Do you remember when you were younger and kept your own personal
journal? Did you enjoy writing stories in your diary about life and its growing
pains? Remember the enjoyment you felt in placing all of your experiences into
a notebook? According to a recent study, this is highly beneficial to your
creativity.
Picking up your pen and paper offers amazing opportunities for you to
express yourself. You may see this outlet as a journal or diary. Nonetheless, it
is a place where you can store your thoughts, memories, and interactions with
the world. Writing to yourself also offers opportunities to learn from triumphs
and mistakes. This is a way to keep inspired on your journey in life. The
benefits are seamless! In this article, we have collected 10 benefits to
keeping your own diary or journal. We hope that this offers your inspiration to keep writing whether it be for a wide audience or just yourself.
1. Getting To Know Yourself
According to the Greek philosopher Socrates, it is essential that
humanity takes heed to "Know Thyself." Getting in touch with yourself
unleashes the deepest level of truth. One of the greatest ways to get to know
yourself is by keeping journal entries on personal life experiences and how you
overcame them.
However, do not get caught up in gaining deeper truth about the world
around you. You may not always achieve higher understanding, however, you will
understand your voice, thought process, and perspective. You might even be
surprised that when you reread your writing, you witness your personality,
quirks, insecurities, strengths, and so much more. As complex as you are, writing
will uncover some hidden truths about yourself that you may not have yet
learned. Don't be afraid to write down your honest experiences.
2. Self Expression
Expressing yourself is another benefit of having a personal journal.
Offering a way of self-expression through the written word is definitely a
strong positive, however, the positive impact goes beyond this. Your notebook
of experiences and thoughts are complete with blurbs that embrace your content
material. These drawings may be as easy sketching a butterfly to express
happiness or a terrible tornado to show anger.
Whichever way you decide to express your inner feelings, doing so will
help you to say what otherwise is difficult to say. By writing or doodling your
feelings, you provide a voice to your emotions that are often go repressed. You
can even use this space to rehearse interactions that trouble you. The greatest
part about having your very own journal is having the freedom to use it the way
you wish to without restriction.
3. Clear Decision Making
Writing has a way of calming your thoughts. After getting all of the
intricate ideas you had in your head down on paper, you realise how small they
are. This is more than enough reason to write down your challenges. Having your
very own space to express yourself allows for you to process your decisions
more effectively. You might note a few emotions that cause you pain or
unforgiving attitudes against a family member. Use your journal to help gain
understanding about your decisions. If your decisions require urgent care,
consider seeking professional help.
4. Get In Touch With Emotions
In today's society, getting in touch with one's emotions is often looked
down on. Showing an emotional response is viewed as having a weakness. However,
this is not true. Keeping a personal journal offers you the chance to reflect.
Your journal or diary entries allow you to listen to yourself in ways you would
not. You have the golden opportunity to develop intimacy with your emotions and
understand many of the intricate patterns you display.
5. Emotional Release
Often times you are unable to tell everything that comes to your mind.
Just think of your journal as a safe space to unleash your deepest thoughts and
feelings. If you are going through a tough time in your life, use your notebook
to vent, cry, scream, and even grieve. Writing down how you feel gives you the
opportunity to view your feelings from the outside perspective. You might be
surprised how much better you feel after revealing some hidden truths about
yourself. Do not allow yourself to bottle up your emotions. Your feelings do
matter. Use this as an outlet to express all of them in great detail.
6. Form Memories
Years down the road you will change. Your experiences will change and
you might even grow into a stronger individual. Keeping a diary of your past
memories is great for reflection. Even the most insignificant details will
serve as excellent proof of your growth. You might even want to store these
memories for your children and generations to come.
7. Brainstorming
The most influential artists have used brainstorming as an opportunity
to write, draw, and doodle some of their best ideas. If this works for them, it
will certainly work wonders in your own life! Instead of keeping mental notes
of certain ideas you have throughout the day, consider jotting them down. This
does not have to be a neat and tidy process. You can keep a small notepad in
your pocket to write out inspiration, thoughts, and ideas on the go. These
ideas are great material for future projects like writing your first book or
composing a speech.
8. Track Your Growth
A journal should be a record of your past mistakes and triumphs. In your
biggest problems, you can find great lessons. Use your journal to reread some
of the most substantial experiences you had. Track how you dealt with that
situation. Have you grown from that experience?
9. Learn More Effectively
Did you know that writing helps you take in information more
effectively? By keeping a journal or a diary, you can learn on a deeper level.
Just think about how excellent this proved when you were in elementary school.
Writing helps you to connect with the content, unlike any other method. Instead
of using the notepad option on your laptop, use a physical notebook to write
down every single feeling and experience you have. Summarize your emotions,
include important key points, and you will learn so much more from your
writing.
10. Emotional Detox
According to a study conducted in 1994, Stefanie Spera, Eric Buhrfeind,
and James Pennebaker gave 63 unemployed engineers the job of writing. Their
intention was to track stress levels while writing. What they ultimately found
was that the group of engineers involved in expressive 20-minute writing which
included subjects like rejection, stress, and loss found satisfying jobs later
on in their lives. However, the group of engineers that did not write only
experienced 24% job acceptance. The outcome of the study caused researchers to
conclude that keeping suppressed emotions keeps individuals in a depressive
state. It is more beneficial to write down feelings instead of keeping them
bottled up. Writing boosts your emotional intelligence and stability.
Conclusion
In a world that encourages you to bottle up your emotions, consider
writing your feelings and experiences in a diary. You certainly do not need to
be a professional writer to write in a diary. The benefits of writing are
endless. Keep a diary for your own personal use and you will see positive
benefits in your life.
Author's Bio
Richard Nolan is a blogger and a private tutor, sharing his experience in spheres of blogging self-growth, and psychology. Richard
writes for numerous blogs and gives useful tips for bloggers, students, and teachers.
You can learn more about Richard on Facebook, Google+, Twitter