The Art and Therapy of Journalling - JEC

This article was written for Juniper Editing & Creative (JEC), a Canadian small business that specialized in book editing and writing life coaching. As of December 2022, JEC is no longer active.

For many, journalling is a therapeutic experience that can help them sort through messy ideas or even soothe their anxieties or fears around events in their lives or to a current project. It improves your problem-solving skills by forcing you to reflect on and tackle your issues, and it also helps you discover yourself and your own inner workings. If you’re a writer, keeping a journal is one of the best things you can do for your art and for your mind.

Still need a bit more convincing? Here's some reasons arguing why you should journal:

Reduces Stress

Journalling is similar to talk therapy, except that no one but you hears your thoughts. It gives you a space to let out all of your fears, anger, and sorrow without the worry of someone else's judgement. Once you get these off your chest, you’ll feel so much better.

Promotes Mindfulness & Self-Awareness

Keeping a journal also keeps you in touch with your thoughts and emotions. Writing out your feelings lets you acknowledge them and understand yourself more deeply; you might discover things about yourself that you maybe haven’t been paying attention to.

Improves Your Writing

Journalling is also a great way to help you better your writing. Your writing skill is like a muscle; you need to exercise it in order for it to get stronger. The more you practice any kind of writing (even if it isn’t part of your main project), the better you will get.

So there you have it. Journalling helps different people in different ways; the important thing is finding what works best for you and discovering your own reasons for doing it. It takes a lot of self-discipline, but if you turn your journalling into a habit, I promise you the benefits will show themselves.

Want more tips on how to develop your writing? Check out the other #writing posts on my blog.