On Journaling

Confession time: I’m a journaling nerd.  I’ve journaled (nearly) every day for the last 10+ years, only missing a handful of days (yes, I am a creature of habit).  What started as a fun record of what happened during the day turned into a daily habit that has become a part of who I am.  As someone who processes life by words (especially writing), it’s become invaluable as I have matured and life has thrown some curve balls, both good and bad.  Writing down my thoughts and feelings each day helps me organize them in a (relatively) sane manner, and gets my emotions under control.

When I’m feeling stressed/overwhelmed about life, my preferred cure is to grab my pen, Bible, journal and head to a coffee shop.  There, sipping my non-coffee beverage and sitting in an overstuff chair, life seems to have some order and the chaos reigned in as my thoughts spill onto the pages in front of me.

My old journals currently reside in a box under my bed, and reading through them is always amusing, embarrassing and encouraging.  Amusing in the sense of “did I really like that boy?” or “I don’t remember that happening!”  Embarrassing because I was really, really immature (really), and encouraging because I can tell I have matured, and hope that I will continue to do so (and that my journaling will reflect that).