This morning I wrote the last entry in my journal – I’ve run out of space and will start a new journal tomorrow. This journal feels like the second movie in a trilogy – a time of transition, a time of learning, building up to the climax that will be found in the next movie – or next journal. I’ve found that journaling helps me in many ways.

Mood Stabilization. Creative types can be, well, alternately euphoric and bitchy in the space of a week. Really bitchy (and really euphoric). I’ve found that having a safe place to write down my feelings – triumph and despair, anger and hope – helps me process them and keep a more even hand on life’s throttle.

Prayer. I get why David wrote the Psalms – I think I do some of my best praying by journaling. As I write this, I wonder what sort of lyrics I might be able to find should I turn through the pages of the last three year’s journal.

Discipline. Daily journaling has helped me accept more structure in my creativity. In War of Art, one writer exclaims that inspiration comes to him every day – at exactly 9 am – because he sits down and, like a professional, does the task. Daily practice establishes rhythms that at first may chafe us creatives, but ultimately serve to support us in the creation of our art. They become a “home” for our heart – a familiar safe place.

Mood stabilization, prayer and discipline – if you’d like more of these in your life, journaling may help you as much as it did me.

Keep the shiny side up.

Posted in Soul Care
Comments Off Posted by Allen