Back when I was in grade school, my dad made my siblings and I keep a journal for a summer. He bought us each our own notebook and pen and made us sit at the dinner table to write to our hearts' content for one whole hour every single day. As ridiculous as I thought it was at the time, I've since realized that routine journaling is SO important in self care and development. Here's why:
1. It strengthens your writing skills.
With virtually any career path you take, you'll want to have fair writing skills. Journaling can help you achieve this! It doesn't matter what you write about, as long as you write something. The fact is, the more often you write, generally, the better you will get. You'll find yourself rereading what you wrote, critiquing what you said and the way you said it, pinpointing grammatical errors, etc. It's a process for sure, but absolutely worth it.
2. You'll develop more constructive self-dialogue.
Improved self-dialogue = personal growth. In my own experience in beginning consistent journaling, I'd read back over my entry once I'd finished and realize that I had expressed thoughts about myself in very harsh or self-deprecating ways. With each new entry, I'd then try to be kinder to myself. I'd express my thoughts with more compassion and reflection than before. In doing so, I became more in tune with my emotions, and I started not only writing, but thinking with that same insightful, reflective thought process. Now, I'm not saying every person who tries journaling will have that same experience, but I do know that lots of people actually do. So, why not give it a go, right?
3. You'll tap into your inner creativity.
A personal journal is yours and only yours. YOU ARE FREE -- free to vent about your coworkers; free to list what you're grateful for that day; free to write down some goals you may have, or jot down a dream, or write a short story; free to smoosh some flowers you found between those pretty pages and make a note of where they came from. This journal is your canvas. You can do whatever you damn well please with it, which is so liberating.
4. It helps improve your memory, focus, and concentration.
During my senior year of high school, I kept a dream journal for the entire year. With each passing morning, I could remember more and more detail from my dream the night before. I'm incredibly fascinated by dreams and the (alleged) meanings they hold, so I was very excited to find out that I could fully retell the crazy stories my brain came up with while I was sleeping. Don't ask me the science behind it, but I'm telling you, it's a thing. And what's more, as I continued to keep a journal, I learned that by routinely making myself sit down and write or type out a journal entry, my ability to focus on one thing for long periods of time seemed to be improving.
5. You'll deepen your understanding of yourself.
When you write in a journal, whether you're really aware of it or not, you're in deep, mindful thought about who you are as a person and how you react to certain things and certain people. You're reflecting on your day, your week, your life. Maybe, you're writing about what you should have done in a specific situation and what you did or said instead. In my experience, considering and reflecting on these kinds of things after the fact has helped me react differently when similar situations arose later on down the road. By keeping a journal, I've learned how I tick and what I can potentially do to overcome any stressors. Thanks in part to writing, I feel more in touch with myself and with my emotions, and that's an ability that I hope to strengthen as I continue to grow and change.
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