Why I Started Journaling and How It Serves as an Therapeutic Activity

Why I Started Journaling

The Backstory

I was watching anime and one of the main characters keep daily journals. That's when I started to take inspirations and interests to do the same as her like the sort of the anime nerd that I am. The ideation formed before I watched the anime but those aesthetic anime scenes? They were my final push to finally get up and do what I sought out to do since long ago. From that point on, I started keeping daily journals without a day off for 3 years straight (from 2017 to 2020). I still write journals- just not everyday anymore.

It may sound counterintuitive because most people could find journaling to be a hassle or a time-consuming activity where you just write down your thoughts, or feelings of the day, and close the book, right? WELL, it's a bit more complicated than that. On the contrary, it could feel like a task (well, I am not gonna lie -it does feel like a task, especially when you are busy at the end of the day or when you just want to rewind and relax instead of DOING something). However, when it is integrated into our daily lives, and if that activity IS helpful for our mind, it stops feeling like a task and it starts to feel more like your own personal therapeutic activity. I think of journaling like flossing and brushing my teeth - a helpful routine activity.

I started keeping the journals with no end goals in mind; I just wanted to be cool like that anime character who is very introspective and thoughtful( I guess I had SOME ideas in mind). Regardless, I started to become more mindful of the benefits journaling was bringing me - at first, it felt like a chore, but then it revolved to be a place where I could find comfort, growth, and perspectives in.

Below, I am going to be writing on my own personal experiences of how journaling became to be an therapeutic activity in my life.

So, how can journaling be therapeutic?

A little bit about me

For starters, I am an introvert; I love to socialize and be around other people though it takes a toll on myself feeling the need to appear more extroverted so that I don't ruin the mood of the conversations or disrupt the dynamics of the social settings that I am in. On top of that, I am always clouded with my anxiety when interacting with people and I think so much better and more clearly in writings to put my own head in perspective. POINTS BEING: socializing is hard, and so does my anxiety which makes it hard for me to be myself entirely and writing helps me calm down ,brings clarity to what my thoughts and feelings are, and puts me into new perspectives and even cultivate self growth or to form new ideas.

Journaling 101

So, you might be wondering; what exactly do you write in your journals? Well, the list goes on and on but in summary, it goes something like this: at the end of a long, tiring day, I turn to jot down what has happened, what I feel about it, what I think about them, what I am grateful for, what I feel upset about, how I can help myself get over the negative feelings, how not to suppress all types of emotions, how to express myself healthily, how I can help myself calm down, what new perspectives to gain, what new information I have learned, what future plans I have in mind, which steps I could take for specific goals in mind, what I can/can't control, and what kind of lessons/impressions I got from the life events that have occurred, etc... (It's a long list, I know).

And you might be wondering; so do you touch up on all of those points in every single one of your journals? - THE ANSWER IS - I don't. Some days, I touch up on ALL PARTS and more, and on some days, I focus on one part only. The thing about journaling is that you don't PLAN things out in your journals (Unless you are THAT girl and hey YOU DO YOU!) - you just, WELL - WRITE, and let your thoughts, and ideas flow onto a piece of paper or on a computer screen. That to me is the beauty of journaling ; spontaneity that comes with it where there are only our thoughts, words and the writing tools. You are not writing an essay with word limits when it comes down to journaling ; you can write just 10 words for that matter or if you are a keyboard maniac like me who types 132 WPM and goes on typeracer to get a boost of fleeing self-confidence for no reason whatsoever- then, maybe 1000000 words ! (I am totally exaggerating here but hey that's the gist.) - there are no LIMITS to HOW YOU want to voice out your thoughts, or whatever kinds of tools you want to use - HOW NICE DOES THAT SOUND? - GO CRAZY

OK....maybe not THAT crazy.

My Personal Take and Progress I've Taken on Journaling

Being in a healthy solitude while writing down about the previously described matters as such became a place where I go to meet my old and non-judgmental friend who always gets me - THAT one person you can just pick up where you left off as though you've ever been separated before.

Sometimes, when I am writing, I start to realize even MORE of how I was feeling. In another word, clarity is given to me through this activity which in itself becomes therapeutic. Clarity in our own understandings about ourselves, can in turn helps us cultivate self-growth. For example, one day I was writing my rants down in my journals and how I feel terrible about my life and as I was writing, I realized "hey this is not as bad as I thought it is - I should be grateful that I still have a house to sleep in, and food to eat- I should be grateful about the little things in life, instead of whining about what I don't have RIGHT NOW and focus on what I can indeed control, be in the present moments more and trust that I WILL have what I want if I continue to do X and Y later in the future with my continuous hard work. I am grateful that I am resilient even in times of stressful events like this. I need to give myself a break, and practice more self-compassion towards myself." When you hit such 'realizations' , you start to become more introspective, and deal with life as you go through with it slowly as it comes, and as healthy as it goes with a mindset practicing gratitude. Well, that was a long example.

Different Types of Journaling

It is important to know: there aren't only one way to journal, so I had the idea to come up with some terms and share you the ways you could do your therapeutic writings. You can do scrapbook journaling which is more visual, or audio journaling which is quick and easy if you aren't into writing and/or if you are often busy, or group-journaling/social-journaling which is a bit more collaborative and is great for dinner tables where you could each take time to talk about your reflections out loud. There are also free journaling templates you could download on the internet if you just want to fill in the boxes.

Benefits of Journaling

Now, if you have stuck with me this far, I believe it's time you are aware of the benefits that come from journaling. Some examples of benefits that come when you journal are

increased self-compassion,
boosts memory,
improves comprehensions,
reduce stress and anxiety,
improves creativity,
cultivates self-growth and personal developments,
boosts immune system,
reduces blood pressure,
and improves lung function.

On a Final Note

I hope that by reading this article, you are also inspired and motivated to start journaling. After all, who wouldn't like to interest themselves of improvements in both physical and mental well-beings?

Free Journaling Resources

If you are interested to start journaling, well here are my recommended platforms which are FREE: