Journal writing connects you to your soul
Have you ever written in a Journal? I remember having one as a young girl that had a lock on it, so my older brother couldn't read it. Journals are meant to be safe places for us to express our thoughts, emotions, our feelings, our hopes, our dreams, our desires, our goals. At times in our life when we write down our most inner thoughts we dare not show them to anyone. Through the passage of time, we often at times look back and read what we wrote many months or years later and question, who was that person? I believe that when you journal, you are connecting to your most inner self where our higher power resides and many times that higher power is helping us and guiding us in our writing. It can be a cleansing tool. It can be a best friend that you are talking to. It releases something from within and it brings forth clarity in ones life.
Journaling is not meant to be a chore or something you dread doing. It is not something you have to do everyday either. However, the more often you do it, the more you get to connect with yourself and the clearer your outlook becomes. Journaling for me is fun. It makes me feel so good inside and it allows me to be released from the thoughts or feelings that are keeping me "hostage". Remember something when you journal, there is no right way or wrong way and there is no one who will judge what you say or how you say it. Just Say It! You will experience a feeling of being connected to your inner self when you really let go and just write. So my friend, I encourage you.... "write on...."
There’s magic in journaling!
Journaling is one of the most powerful tools for self-growth. Simple but effective, journaling can help you:
- release pain, frustration and negative emotions like anger and fear;
- clear confusion and make good decisions more easily;
- grasp valuable insights that clear blocks and move you forward;
- spark your innate creativity;
- uncover and nurture a bigger picture for your life;
- reach new heights in self empowerment.
Why is journaling so powerful?
Journal writing captures our thoughts and feelings on paper. This shows us how we think, create, learn and intuit. When we can see what we're thinking, we can work with our thoughts in new ways. We break through our habitual patterns to discover our innate wisdom and creative genius. And when we do this, our lives transform.
Journaling is a potent self-help tool even when used casually. And when we understand how it works, and use it by design, its power to heal and expand our abilities grows exponentially.
WRITING TO INSIGHTS
How can I know what I think unless I see what I write?
What have I been thinking lately? Why am I upset? Whats most important to me?
Its really difficult to consistently get answers to what puzzles us just by thinking. We get so accustomed to our thoughts that we lose awareness of them. We dont see how they can get stuck in old habitual patterns, most of which dont serve us.
Journaling captures our thoughts on paper. When we do this, we begin to break out of mental routines, release trapped thoughts and emotions and access our deeper wisdom.
Writing has been a way of explaining to myself the things I do not understand.
"Step Into Your Greatness"
It's easy to believe all of your critical voices and never attempt anything risky or scary in your life. It's easy to play small. It's easy to abandon your dreams when you hear "Who do you think you are?" It takes more effort to step beyond your comfort zone and attempt to fulfill the whispers of greatness. I believe that those whispers are glimpses of what is possible. They are your Soul or your Inner Wisdom or the Universe showing you what can be, if you really want it. You always have a choice. This is your life. You must choose the life you want. And even if you decide not to choose, you are actually making a choice.
Your entire life is made up of choices - to react or not, to make a stand or shrink back, to follow a path or be still. These everyday choices add up to your life. Sometimes something big crashes in and causes your life to take a different turn; other times it feels like life is just rolling by on schedule, nothing important happening. Here is the lesson I've learned from journaling: the everyday things, the seemingly mundane and ordinary, are the moments that make up your life. You can ignore them, or you can appreciate and celebrate them. Your journal is the perfect place to begin celebrating every moment of your life.
When I began my journal, I barely knew who I was. I wanted to heal from being abandoned by my father. I wanted to find a passion and purpose for my life - something that would fulfill me. I wanted to contribute to something larger than myself. Finally, I wanted to pass something along to my family - my children and my children's children. I heard a whisper of possibility.
Slowly, magically, my life unfolded with dreams and desires beyond my wildest imagination. If the twenty-one-year-old girl who poured her heart out in that first black-and-white composition book - looking for some deeper meaning in her life - could see me today, she would hardly believe it.
My intention is to inspire you to uncover your deepest dreams and desires. I hope you will trust your intuition and allow your higher wisdom to lead you to all the wonderful things you deserve. I know for sure that every one of us has an inner wisdom that is available to guide us. I know for sure that the glimpses we catch out of the corners of our busy lives are put there for a reason, and that anything we glimpse we can achieve, if we truly desire it. And I know for sure that a journal and a pen are some of the best tools for creating a map for the life of your dreams and calling out to the universe to bring all of those dreams to life.
It's up to you to give your life meaning and purpose. You can use up your moments worrying and wondering "what if?" or you can strike out on your own to find your answers. The answers are all there, possibly buried by worries or lists of things to do, but they can be excavated within your journal. As you pay closer attention, the whispers will get louder. All you have to do is ask, be still, and listen for the answers.
Oh yeah, and then write them down in your journal.
(excerpted from JOURNALUTION: Journaling to Awaken Your Inner Voice, Heal Your Life and Manifest Your Dreams by Sandy Grason. New World Library, 2005, pgs 175-177.)
