Journaling - The Write Stuff For You?

@maxxr Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! Thank you for sharing. I wonder if the lockdown and pandemic played a part in the writer's block?

The other day I came across my "bag of prompts". Quotes, an image, even just a word jotted down. This looks like a good weekend for me to dig into it and pull something out. Sometimes I take a sentence that stumbled across my desk, and write about it, using it like a launching point.
Over the years I have accumulated books and such about journaling, and refer to them from time to time as a refresher.

Doodling or painting can get as expressive as words. I am always amazed at how 26 letters, repeated in readable form, plus grammar, can be so ever-changing. And life-changing.
Ginger

It is amazing yes, and it's wonderful to see how something you make then evokes certain feelings in others. Sometimes feelings that are not expected at all! I was often asked 'What does it mean?' and could not answer because well, it was just my mind, my heart, my hand doing things, flowing from one realm into the other. I just found doodles and text I did when someone was over who just didn't talk at all. I would ask questions and he would stare and say nothing or grab his phone, or say "I don't know/yes/no" even after an open question, but he mostly would stare or grab his phone.
At some point I decided to not give him time after which I would help him on the way, but instead not help him on the way at all. I asked something and then waited for the answer. The regular 1 or 2 minutes passed. They turned into 5 minutes, 7, 10, 12. I took something that had been sent to me and started writing on it, drawing. I found it again two days ago, it has, among other things, two circles in it. One is filled with questions, smiles, glances, interests, help, comfort, more questions. The other one is empty. Underneath I had written '𝘔𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬' 😹

I don't think it's worth sharing. LOL... Just a time pass thing.

Doodling or painting can get as expressive as words. I am always amazed at how 26 letters, repeated in readable form, plus grammar, can be so ever-changing. And life-changing.

Just loved these lines of yours. Simply beautiful explanation.

My other way to do things is bullet journaling and art journaling as well.

A lot of people say to journal for help with depression or anxiety.

I’ve tried it but what I write ends up just ramblings and doesn’t capture what I’m feeling.

How do you write down what you’re really thinking / feeling?

How have others or you personally done it?

Just looking for some insight.
Thanks.

Hi @witsend000, such a good question. While I don't think there is a right or wrong way to journal, I agree that there are tips and tricks to make your method right for you.

You'll notice that I moved your question about journalling for depression and anxiety to this super helpful and fun discussion called:
- Journaling - The Write Stuff For You? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/journaling-the-write-stuff-for-you/

I did this so you can connect with other journallers like @gingerw @hopeful33250 @rely1ngonhelp @harriethodgson1 @paulalina @suzbyrne @yvilletom.

What tips would you share to get started?

Hello @witsend000

What a good question! Actually, ramblings are just a fine way to journal. However, if you want some more specific guidelines here are some that I have used.

Think back to a particularly difficult event that brought about anxiety. Just write about it. What you were doing, who was there, how you felt. Then, if you had to do it over again, would you change the way you handled that event.

You can go back to childhood memories using this method. Take the same steps, remembering that when you were a child, you didn't have the mechanisms to deal with it differently. In thinking about painful childhood memories, you can acknowledge that the youngster had been hurt and also did not have the ability to deal with those feelings differently.

I'm sure that others in this group will add some of their favorite journaling steps,

Do these ideas sound like a way for you to get started?

@witsend000 I have journaled for years, decades even. And my dad was a lifelong journaler. He would start his pages by noting the date, time, where he was physically, and the weather. He always wrote longhand. Yes he started in high school, in the 1930s! I like the way he started his pages, and do that, also.

You know, many times our thoughts are jumbled and flit from subject to subject. There is nothing wrong with that! If you want to try stream-of-conscious writing, just put pen to paper and write whatever comes out. It doesn't have to make sense to you. You are laying a foundation. After some time, you may find your words and thoughts take a more organized form. There is no timeframe for that.

If you want to focus on a particular feeling, or event, do that. Turn it over and over in your mind, and write about it. Perhaps write a letter to that feeling, asking why you are there in my life, what you would like to accomplish with that feeling, how it makes you feel emotionally or physically.

There is no right or wrong way to journal about depression or anxiety. Some may write a poem or write something and draw pictures. Please be gentle on yourself while you explore this new-to-you expression of yourself. I hope you find it rewarding, as I have.
Ginger

There's a difference between keeping a diary and journal. A diary requires daily entries, whereas a journal requires regular entries, which is easier. You may write in a journal several tines a week, every week, or every other week--whatever suits you best. The important thing is to keep at it.

Journaling has many advantages. If you read your entries several weeks later, you may pick up on problems and solutions. You may identify things you need to work on. Keep in mind that a journal is written by a very important person--you.