Journaling regularly can be a hard practice to get into, even if you’ve journaled in the past and know you enjoy it. It can be daunting to get started, to know where to begin, especially when we are processing so many daily changes and stressors. It can be easy to let journalling fall by the wayside even with the best intentions; we can become too bogged down in our daily list of tasks, or subconsciously believe we have nothing to write about. If it’s been a while since you’ve journaled, maybe you’re hesitant at the concept of trying to get caught up.
It can be freeing to reevaluate the way we look at journaling; to realize we don’t have to serve any particular agenda. There are no rules about what you’re allowed to write about or how you’re supposed to write it; journaling doesn’t have to be chronological or linear, it doesn’t have to have a certain amount of depth or gravity to be important. Even if you’re just writing about your favorite meal, or a day trip you’ve been thinking about, or a song that’s been on your mind; journaling is there to meet you wherever your subconscious leads.
Journaling can be a powerful tool for self-care: it forces us to be fully present with ourselves, gives us a direct outlet to listen to our deeper conscious, and forces everything else to wait for a moment while we focus on what we need. Even if it’s just for 10 minutes, give yourself a chance to attend to some of the thoughts that usually move through your mind unnoticed. Sometimes all we need to help get us started is a small push, a bit of direction, a single question.
If you want to start journaling about yourself, your personal growth and experiences, here are a few questions to help get you started:
What’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself in the past year?
If you could have a conversation with yourself from 10 years ago, what would you tell them? What do you think they’d be proudest of you for?
Which quality of yours is the most important to you?
What’s one way you think you’re similar to yourself as a child and what’s one way you’ve changed?
What do you think your greatest weakness is? How has your approach towards managing it changed over time?
What are three words you would use to describe yourself? What are three words your favorite person in the world would use to describe you? How similar or different are these two sets of words, and why do you think that is?
What’s one thing about yourself that you wish other people would more easily recognize?
What’s the greatest lesson a role model taught you when you were young?
What’s one way you’ve grown or changed that surprises you?
Journaling is such a vital way for us to understand ourselves, our needs and perspectives on a clearer level. Take the opportunity today to spend a bit more time getting to know yourself today; self awareness always makes our journey easier.