The Benefits Of Journalling (And What To Do With Old Journals)
Journalling offers many benefits, from reducing stress and improving your health to providing a creative writing hobby that allows you to express your inner thoughts. In this blog post, I’ll explore the benefits of journalling. Plus what to do with old journals if you’ve built up a collection and need help figuring out what to do with them.
A way to express yourself
I wrote my first journal when I was 15, unaware I was what you call, ‘journalling’. I found an unused academic diary and decided to keep a diary. So began a record of my year. Writing in it for almost a year, my diary entries detail the ins and outs of school, boys, good friends, and home life. I throw away nearly all of my journals (more on that later), but I still have this first one.
A journal for future generations
A deeper glimpse into one of my old entries from my first-ever journal reveals an obsession with taming my frizzy hair, an infatuation with a boy called Paul who came to my church youth club, and the ups and downs of the relationship with my mum.
My 15-year-old younger self had no mobile phone and no social media. It paints a very simplistic life. Nothing like the teen years of today.
I want to think my first journal is a small time capsule for my own children to read and to keep in years to come for future generations. It’s a dream.
They haven’t read it and are not interested (maybe they will never be). I read a few journal entries out loud a few years ago, and they were both unimpressed -‘What did you do without a mobile phone mum?’
So it sits quietly on a bookshelf on my upstairs landing, nestled between pictures and blank notebooks. I can hope.
A diary of private thoughts and a personal journey
The significance of a journey expressed in a journal is most famously noted in ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’. Also known as ‘The Diary Of A Young Girl’. The diary has been called the most published book outside of The Bible.
Detailing the life of a girl in hiding with her family from the Nazis, Anne Frank’s journey and life has had a far-reaching impact on the world since its discovery and publication in 1947.
For Anne, it allowed her an outlet to express her true self in the confines of hiding and captivity. It reveals her private thoughts from moment to moment in the house.
This is the first tangible benefit of a daily journal. It allows you to express yourself and your emotions and private thoughts.
The healing power of writing words
Written words have the power to heal. James W Penne Baker, the author of ‘The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions,’ is considered an expert in writing therapy. He writes about his clinical research, the outcomes showing that when we write about our emotions it heals us mentally and physically.
The Journalling Journey
Over time, it reveals the journey that you have been on, and that can be a powerful thing to look back and reflect on. Noting the progress, the periods of challenge and of the changes.
Nowadays, we show the journey in pictures on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Yet they can’t replace the intimate relationship you create between you, the pen, the words and your journal.
It’s private
It’s a private thing in a world where everything seems to be made public; it’s the intimate space between you and your journal.
It reveals your mindest and learning
I was recently watching Joyce Meyer speak on YouTube, and she read out a few journal entries from one of her very early journals to drive her point home. The stark difference between her state of mind then and now was clear. She talked about her mindset from the beginning of her ministry to the current day and the changes she has been through.
The journal has allowed her to reflect and think deeply about her own mindset and learning.
It can also have the same benefit for you over time.
Journalling for creative writing and ideas
Journalling allows you to write and think creatively. Creative writing starts with an idea and journalling allows you to express those ideas freely without fear or judgement.
Stream of consciousness journalling
One of the types of journalling is called the ‘stream of consciousness.’ This method was made famous in Julia Cameron’s ‘The Artist Way’ book. It involves writing down whatever comes into your head. No editing, no structure, just an emptying out of your mind.
Morning pages Journalling
According to Julia, once your mind is emptied, you can express creative ideas and write creatively. She calls this method ‘morning pages’ and advises it’s best to do this first thing in the morning. Write on three sides of paper, every morning.
Frida Kahlo, the acclaimed Mexican artist, kept a diary for the last ten years of her life. A quote from her diary (Frida Kahlo, The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait) reads;
‘No moon, sun, diamond, hands-fingertip, dot, ray, gauze, sea. Pine green, pink glass, eye, mine, eraser, mud, mother, I am coming.’
The Diary Of Frida Kahlo: An intimate Self- Portrait
Journal writing can be something other than logical, perfectly formed, or organised. It can be free-flowing, it can be whatever you want it to be. It can be a string of words. Because of this, journalling frees the mind, allowing you to come up with original thoughts.
Creative ideas
Are you stuck in life and need help figuring out what you want or what the next step is? Do you struggle to express your creativity?
The morning pages journalling method can help you.
Not only with the words that you put down on paper but also with the creative ideas that will come to you while writing.
Participants who followed the ‘morning pages’ method from her book and course have gone on to write books, write screenplays, start playing a new instrument, and start new careers.
Journalling health benefits- overcoming trauma and dealing with stress
Journalling has proven health benefits. Hospitals have used journalling to help patients overcome trauma. In the example of the hospital, patients wrote about their traumatic experiences or events.
Studies showed they felt less anxious and stressed after writing.
Writing out your thoughts and experiences releases them from your mind. On paper, you can look at the experience or your emotions differently and take a different perspective.
Bible Journalling-Increasing engagement of the Bible
You can buy journalling Bibles that allow you to write notes and journals in the Bible. They usually have a blank page next to the bible page where you can make notes, draw, and highlight.
This helps you to stay engaged with the words and create a unique personal Bible.
Bullet Journalling
Bullet journals are personal ‘organiser’ journals that help you organise your thoughts and actions for the hour/ day/ week/ month/or year. They help with time organisation and also help you organise goals and meet personal or business objectives.
As the name says, the journal’s style is presented in a series of bullet points.
What to do with old journals?
You’ll accumulate years of journals when you write regularly over the years. The question then becomes, ‘What do you do with them.’ Here are a few tips to help you decide.
First, ask yourself this question; Do you want to keep or get rid of them?
It sounds simple, but you need to answer this fundamental question first.
If you’re going to keep them, ask yourself; Do you need to keep ALL of them?
Focus on a specific period.
Can you get rid of some and keep a few. Consider pulling out specific sections of a diary entry rather than keeping the whole journal. A particular event or month or a unique journal entry. Focus on a specific period.
Storage
Once you’ve decided, think about storage. If your journals and old notebooks are exceptionally sentimental, consider buying a special storage box or a storage unit if you have a lot. Make sure it’s a dry place.
If your journals are very personal, buy lockable boxes. Choose a safe place that will not be tampered with.
Getting Rid of them
It’s not the physical part of getting rid of them that’s difficult; instead, it’s the sentimental act of letting them go that’s hard. They feel like part of you, so it can be emotionally challenging. Especially if you have decades of journals.
Journals are like any loved book or other physical item in our home.
Joy or no Joy
Try the joy or no joy technique by Marie Condo to help you let go. They are sentimental items, and wanting to cling to them is natural.
Famous for her de-cluttering book and TV series, it goes something like this.
- Hold the item (the journal), look through it,
- Ask yourself whether it gives you ‘joy or no joy.’ If it’s ‘joy’, you keep it.
‘No Joy’ means Bye-bye.
If it’s ‘no joy,’ you thank it for everything (all the previous joy) it has given you and then give yourself permission to let it go. Ok, so now I have probably lost you, but before you scoff, try it.
Frustrated at my bulging hubby’s wardrobe, I deployed this technique, and it worked a treat. I pulled out every item and asked him to say ‘joy or no joy.’ At first, he was humouring me, then he found it hilarious, and then he had to think about specific items and make the decision. Not so easy!
I use this technique whenever I want to de-clutter sentimental items, and it has helped.
Once you have a stack of journals to get rid of, pop them in the recycling bin.
Then, treat yourself to a new journal to ease the pain of letting the old journals go.
Final thoughts- A brilliant way to express yourself
The benefits of journalling include;
- Enabling creativity and ideas (morning notes).
- It helps alleviate stress (stream of conscious journalling),
- It heals the mind (writing therapy),
- Encourages organisation (bullet journalling)
- Provides a personal and lasting record of a time in your life (through daily journalling).
You don’t need to journal every day, but if you have never journalled before, it’s a great way to start to exploring journalling.
Whether you buy a fancy notebook, a posh journal, or write in a simple notebook, it doesn’t matter. Just get started and feel the difference.
Let me know your experience of journalling in the comments below.
You can read more about finding your passion and creativity here
Good luck!
