HAVE you ever felt so overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions that your head and heart felt like exploding?
Have you ever felt so lost that you go through your days doing what you have to do and finding no meaning in them?
Have you screamed and railed so violently inside yourself knowing the words you’re lashing out cannot be revealed or that they will never matter to the people you want to give them to?
Write them down. Draw them out. Color them as badly as you want to. Let it flow with no pressure of letting it go, simply because you just cannot do so yet no matter how you will it.
While where you will be is still uncertain, describe where you are now not for anything else but to stay true to what you’re going through.
Write to validate your existence and your right to matter. Write not for anyone else’s journey but yours.
Someday you may read them again and gain better insight of all that’s happening. Or maybe not. Maybe it won’t matter to that someday but it surely matters to your today.
Let the words become the receptacle of all the flooding noise inside you so you can take some rest and think clearly again. As the words gain a form of their own, you can start making sense looking from outside in instead of being caught up in the chaos.
By defining them as sharply as you can, you learn the valuable lesson of adulthood which is learning to differentiate between what is hard core, undeniable reality and what are those that are only produced by a stressed-out, overly-reaching, chemically induced, or manipulative thoughts and feelings.
A simple pen and a well-loved notebook can be a shield and a sword worthy of conquering kingdoms of dreams and slaying dragons meant to burn you.
Typing your thoughts into a laptop, phone, or tablet may very well be effective for simple recording of your day, but there is an unexplainable but great satisfaction in writing down your frustrations with such force that your words can be read from the marks left on the next page of an actual journal notebook. There is happiness so apparent in the story you share as you draw a big heart or your very own version of a smiley face at the ending.
The boredom in the doodle, the rage in the dark colors of your drawings, the cut-outs from silly moments, the dried flower bookmark, and the mixed emotions you feel in turning the page of your journal (as if you’re also turning the actual pages of your life), are ones that cannot be captured by a computer with all its convenience and security.
Journals are not for the weak or faint-hearted as others may think. In fact, they are for the ones brave enough to delve into their own thoughts and have the courage to sort them out, make sense of them, and use them for the greater good. Journals have been the tools of historical giants since the 10th century.
Presidents, scientists, music legends, and the movers and shakers of the business world have used journals in knowing and mastering themselves, creating a clear path towards a noble goal, and resolving problems and disagreements more effectively.
Recently, with the rising awareness for holistic wellness, journal writing has taken a top spot in building healthy self-esteem, alleviating stress and healing traumas. It has been dubbed as the cheapest therapy in helping people cope with varied life situations.
Journals are journeys documented so vividly. No one else knows or understands your journey as much as you do. When you feel insignificant and invisible, discover all you really are in your journal and turn a number of pages into a record of powers you unleash each day to help the world become a better place.
And like a real super hero, nobody else really needs to know but you and your little journal sidekick.