Journaling As Self Care
I started journaling as a teenager. I have looked back on those pages and laughed at how badly I used to write and at the things I used to pay attention to. I can see as the pages progress my ability to articulate my thoughts come to fruition and a blending of emotion and narrative fact. It reminds me of the struggles I faced at the time. As I grew older, I journaled less, my topics became much broader, summaries of my activities and ideas essentially.
At some point I switched from journaling my feelings to writing my ideas and action items in fancy notebooks. I am able to take notes during meetings, capture thoughts I have when randomly inspired and yes write out my feelings still too. Getting my thoughts into a page privately has been a skill that helps me understand my own emotions, recognize patterns in my own behaviour and organize my actions and help others do the same. The first step is having a nice journal that you like, that you want to write in. The next step is to actually write in it regularly. Be firm with your goals but be gentle and flexible with yourself while executing them. That's why I always tell folks “write it down”.
Write It Down
This practice has also allowed me to be a better public communicator including speaking, media interviews and blog writing. I am able to take time to formulate my thoughts and decide which words are just for myself, what are the private conversations I need to have with others and what can be shared in the public realm. I try to blog regularly and share social media content regularly - but I can only do what I can do and accept that. I have a number of other system projects that are hopefully helping to create equity and justice for the families and community members I serve and so I continue to do what I can where I can. I hope you do too.
Journaling is my self care. It really helps me when I need to get my emotions and thoughts together. The same applies to my own schedule and time management. To this day, accompanying my fancy notebook is a written agenda that helps me manage my activities and a private journal to help me sort my emotions. When I don't know what to do, I write it down. I hope you can find ways to manage your emotions that improve your mental health. I hope you are able to balance the things you need to do and the self care you must also do too.
