What kinds of journaling are you doing in your life right now? Are there particular kinds of writing that you are indulging in more than others? Do you feel like your writings and journals reflect your true self or do you see yourself as a part of many rather than a singular “you”. What types of journaling are you indulging in?
One type of journaling that many of us engage in is Type I journaling. This category is for my own personal reflection of what types of journaling are doing for me personally. This list is my own spin on self care, and the images are from my own journals. For some people, journaling is all about writing and reflecting back to see how they are growing emotionally and mentally. For others, it is a visual aid to help them better understand their emotional and mental health challenges and how to support themselves better.
The first example of this is bullet journaling. Bullet journaling involves writing about one thing at a time in your journal. You write down everything that crosses your mind. You then turn the pages and glance at what you wrote. It’s kind of like turning a vision board on to your wall so you can look at it more often and touch it mentally and reflect on your progress.
Another example is morning pages. In my awareness journal, I keep a daily note of my thoughts and feelings during the day as well as my insights into what I’m grateful for, my take away points and my aspirations for the day. Morning pages helps me remember the things I am grateful for and gives me space to write down my observations and my emotions about them.
The next example comes from writing down your progress as you go through life. This type of journaling is called transformation journaling and involves writing about your thoughts, feelings and behaviors as you move through different types of challenges or as you grow and change. It’s important to write about everything as objectively as possible. You need to see and appreciate the good and bad and don’t try to make anything into something negative or an observation that may be blown out of proportion. You will probably change your perspective about many things throughout the day and keeping an eye out for these changes is a good way to get started.
The third example comes from journaling with gratitude. This involves recording your daily gratitude for whatever it is that makes you happy. Journaling with gratitude is a powerful way to improve your mental health and your mood. Instead of wishing something bad away you are recording how you feel about it in your gratitude journal.
The last example comes from consciousness journaling with pen and paper. This type of journal is often more challenging than other types of journaling because you have to do more than just write. Instead of visualizing what you want to achieve you have to put your intentions out there with clear intentions in your mind. When you create a clear intention for yourself journaling with pen and paper can be difficult. However, if you have the time and energy this can be a great way to bring greater clarity and happiness into your life.
The bottom line is that there are so many ways you can journal. You have to discover what works for you. Whether it is writing with pencil and paper, pen and paper plus digital journaling or audio journaling or journal Prompt, you can turn journaling into a great way to enrich your life and your mental health. In fact, some psychologists recommend it for patients who want to deal with their problems from more than one angle. Journaling with bullets, prompts or sheets, you have the ability to capture deep and meaningful moments that will help you live a richer, fuller life. Whether you are searching for more motivation, peace or confidence, journaling with these different types of tools will help you find all of the answers you seek.
Lisa is a lifestyle article writer for a local newspaper. Aside from that, she is part-time English teacher on a high school. She also speaks at seminars and workshops. She is currently living with her husband and two kids.