‘Journaling is like whispering to one’s self and listening at the same time…’ – Mina Murry (Dracula)
Hi all!
I have wanted to write this post for such a long time because quite frankly, I love to journal! I love to journal so much that not only do I do it daily but I have multiple journals for different purposes! There are so many benefits to keeping a record of your thoughts/ideas/dreams/wishes/lists/daily-happenings/memories/lessons and more. Allow me to share some of them with you now:
Journaling…
- Reduces stress
- Increases focus
- Offers insight into deeper learning and self-development
- Allows you to reflect and grow from past entries
- Strengthens your self-love
- Is expressive, creative and enlightening
- Eases decision making
- Assists with finding perspective
- Is motivating
- Reveals different aspects of your identity
- Dignifies all events
- Awakens your intuition
- Helps find meaning in life
- Can solve mysteries, problems and issues
- Highlights or clarifies current thought processes
- Captures your life journey
- Explores your spirituality
- Can be fun, playful and humorous (especially on reflection)
- Releases emotions and internal struggles
- Is empowering and liberating
- Has the ability to heal
These are just some of the many advantages to keeping a log/diary/journal/notepad or workbook. Here are a few different types you can keep:
- A Gratitude Diary
- A Travel Journal
- A Bullet Journal (I would recommend watching a YouTube video on how to keep one!)
- A Daily Notebook
- A Dream Journal
- An Ideas/Thoughts Notebook
- A Planner
- A Reading Journal (write down books you want to read or have already read)
- A Scrapbook (with photos!)
- A Drawing or Art Notepad/Portfolio
- A Food & Exercise Diary
- A Quote/Affirmation Journal
- A Recipe Notebook
- A Mindfulness/Meditation Journal
- Sentence A Day Journals (look them up!)
Remember, there are no rules! You can keep any kind of journal you want and write down anything you wish. I will share with you now my treasure trove of journals:
In the centre is my big self-love journal. Everything written in here is dedicated to my development and personal growth. I bought this book years ago when I began my spiritual journey of connection and I continue to add to it. I recently purchased Radical Self Love by Gala Darling on the left which has activities requiring a pen and paper and on the right, I have The Gifts of Imperfection by Brenè Brown. This book doesn’t have exercises but any quotes worth noting down will go in the blue journal.
I already showed this journal in my previous post July 8th – What’s In My Handbag? but basically, I write all of my thoughts & ideas down in it every single day and keep a current wedding checklist at the front so I know what needs attending to before our big day. I bought this gorgeous notebook at the Chimei Museum in Taiwan. I love the cover with the beautiful, bohemian lady!
I have also already talked about this handbook in my previous post June Favourites 2016! The ‘Start Where You Are Journal’ by Meera Lee Patel is filled with inspiring quotes, artwork and prompts that fuel self-exploration (see picture above). I do a page a day and write down my deepest, most honest answers. I believe everybody should own a copy of this special, timeless journal.
The blue journal on the right was given to me by my best friend on my birthday. She told me I should write about married life after the wedding so I’m saving it till then. The journal on the left is my favourite, most precious one of all. I love the beautiful, shiny cover of Van Gogh’s iconic painting Sunflowers. This journal is reserved entirely for our future children. In it, we have written poetry, life-lessons, quotes, stories and will continue to fill more up as we go along. We’ve talked about our engagement, how excited we are about our wedding, baby names we have selected and what kind of parents we hope to be. When I’m pregnant, I can track how I’m feeling and when our babies are born, we can describe all of their mannerisms and cute/funny/silly moments. When our children are old enough to understand, we will hand them these lovingly filled diaries for them to keep forever…
I don’t have a Gratitude Journal but I do use a Gratitude App on my Iphone. This one asks the following questions above everyday and allows the user to add images. I count it as one of my notebooks because I still use it daily, record my thoughts/feelings and let it motivate me to achieve small tasks. You can find many Gratitude Apps on the App Store that are free and easy to use. This one is just called ‘Journal’ and its icon is a pencil drawing a line.
Journals can be decorated, filled with photos, art, stickers and more! I recently ordered these adorable affirmation/quote stickers from an Etsy Store in Sydney, NSW and have been using them in our future babies journal:
I like using different coloured pens, pencils and highlighters. Sometimes I draw; albeit quite badly and sometimes I write one meaningful sentence. Speaking of, I have added to my Christmas wishlist, this ‘One-Sentence Journal’ from Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project which I recommend you read immediately! For 5 years, you record one sentence daily that made you happy and can reflect on past entries as you move forward. I love this idea!
As you can see, I love to journal. It makes me happy and excited to write each day. Creativity is an essential part of life! I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Do you love to journal? Which types do you keep and swear by? How has journaling improved your life?
Peace & Love xoxo
Disclaimer: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliate which helps fund my blog
Great post!:) I also journal to. As you mention there a different type of journal that you can do, but for me it all pack into one journal book. I write down my thoughts, draw, watercolor, write down quotes that I like. I need to start adding a few photo in there to. I done a few blog posting about my journaling experience on my other blog. Feel free to visit: http://stayingthecourseblog.wordpress.com
Thank you! I like the idea of keeping everything in one big journal! I really liked your watercolours, great work!
Love how your journals are so colourful 😀 It is great that you can split out your thoughts and feelings into different books. When we can see our feelings written out plain and simple, we can work towards becoming a better person and realise what we can and cannot improve on.
I tried journaling last year. While I feel that it helped me write better, in the end I found it time consuming so I stopped. There are days when I just want to relax and not sit down and collect my thoughts. Maybe one day I will pick it up again, maybe not do it every day 🙂
Thank you so much Mabel!! I like how different journals can serve different purposes 🙂 colours make it fun! If you find the process stressful then I definitely recommend only doing it when you feel like it. That’s the great thing about journaling, you can make your own rules 🙂 x
I’ve used journaling throughout my life and it has helped me a lot, focusing on my goals, being more aware of my daily progress on all fields of life, it’s also a good way to express ourselves and to stay in touch with our inner selves. I currently have a travel journal where I write all my stories, what my mind goes trough during these adventures and I also use it to take note of ideas, bucketlist, my spendings, quotes, thoughts on many different topics…
I really like your blog and can’t wait to read more! I’m very interested in many topics that you write about like yoga, spirituality, vegan, minimalism, traveling. Good job! 😉
I have started my blog recently to improve my writing skills, meet new people that share the same interests and hopefully inspire and help my readers 🙂
https://lucidlucas.wordpress.com/
Hi Lucas thank you so much for your comment! A travel journal is a wonderful idea and from checking out your blog, it sounds like you have a lot of stories to note down! I love to travel as well so your blog really interests me. Please write more about WWOOFING! I’m intrigued 🙂 have a lovely day!
This is amazing. I love to journal but off late I had been having such a trouble with a single diary. Different types of journal reallyy needed for different ideas throughout the day.
Thank you!! Journaling is so relaxing and it can be really fun depending on how creative you wish to be 🙂 I think you definitely need to be in the mood for it so don’t force it. It will come x
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