Journaling: A Therapeutic Mechanism

It's going to be almost a year since I had to go back to the Bay Area due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a lot of activities still being inaccessible, my mental health was a priority to myself, along with a lot of people during this time. As the days got slow for me, the pages in my journals became quickly filled. From daily routines, to how I felt, or my goals in life I wanted to accomplish. Journaling has been something that I love to do since my senior year of high school. The only regret that I have about it is, I wish I could've started sooner. Let's just say, there were a lot of weight on my shoulders then that I wish I could've jotted down on a piece of paper. Whether if your life is a mess or fairly content, it was always nice to write it down to get it off your mind a little.

Some people when they say they don't like journaling, it's usually either commitment or looking back it to cringe later. To be honest, if I don't cringe at the things, I may have done years ago or even a couple months, is there even personal growth in myself? In order to grow, you have to make some sort of mistake in yourself whether it makes your cringe now or you know it's wrong. The way I treat my journals are like a resume. I'm the person that looks over it years later, and sees what I've done, and what I need to improve on. As a person who struggles with this a lot, I can assure you it's difficult to admit your flaws in yourself. You try so hard to avoid the flaws along the way, but you know there's no way to not run into it. The best thing that I could do is try to figure them out first, before someone else does. Now, some of us may ourselves, what should I write in my journal? To be quite honest, that was something that I asked myself too when I got my very first journal book. To give you some ideas on what to write about, I create a few questionaire that should help you start your journal entries. (*Refer to photo above) Although these are some of the questions that I've thought of, the ideas of what to write are endless. You can write about, recipes, music your listening too, a pet that you want, a lesson that you learned from school, to a bed that you made today, etc.... This is your journal. What you write in your journal will only be known by you. Treat it as your best friend, knowing there will be nothing said back or used against you.

With that being said, I highly encourage you to keep on writing. To be honest, it's the most hilarious feeling to look back on it later and laugh about it. You can either choose to write about you life digitally or in a physical journal book. It's up to you. What you do tomorrow matters more than what you've done in the past.