Journaling through the Journey of Life

The best way I know how to navigate this journey called life, with its ups and downs, is to journal. Since I was old enough to hold a pencil I have escaped to the page. Writing is my spiritual companion. In my valley experiences and during my mountaintop highs, writing is there to sort things out.

For example, through writing I am able to move pass anger to uncover the authentic truth. I may start off my journaling by complaining about who has done me wrong but my Inner Wisdom will not let me stay in anger very long. Soon, I uncover how I put myself in the position to be victimized.

When I am on top of the mountain, journaling helps me appreciate the beauty of the landscape even more. Through writing, I notice the brilliance of the colors on the mountains. Capturing the words on the page, I am able to hear harmony in the songs of birds. I have even found parts of me on the page that I did not know existed and some parts I wish no longer existed. Yet still, I find other parts I thought were long lost.

In her book The Right to Write, Julian Cameron says, “We should write because humans are spiritual beings and writing is a powerful form of prayer and mediation, connecting us both to our own insights and to a higher and deeper level of inner guidance as well.”

If you want to use journaling as a tool to navigate through your journey of life, there are easy ways to get started. A blank page intimidates some people. If you find you come to the page and have nothing to say, then take one of your affirmations and write it over and over for the 15 minutes. You are likely to find that, as you are writing the affirmations other thoughts come to you. Get those thoughts down no matter how disconnected, obscure or nonsensical they may be. Get it down! It might be the grocery list. It does not matter. GET IT DOWN. Remember this writing will not be graded ;-).

Journaling does not have to be a daily account of what is happening in your life - but it can be. You may find that detailing what happened yesterday or what your plans are for today is a good place to start your brain dump.

If writing an affirmation repeatedly or writing a daily account does not get your thoughts flowing, use one of these starters. (You may want to write these on the inside cover of your journal for a quick reference should you need them.)

• If the desires of my heart were evident to the world people would know that I am_______________________________.

• What frightens me most is ___________________________.

• If no one were to ever find out I would __________________.

Whichever way you start does not matter. What matters is that you go to the page. Writing is the best brand of therapy for me. It holds my confidence. It is unrelenting when it has to be and gentle when it needs to be.