Canyon Ranch (Arizona)
Are you in a period of transition? Facing a time of grief or loss? Would you like to know yourself better? Interested in playing with creativity? In the mood to experiment?
If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, your new best friend may be as close as the nearest notebook. It may seem too simple to be true, but starting and maintaining a journal can be one of the best ways to bridge a transition, gain self-knowledge, become more creative and cope with grief, loss or confusion.
Your journal can be a tattered spiral notebook left over from school. It can be a zippered book in the back of your day planner or a stack of scrap paper stapled together at the corner. Maybe it's a collection of cocktail napkins tucked into a plastic zipper bag.
The form doesn't matter. What matters is that you keep a journal.
The story of your life People who aren't accustomed to journaling might doubt the power of taking time out of their frenzied schedules to stop, pick up a favorite pen, sit down and simply record their thoughts and impressions. What possible good could it do, they might ask, to jot randomly without a goal or a particular audience?
It turns out that journaling can be a potent tool for healing, coping and just making sense of your world, and it's not that different from talking to a therapist or trusted friend. Confiding is the mechanism that makes therapy work, say mental health experts.
And confiding may make you healthier physically, as well. Journaling has been shown to actually produce changes in body chemistry. Immunoglobulin A is enhanced when you write in your journal or confide in a friend. Immunoglobulins, also known as antibodies, are proteins found in the blood and tissue. Cells in the immune system produce them to help fight infection. So the simple act of confiding your concerns in your journal can help keep you well.
In his book "Writing to Heal", James Pennebaker tells of a group of journal writers who wrote for 20 minutes on four consecutive days a week. In a six-month follow-up study, he found that the writers, even those with rheumatoid arthritis, had 50 percent fewer doctor visits than before they started journaling.
A happy ending
Here are some techniques for effective journaling. One is to use a basic screenplay format. As you recall an event or experience, record only what you saw and heard: no editorializing. In this way, you can get a non-biased picture of what happened - and perhaps start to see it more clearly, unclouded by any tangled emotions.
Another tactic is to approach memories as works of creative non-fiction, ones that always have a happy ending. Write about troubling experiences up to the point of difficulty and then change the outcome. As you write, give yourself the magical ability to make things come out right, and, in so doing, retain your power.
Find your groove
To reap the benefits, do you have to journal every day, every week or at the same time regularly? Must you produce the same kind or the same amount of writing? No to all of the above. There are no rules, no perfect time of day, frequency, location or format. Journaling should occur as the spirit moves you. For those people who need structure, there are such things as directed journals, but experts suggest that such people seek training if they want to be satisfied with the outcome. In general, however, the way to journal is to just take out the paper and write.
How about audience? Who are you writing to or for? Again, it's up to you. Some people write, then throw the journal away or burn it. Others keep stacks of journals for years. Some go back and read what they've written, either immediately or years later. Others may keep their journals but never look at them again.
What about privacy and confidentiality? What if someone finds your journals and reads them? This can be a serious issue. You may want to make an agreement about the privacy of your journals with the people in your household. Better yet, think seriously about not keeping secrets. And if there is an important issue that keeps coming up in your journal, perhaps that's something you need to talk about.
Other people's journals may help inspire you. Jimmy Carter's An Outdoor Journal and Christina Baldwin's Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest are two excellent sources that offer a window into the content, style and power of journal writing.
Start writing
Whether it's bound with Italian leather or held together with kite string, your journal can ride along in your purse, pocket or briefcase and give you a safe place to unburden, reflect, create or express feelings wherever you are. Journaling can make you feel better. Write on!
http://www.canyonranch.com/
(800)742-9000 (413)637-4100
