Keep a journal

“When I feel anxious or sad about really anything, I tend to build up my emotions in my head, because I often don’t feel like I’m in the space to express myself out loud. I’ve realized that bottling emotions up makes the situation 10 times worse. When I’ve felt like I can’t talk to anyone about how I’m feeling, I know the one person who will always want to hear what I have to vent about – my journal. My journal has been the best way for me to express how I feel, and get my feelings on paper at times when I don’t fully understand them. When I start my journal entries, I normally feel confused about my feelings, and by the end of my entry I have more clarity.”

“Honestly, a daily journal entry—for me, at least—usually looks like a pretty boring piece of writing. There are a lot of “This is what I did today…” type of entries. Sure, sometimes, I have a hot topic on my mind that I need to unpack with my pen and paper, but most of the time I start my entry with no agenda at all and just let the words flow out of the pen. I am not trying to create great art or something that would be fun for another person to read. I am simply trying to empty my mind and see if there are connections to be made that will help me to understand myself better so I can live more authentically (and, by extension, more happily).”

“Each night before going to sleep, I'd sit in bed and jot down whatever was bouncing around in my mind. Some nights my thoughts would fill up two or three pages. Other nights I'd struggle and yawn through writing a single paragraph. I didn't really know what the purpose of these journal entries would be but that was okay; I did it simply because I enjoyed the routine. Reflecting on each day isn't something I would have otherwise done, so creating a structured time and place to do it each day has helped me become more introspective and intentional.”