When I was around thirteen years old, my mom saw that I was struggling to use my words and made a suggestion: we should journal to each other.

She handed me a brand new notebook and pen (who needs designer handbags when you have a pen and paper) and instructed me to write my first entry and then leave it on her pillow when I was ready. She would then respond with her own entry and drop it on my pillow — this exchange was my opening curtain to the catharsis I found in the world of writing.

I look back now and see that little green notebook as the first safe space for my truest thoughts. Journaling provided me a solid tangibility to my feathery feelings, revealing that while I’m talkative, I’m not a verbal processor: I need space to think through how I feel.

A FEW TIPS FOR JOURNALING

Audience. Is it pondering reflections to your inner self, or possibly processing your prayers with God? Mine is the latter - I use my journals as a connection between my soul and God. Understanding who you’re writing to/for will help you know how to approach that beautiful, empty page. Many times I start my entries with a rating for the day — “Today was a 7.3/10” — and go from there.
Schedule. The gaps between my journal entries speak more loudly about my life than the entries themselves. When I avoid my journal, it’s typically because I’m am fearful of facing my feelings… which just ends up making my burdens heavier. Keeping myself on some sort of established schedule helps me practice catch and release: catch the feelings, examine them closely, release them to swim away.
Honesty. JR’s family is Italian and we always have bread and oil with dinner. Sometimes we mix a little vinegar in with the oil when we’re feeling fancy. Have you ever noticed that no matter how well you shake the oil and vinegar to mix it, the vinegar always comes out first? I’ve heard this has to do with science and viscosity but I also find this to be a beautiful metaphor for our journaling/prayer life: when you sit down to write, if you give yourself the permission, more often than not our vinegar will come pouring out first. It’s the natural order of things. But if you keep writing, keep leaning in, I have found that the oil always follows. The vinegar of our life is the reality and struggle of being human… but the oil is the joy and perspective that we stand to gain when we allow ourselves to experience life and it’s full spectrum of feelings. Because I journal in prayer form, I always feel God brings that oil to me - reminding me of his constant presence in my life, love for me as his creation, and steady hand in all things to come.
Grace: I believe that journaling in some form can be deeply helpful to anyone - you just have to give it enough time to discover what type of writing helps you to process and connect. There is no reward for perfect attendance in your journaling schedule or 4.0 in quality of entry… you will reap from your journal what you sow into it.

FOR YOU

A journaling prompt guide, as well as a template formatted for Instagram stories, should you like to share your entries with your friends and join along during this month of thankfulness!