*content warning* please be advised that this article contains discussion of trauma and discovering buried wounds and emotions within you. i am including this content in the article so you’re able to gain the most knowledge on understanding on the benefits on having a journal and how journaling personally helped me heal. please read at your own discretion

want to skip straight to what you need?

what is journaling?

journaling has been spoken about a lot recently and become abit of a trend, and thank goodness it has.

journaling has traditionally been handwritten on paper, but as we’re evolving, journaling can now be done in many different ways to best suit you.

to journal, means you keep your own thoughts, beliefs, feelings, insights, emotions – just everything you have built up within you, out on record.

with the beauty of journaling, there is no right or wrong.

yep, that means you can do it however you want to.

find what suits your best interests (and i recommend you do what makes you feel the best as it will keep you more engaged, therefore you will actually continue to journal).

ways to journal

– you can chose to write it in a physical notebook in the form of words,or on sheets of paper

– you can draw

– you can make art

– you can write it on your ipad with your apple pencil

– you can type it

– you can make videos of you speaking

– you can record just your voice

there is honestly so many ways you can jot down your thoughts that are considered journaling, without you realising.

after i went through a traumatic experience, i wrote poems about the experience, my feelings, how it changed me and what i was thinking.

i had no idea that this was a form of journaling.

why is journaling so powerful?

when you journal you are creating an opportunity for yourself to find out who you actually are and discover your true self.

so many of us think we know who we are, but the sad truth is, that many of us are actually unsure.

mainly because we are so devoted to social media, what our family / friends do and think of us, what authoritative figures tell us, what the social norms are, what world leaders tell us, what we see in movies. 

in my eyes, (this is my personal opinion), we are pretty much conditioned or even brainwashed in a way as a generation, into being influenced, or even forced at times, on what we are meant to like and do we should do in our lives.

by beginning to journal, you can find out what you genuinely like, what brings you true joy, your true passions in life, what emotions you have, how you are actually feeling, what you have suppressed or repressed to stay ‘in line’ the norms of society.

you are able to express your true self in a healthy way that lets you understand who you truely are, and what makes you the unique person you are.

by discovering your true passions, it can become easier to know what you need to set boundaries around, so you are able to protect what is important and special to you.

i found journaling to be so very powerful in the sense that it allowed me to write down my true, deeply deeply buried emotions, as i felt i was safe. 

by doing so, i was able to view them (as i had written them), be able to process them, make sense of them and then deal with them.

here is an article on how to understand your emotions and strategies to help you regulate them

i truly, truly believe, that journaling was what helped me personally recover from my trauma. 

i recovered “quickly”, as some people tend to tell me, but what they don’t know is the amount of work i put in behind the scenes that they couldn’t see.

the amount of times i wrote what had happened to me, each time in a slightly different way.

the amount of times i re-read over them so i was able to properly process what had happened to me, how my life is going to look now this had happened and be able to make sense of what happened.

i confronted my trauma instead of avoiding thinking about it.

this is not to say that i don’t get upset and still cry about it, i still think about it and my heart hurts at the thought of it, but i am okay in the sense that is no longer has control over me.

i allowed myself to grieve the person i once was, that i lost due to this traumatic experience.

i allowed myself to grieve the relationship i lost in my life because of someone’s actions.

i gave myself permission to let it all out and not make excuses for what happened or try to hide how i felt.

journaling is an expressive coping method in the way that it allows you to express any negative or positive emotions, thoughts, experiences, feelings that you have within you. 

this is so so so very important as this allows you to let go of the unwanted feelings you may have built up inside of you. 

it teaches you to release instead of suppress / repress.

journaling is also extremely powerful in the sense that it can let you discover what path you want to go on to create the future that you wish for.

also, journaling, in just the act of journaling, allows us to organise our thoughts and ideas.

it also makes us aware and then make sense of the problems we are dealing with or what may be bothering us in the moment in our life.

how to start journaling

firstly i recommend you to ask yourself this question;

why do i want to start journaling?

is it because you want to figure out what you want to do with my life?

is it because you want to try heal your trauma?

is it because you want to keep track of my progress?

is it because you want to figure out who you genuinely are?

begin with setting small goals

these are personalised goals that you set for yourself, as you know yourself best.

• to write a few sentences
• to write for a few minutes
• to do a few drawings in your book
• to talk about what you were grateful for
• to try and do it once a day 

literally anything.

if these all seem too big for you, your goal at the beginning can simply be opening up your journal and just sitting with it for a few minutes. 

this is still a goal. sometimes it is overwhelming to begin to journal, and at times nothing can come out of us.

sitting with your journal open, holding what you use to create the contents of your journal is great first step for creating a routine.

figure out what will work for you and in your lifestyle

i recommend journaling daily to get the fast results, however i journal every week day, yet not every weekend. 

i leave this space to spend it with friends.

if i don’t see a friend that weekend, i am most likely writing in my journal that day, but if i do see a friend, i probably won’t and that is no biggy.

with this being said, i truely believe that if you want to properly get into journaling, you need to do it when youfeel like it. 

obviously have some self discipline in the first 3 weeks of beginning and learning to journal,

(i would recommend you to try and do it daily for 3 weeks to get you out of the habit of not journaling),

but after those few weeks, you will actually look forward to writing in your journal. 

you do not want it to become a chore or feel like an effort.

life is busy, life gets i the way sometimes – do not beat yourself up because you missed a day or two because you forgot or didn’t feel like it.

think of what motivates you

is it cute pens? or a pretty notebook? is it playing relaxing music? going to a particular park? doing it at a certain time of day?

find out what works for you and what motivates you to write in your journal.

think of your journal time as your self care time. 

you are taking time out of your day to better yourself.

to let your thoughts and feelings out in a safe space with just you and yourself.

find a place you are comfortable, feel safe, are free from distractions and judgement.

somewhere it can be just you and your thoughts.

perhaps pick out a particular candle scent or a certain background music song, and only use it when you’re journaling. 

this way, after a while, when you burnt that candle, or hear that certain song, your brain will associate it with “okay it’s time to journal”.

if you are really struggling with finding what to say, you can always look up journal prompts on the internet. 

this way you can find what things excite you more to journal about, and you can branch off into the direction you want to go.

you must get rid of your fear.

“why is it so hard to journal”, “i can’t journal because i can’t focus for a long period of time”, “i can’t write so i can’t journal”

how to journal

remove your fears!!

experiment what works for you, by testing out different forms and ways to journal. 

figure out what time or days you’re most motivated to write, what environment you feel the safest to let out your truely feelings ect.

as i said before, there is no right or wrong way when it comes to journaling, so please remove your fear that you don’t know how to journal, or you’re not doing it right, or it’s not correct the way you’re doing it.

if you have a fear that someone will see it and read it then keep it private and put away or even locked away where people won’t be able to find it.

you must remove all type of judgement and criticismyou have towards yourself before you begin to journal. 

you need to feel safe within yourself to let out all of the deepest things you have within you, therefore you cannot judge yourself in any way.

you must been compassionate, gentle and understanding to the things you say, write or create.

you must realise that vulnerability is a strength, it is not something that should be feared or shamed.

by having vulnerability, you are showing your genuine, raw true self, and that is a beautiful thing to do.

so be proud.

if you have a fear that you will find really deep, strong emotions buried inside you that you have been wanting to forget, or never think about again, just know that finding those emotions and resurfacing them is probably the best thing you can possibly do for yourself. 

it will more than likely happen but instead of fearing this, embrace it. 

yes it may hurt in the time being, when you are discovering, acknowledging, processing, making sense, releasing and then forgiving them, but in the long run, oh my goodness it did wonders for me, so hopefully it can have the same effect in your journey too. 

re-read them and have a good cry, allow yourself to feel sad, angry, hurt, – just let out everything you have attached to your deep emotions without making excuses for them or not allowing yourself to feel certain ways. 

you are actually helping yourself heal by doing so.

if this is your fear, i recommend reading this article – how to cope with trauma triggers – manage being triggered

what are the benefits of journaling

some of the benefits to journaling include, but are certainly not limited to

• help improve mental health and psychological health conditions
• it can be done anywhere at anytime and can be inexpensive depending on what you journal with
• find meaning in your life and help you create positive changes
• it is amazing in bringing the practise of gratitude into your life
• for me, it really helped me “recover” from my trauma – i used italics because i obviously still think about it and am heartbroken for what happened, but it helped me overcome how it used to control my life.
• help you clear your mind of unwanted or unnecessary thoughts
• can help you hold yourself accountable to goals you set for yourself
• it can improve your emotional awareness

a kind, gentle reminder ❤

please please pleaseeee remember to be kind, patient, empathetic, gentle and judgment free towards yourself as you journal. 

you need to remove all thoughts of judgement, criticism and defensiveness to be able to find the true wonders of what journaling can bring upon your life.

don’t forget to look back through your journals. 

i always go through my journals as i find it is very easy to get lost in time, so i occasionally like to become present in the moment and go back for some self reflection. 

honestly more times than not i am re-reading my journals mouth wide open in shock of how much i have grown – in literally all aspects of my life. 

but it is also a nice little memory of the things that brought you happiness at the time, how you felt, your ideas and thoughts.

i found self reflection on my journals allowed me to adapt a wayyyy more thankful mindset, where i am genuinely so thankful and greatful in the moment.

i highly recommend doing this.

i really want to make this point very clear, as i find a few people say you must journal daily to get the benefits from it. 

although i would recommend you to journal daily, as that is an amazing habit for you to form, bit the reality is, life gets in the way. 

if journaling everyday is beginning to feel like a chore to do, or you don’t get excitement towards it, then don’t do it.

you want to want to journal, you don’t want to dread it or think “oh great i have to journal now”.

obviously there is a difference between discipline and plain old i can’t be bothered to do it, you have to form the habit of journaling when you begin.

you are teaching yourself to participate in a new self care activity, so hold yourself accountable the first 3 weeks to try and journal as often as you can (even if you aren’t enjoying it yet).

you can always stop after giving it a go. there isn’t a one thing suits everyone, you are your unique self, so it is perfectly okay not to enjoy something that others do.

if you feel comfortable and want to, then you can always share your thoughts, ideas, art, or whatever you have created, with people you trust. 

whether it be your friends, family, therapist or dog, it doesn’t matter, as long as it is what you want to do. 

after about a year of writing my poems, i really wanted to share a few with my best mate, and when i was saying them, oh my gosh it was absolutely terrifying! i am not joking when i tell you i felt my throat in my tummy. 

i was sharing one of the most vulnerable, deepest and darkest parts of me, willingly!

but the feeling i had after sharing them was amazing, and also she loved them and was very inspired after, so that was a great feeling aswell.

i hope you enjoyed reading this article today and i truely wish you all the best on your journey.

hopefully you feel inspired to begin to journal and maybe you will be able to feel the same powers i felt from it

(please remember though, i have been journaling for years and years).

but, you beginning today only helps you in the future.

you are amazing.

don’t give trauma the power to control you, you deserve to live how you want. take control of your trauma.

-life advice from one survivor to another

-MAO