No, it’s not my diary
At the beginning of this past semester, I found it difficult to process the amount of emotions and thoughts that were flying through my mind. I tried talking to friends and family, but I never felt 100% at ease after the conversations. Oftentimes, I found myself dwelling on situations and living in the past. This sense of overwhelming anxiety never really subsided until the end of the semester. I attribute this to one change I’ve made in my life in particular.
One of my best friends had mentioned the idea of journaling in passing, but I took this with a grain of salt because the idea reminded me of my third grade diary. Then I found myself post break up, crying on the couch as my best friend and I reached our 8th Grey’s Anatomy episode of that day. Journaling felt stupid in this moment, but I opened to the first page anyways. I felt silly opening up this journal with the intention of professing all my raw, unfiltered emotions. I played some vibey music, got comfy on the couch, and wrote down my first sentence. This felt forced, which led to my realization that in order for journaling to be therapeutic, I couldn’t sugar coat my words. And then I wrote for two straight hours. Once my pen hit the paper, I wrote down anything and everything that was on my mind. By the end of my journal entry, I had sorted out my emotions and literally got every nitty gritty detail out of my system. Then, I made a rule that everything I had written about was old news now. I had already gotten it off my chest, sorted through whatever emotions I had to sort out, and no longer needed to continue speaking that negative energy into the world.
You see, situations at the end of the day are only what you make them. The outside world is the stimuli and we process this stimuli into our own perspective/reality. If you internalize situations in a negative manner, you will find it difficult to harbor anything besides a negative reality. Instead of dwelling on past events (or stimuli), I have began to write them down, contextualize my thoughts, and move on from a situation that makes me unhappy. I have also found it extremely beneficial to begin my day by journaling. I create a “To Do List,” a “3 Thanks” list, and an affirmations list every morning.
The “To Do List” keeps me on track and allows me to find peace in being productive. My “To Do Lists” aren’t always major tasks, but more so simple reminders to check off throughout the day like; “go to the gym” or “walk Remy.” My “3 Thanks” list is yet another idea from a friend, but I list three things every morning that I am grateful for. This forces me to zone back to reality and start the day off on a more positive note. The last entry is my affirmations. My affirmations vary, but I do think that writing down your goals every morning helps steer you into the mentality of attaining them. Overall, journaling is something powerful and it’s definitely a tool I keep in my mental health tool box. If you feel that it is hard to verbally sort through situations or you feel as if you need a safe space to let your thoughts run, I would highly recommend journaling. The next time you see that cute little journal at Target, buy it and just try writing in it, you might be surprised.
Until next time,
Annie
