I know what you’re thinking.

Writing is not the easiest thing to for most people. I know for a fact that some people would rather watch paint dry than write a paper for class, but there are so many things that writing does for your mental health.

Writing doesn’t necessarily mean writing a publishable novel or an essay worthy of an A+, writing can be anything. It can range from a short story, a journal entry about your day, or even just a single sentence. What you write doesn’t even have to be good! It can be the worst couple of sentences you can imagine, and by no means does anyone have to read what you wrote. Sometimes just writing down what has been bothering you or what’s been bouncing around in your brain all day can be really relieving.

When I was a freshman in high school, I was going through a bit of a rough patch. I wasn’t always getting along with my family, I had just lost a good friend, and the transition from middle school to high school was kicking my butt. I was struggling, and didn’t talk about what was bothering me because I didn’t think I could. So I started writing about it. I grabbed an old notebook from the year before and just started writing about what had happened to me that day, and what was bothering me. I can’t even put into words how much better I felt. There are a lot of things that are difficult to say to another living breathing human, and telling it to a thin piece of tree is surprisingly painless. The pages aren’t going to tell you what you’re feeling is stupid. It’s not going to give you bad advice or be uncomfortable hearing it. It doesn’t have feelings. It’s just paper.

Ever since that day, I kept a notebook or some kind of journal, calling it my “Word Vomit Book” and I released all the stress, anxiety, and sometimes anger into those pages. There are so many ways other people release those things, and quite a few of those ways aren’t healthy. Writing is a completely non destructive way to release all the tensions in your life. And like I said before, your writing doesn’t have to be Pulitzer Prize worthy. And absolutely no one has to read it. In fact, you could tear it up and throw it away, burn it even, once you’re done.

Journal writing is completely underrated and definitely not something that you need to be embarrassed about doing. It’s a very healthy way to deal with stress, and who knows, it might even make you a better writer because of it. So instead of ranting to a random person on the street or punching a wall, try writing about it. You never know how much better you feel afterwards.