthfully, by being eaten alive by the stress of exams and stewing in the feelings of being unlovable. It is somehow within you; the trees and ocean reflect it back to me. A quality of self brought out by sincerity and solitude. It’s everything, reflected in everything worthwhile.
Apr 17, 2024
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These are a few that stick out to me; a good place to start, no particular order
- be here now, Ram Dass. Very dear to my heart, there is nothing else like it. there are also many hours of his lectures recorded for ur listening pleasure
- letters to a young poet, Rainer Rilke. letters he’s written; he discusses solitude, relationships, art, always with the undercurrent of spirituality
- book of hours, Rilke. love poems to god, I like the Barrows and Macy translation. I’m currently reading it
- new seeds to contemplation, Thomas Merton. Merton is a good one to read, he’s got lots of work; go pick through
- lord of the rings, Tolkien. i feel that it is a deeply spiritual text. the prose makes me cry, the reverence of Nature speaks to my heart
I like to listen to James Finley’s podcast turning to the mystics because my current interest is contemplative christianity.
Pete Holmes sometimes has interesting guests, as does Duncan trussel, who talk about spirituality from varying traditions.
I never felt a great affinity for Alan Watts but u could give him a listen
Apr 18, 2024