It’s incredible how a piece of paper and a pen has helped me get through some of the toughest times in my life. Admittedly, I haven’t been consistent with journaling in a very long time, but I recently started keeping a daily journal and was very promptly reminded how much of a boon it can be. And while there have been several scientific studies outlining the benefits of journaling, I instead would like to speak on my personal experience and the benefits I noticed within myself.

From 2016 – 2018 I lived in what’s called a “therapeutic community,” which is effectively a long term rehabilitation facility centered around peer to peer accountability. It was a time of intense growth and introspection, neither of which I was equipped to deal with. Keeping a journal was encouraged and even mandated at times. At first, I was not very committed to deriving any real value from journaling. I did not know what journaling could do for me because I didn’t know what I even needed to do for myself. It was really a reflection of my inability to reflect deeply within myself. I would sit with my journal out in front of me and be stonewalled by writer’s block, or with the plan to write some witty observations about my surroundings.

After about a year at the therapeutic community, I began seeing a therapist. Therapy for me began in much the same way journaling did. After sitting in an awkwardly silent therapist’s office for enough time, my intellect (my primary mode of defense) had given way to the feelings lying beneath. This revealed a labyrinth of unexplored land within my psyche. In this land lay trapped feelings and emotions that I had been suppressing, while being unaware that I was even suppressing them. The hour I spent seeing a therapist was not enough. I was in a place to relentlessly explore myself and I was now determined to do it. This is where journaling became my #1 tool. I would write any chance I could get, particularly on days of heavy emotional burden.

Journaling became a way to act as my own therapist. A means to externalize what was happening within my mind and body. Many times I would begin writing with a single, surface level thought and like a thread unraveling an article of clothing, this single thought would lead me deeper and deeper into the cause and effect hiding beneath the surface. I would be hit with revelations and “a-ha!” moments that would not be possible without this pen and paper in front of me. My writing was leading me to discover why certain traumas in my life led me to behave the way I did. The thread would begin with a current uncomfortable feeling that through the flow of writing would arrive at events in my past that originally imbued me with said uncomfortable feeling.

In addition to this, journaling helped me mold my writing skills and voice. After journaling for long enough, it felt like the journal had become a channel for my own creativity as well. It was like this time I spent journaling was a way for the current, courageous version of me to sit and relive past experiences through writing. This would not only be beneficial to my self development but also my cognitive abilities. Each entry had its own flow and language that helped me to understand what was happening with me and my surroundings at any given moment. It cast a light upon things that I needed to work on that in turn dispelled the false beliefs I had about a situation (or myself).

Recently, I felt a lack of an outlet for which to organize my thoughts, brought on by a cluttered past few months.  I feel determined once again to make journaling a regular thing. Even if no lightbulb moments come of it this time, at least I am externalizing my thoughts and feelings, which I believe is very important. When I look back, I see the times I was journaling as these mini therapy sessions in which I could, at the very least, vent my thoughts on to a piece of paper instead of holding them in. This is the floor of what benefits I get from journaling, with room for new insights and revelations. For just a few minutes a day, I lose nothing from merely jotting my thoughts down in a notebook.

I implore everyone reading this that could use another outlet to give journaling an honest try. Even if you had tried in the past and couldn’t get this habit off the ground, try again! It is a skill like any other and will not be in its fully developed form when initially undertaken. Keep at it and make it a foundational habit and I promise that you will reap the benefits. So, what are you waiting for? Grab your pen and start writing!