For many, journaling has become a necessary hobby and component of daily living to help us navigate our day-to-day lives. While many people have found journaling to help them in therapy or in documenting important life moments, some people have been hesitant to jump on this bandwagon.
Today, I wanted to dive into the benefits of journaling and why it can be a life-changing component of your life. In this article, I will highlight some of the important rewards journaling offers in the hopes that I can encourage you to try it out for yourself!
Disclaimer: All of the views and opinions in this post are solely my own and are not sponsored. This post may include affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission through links at no cost to you.
1. It allows you to collect your thoughts
One of the main reasons journaling is so beneficial to people is that it allows them to collect their thoughts.
When you journal—especially in a sort of stream of conscious manner—you’re able to “rant” and “vent” onto your page. And it doesn’t matter if it’s just word vomit when you go back to reread. The point of spilling all of your thoughts into your journal is so that you can better collect them and make sense of them.
Often, we struggle to pinpoint which thoughts/concerns deserve our attention and which are only fleeting. Through journaling, you can begin to better recognize what is serving you and what isn’t and begin sifting through your ideas to better understand yourself and the world around you.
2. It highlights distortions
As you journal, you collect memories, moments, and thoughts into a single space where you can go back and reevaluate your perceptions. Over time, you’ll notice patterns and repetitions that arise concerning how you respond to certain situations or how your thoughts and feelings influence your views of others.
While many of the things we do are expected and often not very detrimental to our own well-being, there are certain things called distortions that can impact our perceptions of the world and those around us.
Distortions are thoughts and areas of your life where you have a misinterpreted perception of an event or person. For example, you might think you aren’t very smart because you failed your math test even if you’ve been excelling all year. Distortions are sort of like faltered thinking. You think you’re dumb or incapable because of one small mishap, but the truth is, you’re quite brilliant at math.
Distortions can shape the way we act with others and can hinder our friendships and personal growth. Often, when emotions come into play we don’t look at situations logically. Through journaling, we can write down our thoughts and come back to them when we are calmer or have a clearer head. Then, we can begin seeing where our own perceptions of things might be wrong or misleading.
3. It’s a creative outlet
Above all, journaling is a creative outlet that is simply fun to do. If you’ve watched my YouTube videos, you know that some of my favorite ways to journal is to create artistic journal spreads that cater to a theme or idea. It’s a great way to play with color and design and the artistic nature of journaling in this way makes me feel beyond happy.
If you think journaling is restricted as only a written activity, you’re wrong!
Journaling can be more than just writing on a page. It could be done through painting, scrapbooking, photography, videography, story telling, and so much more.
If you want to learn more about unique ways to get into journaling, I highly recommend you start with this video on my channel that discusses visual journaling in depth.
4. It’s a memory keeper
One thing I love about journaling is the ability to go back and reread my entries to see where my mind was that day. I love looking back to see the person I was a month ago or a year ago. It’s nice to see how I’ve grown and changed.
But beyond growth, the ability to journal and document life-changing moments has also been a welcome habit in my life. In 2017, I took a two-week trip to Costa Rica. When I came home, I created a travel diary of the events so that I could preserve the memories. Years later, I’m thrilled to be able to relive the moments I’ve forgotten.
If you’re interested in seeing any of my travel diaries, I have a few journal videos up on my channel so you can see both flip-through’s and how I go about making them.
5. It gives you space to “let it all out”
As I mentioned in number one, journaling lets you rant and vent. Having a place to let out all of your thoughts is invaluable. One issue I used to face was that when I became upset, I would rant and vent to my friends. This isn’t such a bad thing, but at times, they were sacrificing their own energy and mental health to be there for me.
I’ve since discovered a system that allows me to talk to my friends (and they to me) so that we can offer each other our energy and attention in a healthy way. Essentially, we ask each other if they are comfortable listening to a rant when one is necessary. If they aren’t, then we work out different solutions.
For me, journaling is that alternative solution. And sometimes, I journal before I ever talk to my friends (it helps collect my thoughts).
Journaling is a great way to let out your frustration without hurting others. And since it helps you collect your thoughts, it makes you more articulate and enables you to find the right help you need.
6. Art journaling allows you to hone your talent
If you’ve been on my blog or followed me on YouTube for some time now, you know how much I adore Art journaling. Art journaling has blended two very important parts of my life: journaling as a form of therapy and art as a form of creativity.
Art journaling for me is therapeutic, expansive, and filled with learning opportunities. I love honing my artistic and linguistic skills while also working towards self-discovery.
If you’re new to journaling or art journaling, I encourage you to check out some of my journaling content or my post on art therapy. I think this activity is a wonderful way to get into the habit of journaling while also building your skills.
7. It teaches you self discipline
Journaling is a habit and all habits require some sense of self-discipline. Self-discipline is a topic I’ve expressed several times on my blog so I won’t go too in depth here.
But when it comes to journaling, you need to be motivated and disciplined enough to make it a habit. While I don’t journal every day, I do find value in ensuring that I am journaling often in order to maintain the act as a habit. Additionally, journaling often proves more beneficial than not doing so at all or only reaching for your notebook once a month.
When you begin journaling regularly, you’ll be able to create a habit. And through this, you will develop a greater sense of self-discipline which is a good skill to have to set you up for success in other areas of your life!
8. Provides more mental clarity
Similar to many of the other benefits on this list, journaling can help provide mental clarity. By this, I mean it helps you recognize toxic and hinder some thought patterns and it also helps you to calm down when issues arise.
Mental clarity is often neglected because we live in such a fast-paced world. When thoughts and emotions spring up, we feel the need to act on them quickly. But journaling asks you to slow down. It asks you to wait and think before moving forward.
I really enjoy this aspect of journaling because I’m known for jumping to conclusions and pulling out worst-case scenarios. Journaling gives me the opportunity to reflect and reevaluate and I’ve found that this has helped me in my personal growth journey more than anything.
9. It’s relaxing
One of the best things about journaling is that it’s relaxing. After a long, hard day, sometimes just sitting down to write can feel like the best feeling in the world. I like to cozy up with blankets, coffee (since I’m not really a tea fan), and light some candles. I love dipping into my subconscious and jotting down important events or thoughts that have taken precedence during the day.
Of course, journaling isn’t just about keeping a diary, so you can use guided prompts and other resources to make the moment more enticing for yourself.
But what I love about journaling at the end of the day—or whenever really—is that it helps you calm down. I’ve been trying to implement more and more slow living techniques into my lifestyle so that I don’t feel rushed or anxious about the world around me. If you’re feeling the same, then I encourage you to start journaling as it’s one of the easiest and simplest ways to include slow living in your life.
10. It takes you away from tech and reality for a bit / let’s you be with yourself
In this day and age, being alone with yourself can be terrifying. With the prevalence of media, social events, friends, and partners in our lives, we are almost never allowed to be alone. Even when we seclude ourselves in our rooms, our phone acts as a companion and prevents us from being silent and present with ourselves.
Because it’s scary to think of being all alone, we often avoid it. And our negative expectations of what this alone time will feel like has scared us from seeking it out.
This is why I love journaling.
Journaling doesn’t feel lonely and, in fact, has helped me personally to cope with loneliness. I’ve been able to reconnect to myself spiritually and emotionally through journaling and as an introvert, I feel as if it was a necessary piece of finding my own happiness.
If you’re interested in getting to better know yourself or to work towards stepping away from tech and social media, journaling is a good place to start.
Wrap-up
I really hope you enjoyed this post! If you were ever uncertain about journaling before, I hope this cleared your worries and encouraged you to start. Check out my videos on YouTube and my blog posts on journaling if you’re interested in learning more!
If you like this post, check out some similar posts of mine below!
Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions!
You can also email me with questions or concerns you may have at info.amelia.wilson@gmail.com
My new book, Witch in the Water, is available on Amazon!
Also, check out my poetry book, The Lights are on but Nobody’s Home, available now on amazon for $6.99 in paperback form!
Disclaimer: All of the views and opinions in this post are solely my own and are not sponsored. This post includes affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission through links at no cost to you.
Thanks again