You’d think I’d have a LOT to say about journaling since at one point in my life I had 67 journals that spanned approximately 12 years of my life. That’s 5.58 books per year for a dozen years. The size of each book varied. Most were the regular black and white marble traditional notebooks (read: cheap) but there were a couple of thicker true journals. Then, a few 5-subject spirals thrown in for a bit of spice. Those 67 does not to include some random legal notepads and the stray mini notebook that I needed to catch the odd entry, or two when the ‘official’ book was not on hand.
But, as I sit here and think about the single greatest benefit of my journaling I am coming up with way more than one answer. The main one being peace of mind.
By journaling, I am able to clear out mental space by truly seeing what I am thinking. For me, writing things down brings clarity of purpose. I am able to get passed the emotional white noise and go beneath the fray to the true thoughts, feelings and motivations behind it all.
Prior to journaling, I did not know this. I used to do things and surprise myself (and others!) constantly. I had no idea why I did certain things. I was just moved to do it. Now, if I am troubled, I sleep on it and then journal and the meaning becomes clear. Now, I may need to journal to get the ‘topsoil’ off but then things move smoothly from there on.
Mind you, this system of how I ‘work’ has evolved over decades (Dear me, did I say decades?! Sheesh.).
To summarize, for me, journaling is a much better and cheaper form of therapy than the traditional paying through the nose analysis method. 🙂
I fully understand that therapy is awesome but for me this method has done the trick. And after the emotional garbage is out of me for me to see and read, I then can journal about things more important such as plot lines, character quirks, settings I’d like to use in future stories and great lines I may use at some point in time.
Journaling provides me the mental space and clarity to express myself more fully when I write.
What about you? How does journaling benefit/work for you in your writing, or your life? Please take a moment and comment below.
This post is part of the #JournalChat Live 5 year celebration hosted by Dawn Herring. You can find Dawn’s FaceBook page here.
The NoteBook Blogairy 
I used to journal faithfully. Like you I had journals dating back to childhood. I think in my oldest one I was about 8 years old. Unfortunately, I left them outside in a storage bin which cracked and they all got soaked with rain! I was so upset. I’d planned to keep them for life.
Now I don’t journal as much. I think it’s probably because I use all my free writing time to write professionally. But you bring up some good points and I may just have to start journaling on a regular basis again!
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