Saturday, October 8, 2011

Journal to the Soul

              Writing is the process one follows to learn what is already known deep within:
                It sharpens the spirit, disciplines the mind and leads to solutions.
                In the spaces between words and solitude,
               Observe what happens when words and silence meet.
               Words matter. Pay attention. Write to learn what you know.
                            By Maryanne Radmacher

The first line of this quote is my favorite reason to journal. I have found tremendous healing through the process of journaling.  It is as I put pen to paper (or fingertips to keys) the words start to flow and out comes the depth of my soul.  Sometimes I go back and read my words and am surprised at what came out.  I didn’t know I knew what I knew. 

 When we write we can access a part of ourselves that lies deep within us. The physical act of writing connects the left brain (our logical and analytical part of our brain) to our right brain (our creative, feeling and intuitive parts of our brain).  Therefore, through the act of writing we can bypass mental blocks and access the whole brain to gain better understanding of ourselves and the world around us. 

Journaling is a great way to access your thoughts and feelings and really listen to ourselves. If you are struggling with really understanding or identifying how you feel about something, take pen to pencil. Start writing. Don’t worry about crossing things out, punctuation, or spelling.  Just write and write fast.  Don’t think, rather just write - doing a brain drain. Unload the words on the paper.  Do this for 20 minutes which allows you to move from the surface of a situation into the deeper perspective of it.  Or set it up so that you will write nonstop until you have filled four pages with your writing.

The act of journaling itself, slows us down, focuses us internally, and gives us a means of listening, paying attention and identifying what we are feeling. Solutions to problems can be accessed through the writing. Feelings we are unaware of can pop out at us. Patterns we are part of can show themselves.  Toxic situations and people can become more obvious. 

The main goal of journaling is that you will open up more and learn more about yourself.  As Maryanne Radmacher says, “Words matter. Pay attention. Write to learn what you know.”

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