Finding Yourself Through Journaling

Are you lost? It can happen to anyone. Keep in mind that even a jetliner heading cross country is off course about 90% of the time. If the pilots didn't make adjustments the aircraft would never get to its destination. Journaling can help you make those little life adjustments.

You may find yourself searching for answers to the burning questions; "Who am I?" "Where am I going?" "Am I happy?" or "Why am I here?" Journals allow a person to explore these questions and many others in a creative, safe environment. You can find out who you are and what will make you happy at the deepest levels of you psyche. In short journaling can help you find yourself.

When you think of Journals your mind may drift to childhood diaries with tiny locks and matching keys where your secret thoughts wait perched to be stolen and read aloud. A journal isn't necessarily the same thing although they can be kept under lock and key if that is what you wish. The entries in a journal can be so esoteric, taking the form of lists, stories, dialogue, and drawings, that they might not even make any sense if an outsider did stumble on it and read it. It may even be something you want to share although that isn't the purpose. A journal can be a best friend of sorts as it will allow you to express yourself without interruption and judgment so you can hear yourself and gain your own voice.

The journal can be a place where you put into writing your impressions of life and your insights into your own nature. It can be a place where you keep your memories, explore your creativity and validate your own personal or creative growth. It can really feed your creativity and awaken your soul.

Journaling is easy because there are no rules. You don't have to have any artistic ability or flare with the written word to benefit from journaling. Feeling good can emerge from being creative with your journal.

The first step to journaling is choosing a journal. Allow the experience of picking your journal to be important, exciting and fun for you. How does the journal make you feel? Is the color of the cover, the texture of the paper right for you? Does it make you feel excited to get home and write in it? Is it the right size for your life style? Is it portable enough to travel with you? Does that even matter to you? Will it accept ink or drawing or glue and watercolor? Your journal doesn't have to be written. It can be drawn expressions or made using mixed media to help you express your inner feelings or explore what matters to you. What kind of journal you choose depends largely on what you want to do with it. You can use bound blank books you can find at any book or art store or you can use plain legal tablets or art paper.

Once you have chosen your journal the next step is to use it. Dig in. You don't have to worry about the finished product meeting the expectations of some outside influence. This is yours. You can be relaxed and casual in your expression. It can be a powerful way to relax and unwind as you let your words or images pour onto the page without thought to any self censorship. This can be a liberating experience. If you allow yourself to journal without the idea of an audience you will find it to be cathartic.

Are you stuck? Try starting with a gratitude page. The inter most binding of a journal can start with a list or photo journal page or collage of the things you are grateful for. This will set up a positive encouraging environment for your self-expression. The personal photos of loved ones or events or desired things clipped from magazines will also help you become attached to your journal and make the time with your journal more cherished.

You can use paper, pencil, photos, and bits of nature, paint, articles, and your own writing to make your journal yours. You can collect images, quotes and lines of dialog that prompt you to express your own feelings. When all these elements merge they can convey emotion and help define your direction, purpose and feelings. You can use prompts found in books designed to help you explore different facets of your life You can use your journal to explore your creativity in conjunction with a self-help or self mastery book or event or use it to vent on a topic of the day or all of the aforementioned or none of it. This is your journal and it is a place you can both escape and find your inner self.

There are unexpected benefits to journaling. You may find patterns in the ways you think, your behavior and unresolved issues keep resurfacing in a cyclic fashion. By exposing these patterns you are better equipped to deal with them. You may also find that you become more alive, more present in the now and alert in your daily life because you know that you are going to include them in your journal so you pay more attention to the common events of your life. You may find you finish more projects, are more creative in other areas of your life and that you are more willing to try new things because of your journaling experience.

As you can see, Journaling can be far more than a way to cope with situations in your life; it can be an excellent road map toward finding yourself, your bliss and helping you navigate and create the life you really want.