Journaling - Communicating for the Self as a Way of Getting to Know Ourselves Better
Writing as Communication:
We communicate, via speech or writing or other mediums, as a way of exchanging information. Speaking and writing are ways of transmitting thoughts, feelings or ideas from inside us to exist outside us. When we write, we transfer information onto a page, when we speak we verbalise our thoughts, this information expresses something about us and may help us organize and make sense of things. When such self-expression exists outside us we have the potential to see or hear it from a different perspective.
What is Journaling?
Journaling is a practice in which you write down what’s on your mind. In some sense it is the written version of what you verbally say in therapy. Tracing your stream of consciousness. Instead of speaking what’s on your mind in the presence of another person, you write it down on your own. The page becomes a vestibule for the inner workings of your mind. There is no prescribed purpose or agenda to what you are writing, apart from to spill out of what is on your mind onto the page.
It can be a daily practice committing a small amount of time each day, i.e. two minutes a day. Or taking the pressure off and writing as and when it feels necessary. It can be helpful to keep writing equipment close by.
The idea is that you write as unselfconsciously as possible. This is for no one other than you. The practice offers the freedom to write without having to comply with any spelling, grammatical, linguistic or sense making rules. It can be whatever you want it to be - it might be disjointed words, random marks abruptly in sentences, fragmented words - the purpose is just to write. The page becomes a container for your feelings. Often what you impart to the page gives you some information about where you are and how you are feeling at that moment.
What Audio Journaling?
Audio journaling is a similar practice but instead of the page being the container for your thoughts, they are recorded. It is a way of tracking and storing the voice of your mind in audio and recordable format. Likewise, there are no rules and no agenda; you simply express yourself through sound in a way that feels most appropriate in that moment. You could play these thoughts back to you or you could never listen again. Speaking articulates your inner world and brings it into consciousness.
How is it Helpful?
Journaling has been seen to be an immensely helpful and therapeutic process. Getting things out on paper means they do not only exist in your head. You offload.
Sometimes we find when things are writing or spoken they lose their intensity. Notice how you feel before and after you’ve committed to the page or spoken into your recording device. You can empty your mind and can literally see your thoughts on the page in front of you or hear out loud the voice of your mind. In these practices you acknowledge your feelings and put words to your emotions.
This practice can help you get to know what’s in your mind, seeing your thoughts with more clarity and possibly gaining some insight. You might find you are very surprised by what is hiding in there.
As writing can create a space between you and your thought process allowing a little more objectivity and pause for reflection. We can begin to recognise common patterns and themes that might come out of your words on the page. As well as noticing how these change over a period of time.
Journaling can help to smooth out what can feel like a tangled knot of impenetrable thoughts and overwhelming feelings into smaller less overwhelming strands.
Knowing how you communicate with yourself and understanding how you make sense of yourself and the world around you is fundamental. Journaling can be a useful way of aiding this.
About the Author:
Francesca works as a psychotherapeutic counsellor in London and online. Her work provides a space for people to express themselves fully without judgement. Her works endeavours to help people deepen their understanding of themselves and help them find meaning.
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