Spiritual Journaling and How To Start

People have been writing down their day-to-day life and experiences since the beginning of mankind. 

Whether that be in the form of a drawing 或一个 书, we have always had the need to document our experiences.

Ever since I was little I would write down little snippets of my day in a diary. As I grew older, these snippets became more ‘serious,’ to put it that way.

I would write down my experiences, express how I feel on this piece of paper and ultimately, I would draw out a lesson from all of that.

We shouldn’t confuse regular journaling 和 spiritual journaling, though. Because spiritual journaling focuses on our biggest fears, hopes and dreams.

How Do I Start A Spiritual Journal?

If you don’t know what you should write about, I’m here to tell you- start anywhere!

The journal you keep is yours and yours alone. No one can actually tell you what 你 should write in 你的 journal. The journal is all about the purpose that you give it.

But if you’re really stuck here are a few ideas on what you might write about:

• Your feelings– this is always a great start. Your feelings are relevant and through them you might reach an epiphany.
• Something that inspires you– inspiration can come from anywhere and it’s an important stimulant. Without inspiration, mankind wouldn’t be where it is today.
• Fears– everybody is afraid of something. Writing down your fears and facing them through this medium might give you a chance to overcome them.
• Thoughts you’ve had recently– everybody thinks. Duh. But these thoughts might be swirling around your head for some time. It’s good to let go by transferring them to paper.
• Future goals– writing down your goals for life might just motivate you to make them come true.
• A letter to someone– you may write a letter to your future/younger self, to someone who’s wronged you or someone who’s inspired you. This lets you release everything you weren’t or aren’t able to say.

These next few things don’t exactly count as writing, but they do count as journaling!

你可以 draw in your journal, it can be something that brings you comfort or just a pretty flower you saw on your walk today.

Or, you may collect things that matter to you. Something like stamps, postcards or herbs, which you can tape to the pages of your journal.

These are just some recommendations, obviously you can write (or draw!) about anything that’s important to you.

Setting Intention

There’s quite a difference between regular journaling 和 spiritual journaling.

When we journal it’s easy to spiral into 愤怒 和 ranting. This is not the reason we’re here.

Before you start journaling, you need to set an 用心.

You might just give your journal a name. It can be something fancy like ‘Journal of Reaching for a Higher Purpose’ or you can just name it ‘Dave.’

While you journal, you should always look for reasons and explanations. Ask yourself questions like ‘Why did this happen? /What does this mean? / How can I grow from this?’

Ultimately, try to write every day. Life gets to the better of us and some days you don’t have the time or you just don’t feel like sitting down and writing.

But you can always put aside a couple of minutes and write.

How Does Journaling Help Me?

Journaling can easily be a form of self-care. It provides us an insight on us. 

Through journaling, we explore our inner thoughts and feelings. We tap into our fears and dreams. And ultimately, we are able to self-reflect.

The more we search through our inner self, the better we are at recognizing and processing our thoughts and feelings.

I can speak from experience when I say that journaling helps you grow.

Through writing about my thoughts and feelings, I’ve come to many realizations. Whether it is processing grief, a breakup or even something happy, you might learn a lot about yourself.

But be careful not to get carried away, because you might end up playing the victim when you’re actually not.

Journaling doesn’t always mean making happy discoveries about ourselves. Sometimes you might find out that you are the bad guy.

But that’s okay, as long as you break that cycle and do better.