Joy of Writing
Everyone has days where they feel emotionally drained. You may want to speak to a friend but you don’t want to feel like you’re burdening them. Trust me, you are not. If you are a private person, try venting out your feelings to a journal. It’ll make you feel better and happier.
My father purchased a brown journal with elephants on it when I was in elementary school. I had no interest in writing at the time because I would always ask, “What would I even write about?” “Write about your day,” answered my father. I wrote in it for a couple weeks. I kept forgetting because my days weren’t too interesting. There were times I felt so frustrated I wanted to scream. Holding that anger in, I wrote my feelings out. At the time, I didn’t have any friends so the journal was my best friend. I had one journal I’ve written from my elementary school days to my college days. I didn’t write everyday but I did my best. I loved re-reading my old entries because I could see how far I’ve come as a human being. Those entries also represented my darker times and my happier memories.
I wrote down all of my memories, how my day went and what I was interested in at the time. Now, there are various questions we could ask ourselves such as, “What can I do to reach my goal?” or, “How can I solve a particular situation that I’m currently in?” We have problems we want to solve and writing in it can help you plan it out.
There are many things you can do with a journal. You can write about your day, answer some thought-provoking questions, write a to-do list, movie/book lists and even draw. YouTuber Lavendaire has made a journaling series for 6 weeks. Each week she’s sharing journaling prompts and exercises to help guide us on a journey of self-discovery and growth.
On September 25th, she has put her new pastel notebooks for purchase on her blog. She has four pastel notebooks and each one has a gold foil symbol on the cover. There’s a yellow notebook that has the sun symbol, a blue notebook has the moon symbol, green has the leaf symbol and the pink one has the lotus symbol. Lavendaire wanted you to feel inspired during your creative session. You can choose the paper types which are lined, blank and dotted.
Lavendaire wanted each icon to have meaning. The sun notebook was meant to bring positivity, confidence and happiness to your day. An idea she had for the yellow notebook was for it to be a morning page, gratitude journal and to count your wins. The moon symbol represents your emotions, feelings and thoughts. This could be an evening journal, mood journal, self reflection, releasing fears and a healing journal. The green notebook represents growth, vitality, and health. An idea for this journal was to write down your personal growth, life lessons, goal setting, food diary and fitness journal. The lotus symbol is for spirituality, creativity and beauty. Some ideas for this journal was to have self-care habits, your spiritual journey, expressing creativity and collecting wisdom. You can purchase these notebooks individually for $12 or $48 for all four notebooks.
How To Start Journaling: 5 Ideas for Beginners
The possibilities are endless when it comes to writing. Personally, I enjoy having a notebook for every idea. For instance, a gratitude journal is just for counting my wins, a mood journal is to express my anger or happiness while a spiritual journal is all about my journey with spirituality.
Stream of Consciousness
Begin writing down anything that comes to mind. Even if you think you don’t have a thought in your head, you could write down.” I’m not sure what to write.” After that sentence, more ideas could pop up and it could be written down. You can write for as long as you want. The point is to not filter yourself and to just let yourself write. Don’t judge yourself when you feel like what you’re writing down is stupid. It’s never stupid to write how you feel.
Easy Diary
You don’t have to write five pages. You could have a couple bullet points to talk about your day. You could even have a mementos from your day, such as an airplane ticket, a polaroid photo or a flower you’ve picked up. It’s like a scrapbook. You don’t have to limit yourself to write in pens but you could write in highlighters, water colors, anything you desire. Make it unique and personal.
Bucket List
The worst thing in life is when you grow older, you will realize you haven’t done a thing to support your happiness. You probably have shut down doors because fear took control of your life. Look fear in the eye and say, “No more.” Write down a list of everything you hope to accomplish or what you would like to do. Don’t look back and regret not being able to do certain things just because you’re afraid of what others may think. This is a fun prompt to determine your goals and make it happen.
Journal To Music
Every song has a certain vibe you feed on. If you’re playing a sad song, you may have a memory associated with that song and it could make your heart feel sad. Write about that sadness and memory to get your feelings out. You could write about why you like the song, how it makes you feel and let the music take you on a moody path. It will unleash a side you’ve never unlocked before.
Gratitude Journaling
It’s hard to feel thankful for your life when it seems to fall to shambles. You might be hard on yourself and wonder why you’ve never even gone on a date or never had any romantic stories to tell. Everyone has their own story to tell and it’s your job to find a couple good things in your day. Don’t worry about other people’s lives when you should focus on your own. Writing down what you’re grateful for can be a huge mood booster.
Journaling For: Self Reflection & Unpacking Emotions
We’re terrible at communicating with others, well at least some of us are. Especially since the internet has evolved into a place where we are addicted to our phones. The more addicted we are, the less we communicate in person with people. As introverts, we hate expressing how we feel towards others. We spend all of our days putting scenarios in our heads and getting emotional over them. Introverts don’t tend to talk much to others so that’s why a journal is personal and life-changing. It can help you unpack your emotions and it can help you feel much better.
How Am I Feeling At The Moment? Why?
This is a question we need to ask ourselves everyday. We have a set schedule for the day, need to accomplish tasks and we need to get it done before the end of the day. We’re busy people so we don’t ask ourselves how we’re feeling. We need to stop and ask that question, or better yet to write it down. The only person we need to be honest to is ourselves.
What Has Life Been Trying To Teach Me Lately?
We blame ourselves and life when things go horribly wrong. We are angry and hurt. We don’t want to think clearly on what the lesson is because we want to keep feeling miserable about something we cannot control. For every event in our lives, there is a lesson learned. Everyone needs to learn from it so it can make us wiser and knowledgeable about a situation.
How Am I Doing In The Different Areas Of My Life?
Find the areas that matters to you the most. It could be relationships, careers, home, personal growth and money. After you’ve written down the areas, rate it and see which areas need more work than others. Try to identify what needs work so you can improve your life. You should always want to improve yourself as a human being.
Journaling For: Fear, Anxiety & Worries
We hate to admit it but we let fear in the way of our life .We let it control us so we wouldn’t have to get out of our comfort zone. In order to achieve success, we must fail and have fear. If we don’t fear, it means we don’t have anything to lose. If we have fear, then it means we are alert and we’re better prepared. It also means we care enough to have those feelings. During our school years, we’re worried if our crush likes us back, if our fashion style looks good and if we will pass a test. After graduation, we’re worried if we’ll ever get our dream job, if we’re making enough money or are helping our families enough. We all have different fears, anxieties and worries but we don’t express it through communication. It’s great to write down the things we can’t control and let our fears go.
My Negative Self Talk Usually Sounds Like…
Fill in the blanks and be honest. What are you telling yourself throughout the day that puts you in a negative headspace? Are you telling yourself that you’re not good enough, that you don’t think you can do it, that you don’t look as good as the people surrounding you? Or do you think you’re not as smart as everyone else? Identify what you’re telling yourself because that negative self talk will hold you back. We have thousands of thoughts per day but you can filter out which ones to listen to. Replace your negative thoughts into positive ones and start listening to the positive ones.
If Fear Is My Compass, Where Will It Guide Me?
If you’re afraid of something then it means you care about it but you hate the uncertainty. That’s why a lot of people are afraid to go after their dreams. They don’t know if they’ll even succeed but you never know unless you try your best. If you’re deciding to do something but you’re afraid of the unknown, perhaps you should do it anyways. If it could change your life but you’re hesitant, don’t hesitate. Go after it first then think about it later. If you’re putting too much thought into your fear, you’re wasting your precious time.
What Is My Greatest, Deepest Fear? Now you know you should go towards your fear and overcome it, you now need to identify your fears and be honest with yourself. Ask yourself, “Why is it my greatest, deepest fear?” You could write down one fear or a list of fears. You’re going to learn a lot about yourself.
More Journal Prompts:
Collect inspiring quotes and mantras
Keep a book list
Describe your favorite place and what you love about it
List examples of moments where I was fully alive
What lessons have I learned in the past 3 months?
What do I need more from life?
What are my anxieties about? How are my anxieties rational or irrational?
What’s draining my energy? Can I reduce it or cut it out?
There are many journal prompts you can ask yourself and get to know yourself better. There are also lots of beautiful designs for journals so you’re bound to find the right one for you! I did start off journaling and that helped me find my passion for writing. I’ve written poems and it turned into articles and then some turned to stories. You never know where writing will lead you. Plus, it’s fun having a journal as a best friend. At least they don’t judge you! Journaling helps you communicate effectively and your creativity knows no bounds. You can follow @shoplavendaire on Instagram for more videos on journaling. Also, you can go on her website to sign up for her journaling emails. From there, she’ll link the video and she’ll have more journal prompts you can use. I only listed a couple but her emails have a lot more. The most important thing is to have fun with journaling. Go ahead and create!
