A Few Notes About Journaling... 

Work that Joy Muscle...

It may seem to you that I'm encouraging you to only write about the positive things that happen in your life.  

Well, I am.  And here's why...

We spend most of our day talking about, worrying about, and thinking about the things that are going wrong in our lives.  The media assaults us all day long with negativity, with all the troubles of the world. 

In  my old journals I only wrote about bad things.  I mean seriously, they should have been called "my little books of grievances".

I look back now and think, "no wonder I was so unhappy!"  I was just swimming in my misery and pain.  I thought I was working through my troubles, but wallowing in them only made things worse.

 

I'm not going to send out the positive thinking police or anything.  If you feel inspired to write down something bad that happened, I won't stop you.  Sometimes we need to write it down to work through it.  Nor am I suggesting that you ignore or repress negative emotions.  I'm merely suggesting that you use these journals to work that joy muscle as much as you can.  Those other muscles get enough of a workout every day without even trying.

 

According to Yes! Magazine's report:

10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy

 #1: Savor Everyday Moments

Pause now and then to smell a rose or watch children at play. Study participants who took time to “savor” ordinary events that they normally hurried through, or to think back on pleasant moments from their day, “showed significant increases in happiness and reductions in depression,” says psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky.

  http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/sustainable-happiness/10-things-science-says-will-make-you

 

 

Let's get a few things straight...

There are a couple of questions or comments that I often hear about journaling that I'd like to address here:

Where will I find the time?

The kind of journaling I'm encouraging (especially for those who are new to journaling) is short little bits of writing - things that pop into your head.  It's no different than writing down a to-do list.  You're at the grocery store waiting in line and suddenly you feel a strange desire to learn how to play the Native American Flute (I know a great teacher, by the way!). Take out your Inspiratus Journal and write it down.  It's that fast!

 

I don't have anything inspiring to write about.

One of the most common blocks people have when writing in a journal is the pressure to write life-altering, inspirational, provocative prose.  STOP!  The idea is to write down any inspiring thought (even if it doesn't sound inspired to you at the time) or anything that makes you happy (even if it seems silly).  Try not to judge your inspirations too much.  If you feel compelled to write it in your journal, there is a reason.  Even if you don't know what it is.  The idea is to practice listening to our true selves without judging or editing first.

 

 Write on…

ncecco@gmail.com

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