How To Express Yourself In A Journal 101

As readers and writers, we find peace with words. Reading brings us calmness and writing inspires creativity. As humans, we experience a vast amount of emotions each day. At some points, it could become overwhelming and hard to express vocally. Some thoughts and emotions contain so much vulnerability we do not even want to say them out loud. As a Gemini, I love to talk, I can ramble about anything for at least 15 minutes! The minute you want me to talk about my feelings and be vulnerable I become as silent as a mime.

My friends say that I have two emotions, really happy or really angry there is no in-between. The reason for that is any other emotions show vulnerability and opening up to people terrifies me. Why do you ask? This space of vulnerability peaks my anxiety. If I open up and show my true colors people may think I am “too much”. Or I open up to people and become close, comfortable, and safe then, they leave. That risk was always too much for me to even bear.

When I would feel the wave of intense anxiety fill my body I would become very quiet or go somewhere to be by myself to take on this emotion on my own. I believed no one would understand my thoughts so, I kept them to myself. The issue here is that I would bottle up all these emotions and explode on people. See? Either happy or angry nothing in between. I realized that this was not a healthy way to express myself and I needed to find another outlet. So, I would like to thank Julianne Hough and Rachel Hollis who opened my eyes to writing in a journal and I will never look back.

Julianne Hough, you may know her from “Dancing with the Stars”. On her Instagram stories, she would show her “Morning Pages Challenge”, where she would journal every morning about what she was grateful for every day and what her intentions were for the day. I thought, maybe I should give this a try. I always loved to write so, maybe I can start writing about my feelings. I bought a cute journal and began writing in a journal any morning that I could.

Then, Rachel Hollis took it another step further, she created a structured journal with sentence starters to guide my thoughts. It was called the “Start Today Journal”. The Enneagram 6 in me who loves structure fell in love with this method of writing my thoughts! This journal had me write 5 things I am grateful for, plan out my day hour by hour, write down big events for the day, and have a word as the theme of the day.

I enjoyed writing in both methods so, I did both! Here is how a express my feelings in a journal 101.

1. You can either have one journal for every feeling or multiple journals that serve different expressions. For example, I have a regular journal that I use on the weekends to go over my thoughts for the week and then I have Rachel Hollis’ “Start Today Journal” for the weekdays because that is my work mode journal.

2. When should I journal you ask? I usually journal in the morning to set my mind clear and focus to start the day. I am also a morning person and get up early to have time to write in my journal. Or you can write at night to collect your thoughts after the day has ended and set goals for the next day. You have to set a time away to journal, this makes it a habit. You can do it daily or weekly, whatever works best for you.

3. How long should I journal for? I journal for about 10–20 minutes. It could be faster or slower than that but, that time frame works for me. By that time, I have released all my emotions and goals onto the page.

4. What should I write about? You can truly write about anything, it is your journal! If you need some guidance here are a few ideas, if you’re not writing in a structured journal!

A: 3 things you are grateful for.

B: 1 event that happened that day or that week that changed your mindset.

C: A funny moment with friends, family, or at work.

D: Work through an emotion, what do you fear, what made you anxious, what made you angry, how could you respond to this emotion.

E: Write a fake letter to someone who made you angry that day in order to release that tension in your body.

F: Write about a moment that you were proud of yourself that day or week.

G: Where do you see yourself next year? What are your long and short-term goals?

H: Write a real apology letter and if you want, send it to that person you want to apologize to. (I do this all the time with my boyfriend, I have habit of letting my emotions get the best of me sometimes in arguments so, after I cool down I write him a letter. I am better at writing my emotions than speaking them out loud)

I: Write down your intentions for the day or week. What do you want to accomplish?

J: Write a love letter to yourself expressing why you love yourself and your best qualities.

K: Re- analyze an argument or discussion and express how it made you feel and how you can communicate with that person better.

5. Where should I journal? Anywhere you want! You can journal in the bedroom, kitchen, backyard, beach, park, train, etc… I usually journal in my kitchen, bedroom, classroom, or backyard. My kitchen as a cute island where I do all my work. I usually listen to calming music or if I am outside I listen to nature also has a calming effect. The “Country Coffeehouse” playlist on “Spotify” is my go-to jam!

The list can truly go on forever! These were just a few topics that I write about in my journals that help me navigate through my emotions. Since writing in a journal, I have a safe outlet to express myself and I feel more in control of my anxiety. I can express myself freely and write out any emotions I am feeling. I have become more self-aware of my actions and how I can improve my reactions. I have become more mindful of my life instead of just going through the motions. After my journal session, I feel like I can take on the world!

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” -Anne Frank

Originally posted on Medium.com in "The Innvovation"