As I looked through my list of future habits trying to pick just the right one for this month, I noticed that most of them are health oriented. I think that's pretty normal. When someone says, "bad habit" most people probably think of smoking, eating only red licorice for breakfast, or biting your toenails. But I thought that while my physical health is important, I should also focus on my emotional, spiritual, and creative health as well. So I decided that this month, I would journal for at least one page every day.
Why journal? Here are a few reasons:
"Words are a form of action, capable of influencing change."- Ingrid Bengis
Journaling makes you a better writer. I am terribly out of practice.
“I don't know what I think until I write it down.”― Joan Didion
A lot of famous and successful people kept journals. Think Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain (look at some of his neat journal entries here), George Lucas, Benjamin Frankln, Larry David, Leonardo Da Vinci, Virgina Woolf, David Sedaris, C. S Lewis, Michael Jackson, Tony Robbins, and Oscar Wilde. Hmmmm, not many women in the list....
University of Texas at Austin psychologist and researcher James Pennebaker contends that regular journaling strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes. Other research indicates that journaling decreases the symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
“There is no perfect time to write – there is only now.”- Barbara Kingsolver
It can help heal emotional experiences. No really, it can.
“I have found that your Inner Wisdom whispers and your Inner Critic yells, so you have to get quiet in order to hear your inner wisdom. Journaling is one way to get quiet,” - Sandy Grason
"[Writing a journal] is the primary tool for creative recovery." -Julia Cameron
Ok. So there are some reasons fer ya!
I'm going to write in the mornings. At least one page. At the end of this month, I will reward myself with a pocket notebook (so that I can write random thoughts on the go), and I will create and bind my own daily organizer based on this design I found on Pinterest,
AND I will break out and use my leather journal that I bought 10 years ago in Italy that has been collecting dust in my book shelf because it is 'too special' to use. That is a lot of rewards, but as I said, I have been having a hard time doing this, it is that important, and I really want to succeed in this!
Love it!! I have never been a "journaler"
ReplyDeleteper se, but I do write a lot of "things" down such as grocery lists, things to buy and do, reminders, etc., so maybe that counts for something. So have fun with it this month, which is half over now :)
Love, prayers, and hugs from G-Ma
That's awesome! I journal because it's cathartic, but I didn't know about all the research you cited. Thanks for sharing that. I want to see your Pinterest project when you're done, you're so good at being crafty! (Also, I have been looking for a leather journal but just haven't found one I like, maybe I need to go find one in Italy...)
ReplyDelete