The Benefits Of Journaling Your Journey! (With 14 Journal Ideas To Start)

I started journaling when I was in middle school but starting She 3.0 made me rediscover my passion for writing all over again. I mean I always knew it came naturally to me since I was younger. I thrived in anything writing based in school. I was that student that preferred writing an essay than taking a multiple choice test. While most of the the students struggled writing a essay or paper, I struggled with writing too much. To me, it allowed me more freedom to express myself and prove my point of view while multiple choice was cut and dry with no room to talk things. I’m a talk things out kind of girl so I remember spending way too much time playing eenie meenie miney mo during tests as a last resort.

Outside of school, I always had a diary, journal or planner. I loved having even more freedom than I did in school to say whatever I wanted without the fear of being exposed or judged. I journaled to let out all my highs and lows. It was like therapy to me and I remember how light and happier I would feel after I finished a journal entry. Though I was shy when I was younger, I didn’t hold back when it came to writing. I would write everything that was going on from notes, to-do lists for the day, my dreams, confessions, big accomplishments and goals. I guess I was always an expressive but organized kind of girl.

Then the inevitable happened. My mom found my planner and saw that I had my anniversary with my boyfriend on it. It was a BIG thing for me because he was my first ever boyfriend so of course I wrote it down. To make matters worse, she told my entire family and it became this huge thing to everyone else! She even sent me to stay with my aunt. I felt so violated emotionally and mentally. Even physically since I wasn’t in the comfort of my own room to cool off from the situation and because of that, I was paranoid that someone would find out more and expose me so I stop writing regularly. Back then the internet was in its beginning stages. We had dial up connection, AIM and Myspace. There was no other means for me to have that one on one experience with myself like I previously did. I did write here and there but was never consistent with it like before and I lost a part of my progress of trying to hide myself.

Recently I found a few of my journals from those few and far between times in high school and wished I never stopped. It was so crazy to visit my past self and reflect on the person I was back then. However because of the gaps, I had missing pieces that would have helped show the transition to who I am now. I remember in my sophomore year of college, I started to use the Notes app on my iPhone to write epiphanies that I had as I was going through the motions of self discovery, self identity, self love and building relationships with others. I still wrote vaguely for self preservation but it was enough for me to know what was going on when I went back to it. I still use the Notes app til this day and it’s still gets the job done.

I want to encourage you to journal your journey. It is so important to find an outlet to express yourself. Whether it be through writing privately, blogging publicly, recording yourself through video, voice memos or taking pictures, please take the time out to do it for yourself. To me, it’s a version of self-care because life gets tough and sometimes you do feel like you don’t have anyone that 100% understands how you feel and where you’re coming from but that’s normal because they aren’t you. They haven’t gone through the exact combination of experiences that you have. Everyone’s journey is different so you need to take time out for yourself to let it all out and express how you feel without holding back.

There are times when you feel stuck and have no idea how you’ll get unstuck and move on from a situation but as time passes, you do. You always do and it would be great to look back and use that as a reference when you’re stuck in another situation to encourage yourself to keep going against as all odds. We get so wrapped up in our day to day activities that we forget about the past and how much we’ve grown since last month, last year, to even three years ago. You’re stronger than you think and your growth is inspiring. By journaling your journey, you’ll empower yourself without even realizing it!

A few days after writing my period post talking about my struggles with regulating my menstruation cycle, Jenna Kutcher published a podcast episode with Claire Baker, a life and period coach (yes, it’s a thing!) and creator of Adore Your Cycle. They spoke about how important it was to be mindful of the 4 phases females go through when it comes to our periods- menstruation, transitioning from that to ovulation, and ovulation and finally progesterone/premenstrual. Every part is crucial to helping us learn more about our bodies. And when we learn about our bodies, we’re more mindful of its changes like when we feel our happiness, saddest, most productive, most creative and all the other feelings in between. Claire stressed the importance of journaling throughout our cycles to get into the same rhythm of our bodies and it really changed the game for me. Immediately I got out my most recent journal and started taking notes promising myself to live a more mindful and gentle relationship with myself and my period.

You don’t have to journal every single day but do it regularly. That may even mean once a week or whatever fits your schedule but I can tell you from experience that it will create such a HUGE shift within yourself. There won’t be anymore gaps between who you were, who you are and who you want to be because it’ll all be connected and most importantly, you’ll be able to look back and reflect on that chapter in your life. There’s no right or wrong way to go about it than fitting it into a routine that works for you! For me, at night is best when I’m winding down for the day and have some quiet mental time to reflect. For you, it may be the mornings. Or afternoons during your lunch break. Still don’t know where to start? Download this brand new Journal Prompt Template I created specially for this post and you! I’ll provide FOURTEEN journal ideas to start to make your experience an unique, empowering and transformative one. I am so excited for you!