What is Journaling and Why Invest the Time to Journal?
The past couple of days I have had a number of conversations about journaling. Subsequently, I wanted to share with you what is journaling and answer the question about why invest time to journal?
What is Journaling?
Basically journaling is writing down your thoughts and feelings about your life experiences in a journal or diary It is a skill of self-awareness. To journal is to keep –
- “A personal record of occurrences, experiences, and reflections kept on a regular basis; a diary.” ~ The Free Dictionary
- “a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use” ~ Merriam-Webster, and
- “to write self-examining or reflective journal entries” ~ Dictionary.com
Why Invest the Time to Journal?
Journaling is a mental and emotional exercise that helps people develop self-awareness by clarifying their thoughts and feelings. For me that was enough of a reason, however there are also many other proven reasons to journal. Following are a couple of the scientifically-proven benefits of journaling –
- Decreasing stress,
- Feeling more in control of life,
- Improve the quality of your sleep,
- Improved sporting performance,
- Increased working memory,
- Decrease in symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis,
- Strengthening of immune system response, and
- Counteracting many of the negative effects of stress.
Do any of the above benefits of journaling inspire you to invest the time to journal?
9 Inspiring Quotes on Journaling
Following are 9 inspiring quotes on journaling that maybe inspire you to start the habit –
- “Journaling is like whispering to one’s self and listening at the same time.” ~ Mina Murray
- “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” ~ Anne Frank
- “Keeping a journal of what’s going on in your life is a good way to help you distill what’s important and what’s not.” ~ Martina Navratilova
- “I don’t journal to ‘be productive.’ I don’t do it to find great ideas or to put down prose I can later publish. The pages aren’t intended for anyone but me. It’s the most cost-effective therapy I’ve ever found.” ~ Tim Ferriss
- “Writing in a journal reminds you of your goals and of your learning in life. It offers a place where you can hold a deliberate, thoughtful conversation with yourself.” ~ Robin Sharma
- “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” ~ Joan Didion
- “Writing in a journal each day allows you to direct your focus to what you accomplished, what you’re grateful for and what you’re committed to doing better tomorrow. Thus, you more deeply enjoy your journey each day.” ~ Hal Elrod
- “Journaling is paying attention to the inside for the purpose of living well from the inside out.” ~ Lee Wise
- “Writing is medicine. It is an appropriate antidote to injury. It is an appropriate companion for any difficult change.” ~ Julia Cameron
Over to You…
I hope this post has helped you to understand what is journaling and why invest time to journal! Is there any other research you would add about why you journal? If so, feel free to share them below 🙂
Want to start journaling? Click here to discover more about the journals I have written.
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