Journaling
Journaling is an intimate and powerful tool. For many, the fear of messing up or discovering truths that are difficult to process hold us back from journaling, and that’s okay. If you’re feeling confused or unsure of where your feelings are coming, from or what you are feeling, journaling may be a good place to start.
Tips:
- Just write - don’t edit. It is impossible to effectively write and edit, and journaling should not be about writing a bestseller, but instead putting your thoughts on paper. Or, if writing isn’t accessible, try doing voice recordings or video journals!
- Journaling before bed may help alleviate stress by transferring your issues from isolation in your mind to a notebook that you can get back to.
- Journaling doesn’t have to have any rhyme or reason. Started with one thought and found yourself lost in another - that’s great!
- Journaling also doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing - do you prefer lists, bullet points, scribbles, doodles, poems, whatever flows - works.
- Sometimes writing about painful memories can be overwhelming. It may be helpful to set yourself up powerfully by identifying support systems or creating a self-care plan with an advocate or therapist to prepare for any activations.
Some prompts:
- How am I feeling right now?
- What does justice look like to me?
- My perfect day would look like …
- A love letter to my present self, my past self, my future self.
- A list of gratitude, what is making or has made me happy?
- A love letter to someone that helped you.
- Write about a place, real or imaginary that makes you feel safe, what does it look like, smell like, feel like, sound like?
- What brings you pleasure, how does it bring you pleasure and what would it be like to do or get that thing/experience?
- What does healing look like for you, how do you want to feel in 3 months, one year, five years?
