Top 8 Journaling Tips to Dissolve Resistance
Dec 29, 2023
I've been journaling for over thirty years.
I have every journal I've ever written.
I can't imagine not journaling, and yet I often hear from people that they find the process daunting, intimidating, or confusing.
Here are some simple tips for how to dissolve that resistance and get started with the life-changing practice of process-oriented journaling:
- Dispel the myth that journaling requires you to be "a writer!" Journaling is the opposite of polished writing. Journaling is an unvarnished mess. Sometimes a profound turn of phrase will tumble out onto the pages of your journal, but this is an accident of happenstance, not the purpose of the practice. Dispel the myth the journaling is for writers!
- Once you begin, don't pick up the pen (or pencil, or fingers on the keyboard); keep it moving on the page. Whatever you do, don't stop writing. Set a certain amount of time, or a certain number of pages, and commit to continuous flow-of-thought writing for that duration. If you don't know what to say, write, "I don't know what to say," again and again until you're bored with it and you have something new to say. If your mind wanders, write, "My mind is wandering and I cannot focus and this is dumb and blah blah blah," directly onto your page until something new comes. Don't. Stop. Writing.
- Vanquish the editor NOW! Journaling is not for the editor's eyes. That means YOU, internalized editor that criticizes my words the moment I put them to paper. I see you. You can't hide from me. You are UNINVITED to my journaling sessions. My mess is my mess! Vanquish the editor.
- Put the critic, mean voice, or incessant unvanquishable editor onto the page. If something in the back of your mind says, "You suck at this and nothing you say will ever be good enough," then write. that. down. Get all that nasty murky stuff out of the lurking shadows in the back of your psyche and channel it into the light of day through your magical pen. The more you get it out and see it written there, the less you'll have it hanging out in your headspace waiting to sabotage you somewhere else. Write the critic.
- If you feel shy about what you're writing, hide it under lock and key. Make sure no one can find it. This is for you. DO NOT give it to your spouse, best friend, or writing teacher to reflect upon. Maybe even burn it once your done. This is your sacred safe messy space, for you and you alone. Protect your journal.
- Forget about grammar. And syntax. Half sentences okay. Write backwards fine. No worries. Editor on vacation.
- Treat prompts as jumping-off points, not as assignments. A prompt should get the gears turning, not direct your course.
- Have fun!
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