HOW TO START CREATIVE JOURNALING EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WRITE ABOUT
ARE YOUR BLANK JOURNAL PAGES TORMENTING YOU INSTEAD OF SUPPORTING YOU?
IF YOU FIND YOURSELF SITTING DOWN TO JOURNAL (BECAUSE YOU KNOW IT CAN BE HUGELY BENEFICIAL TO YOUR WELLBEING) ONLY TO FIND YOURSELF STARING AT A BLANK PAGE FOR TEN MINUTES BEFORE GIVING UP, THEN THESE 5 TIPS ARE FOR YOU.
Journaling can be a powerful tool for supporting wellness and journaling creatively or mindfully adds a whole new layer to this technique that can have wide reaching and long lasting effects on your emotional and physical well being.
I like to remind my students that journaling is a practice, a habit that needs to be nurtured, so don’t feel disheartened if you are struggling to get started.
If you keep finding yourself sat down with your journal, pen and other supplies just staring at the pages with nothing coming up for you to write about it is probably because of one of these reasons:
#1 LACK OF PURPOSE (YOUR WHY)
Are you clear on why you want to start a journaling habit? Take some time to think about this and list out the benefits you hope to gain from this type of practice. Knowing your why can be a huge motivator in doing the what (ie, the journaling) to reach your goal.
#2 FEAR OF THE BLANK PAGE (PERFECTIONISM)
What are your thoughts about the end results? Are you preventing yourself from getting started because you are too attached to what your page might look like in the end, for example, neat handwriting, spelling mistakes, crossed out words, missed words? Why do these pages need to be perfect? Try to view your journaling as a process not an end result - this will free yourself up to just get started without any pressure.
#3 TRYING TO DO IT THE WAY EVERYONE ELSE DOES (COMPARISONITIS)
This point is closely linked to the one above but getting inspired by other peoples journal pages on Pinterest and Instagram etc is a great idea but putting pressure on yourself to create and write in the same way is not. It takes time for a writing and creativity practice to develop and evolve, for your style to emerge. So be patient with yourself and don’t compare your journey to any one else’s - enjoy the process - trust me, that is where the most magic happens.
If you can shift your mindset around those points you will be better placed to open yourself up to the benefits of journaling and with some meaningful prompts to guide you, you will find that there is a wealth of wisdom inside of you waiting for you to write it out.
Moving away from the notion of a journal being a ‘dear diary’ type practice and viewing your journal as a tool for mind body connection can really kick start the habit. This is because writing about what we have done in a story telling way is just not as exciting to our mind as discovering the lessons in what we have done is - our mind is always on the hunt for newness in this sense.
MINDFUL JOURNALING
If you are a newbie to creative journaling and want to reap the benefits of a journaling practice I would recommend starting with mindful journaling. Journaling in this slow and purposeful way will really help you to overcome some of those objections above that are holding you back and make you feel that you have nothing to write about.
Mindfulness is simply the ability to be fully present in the moment - not worrying about the past or the future. Engaging in mindfulness has been proven to decrease stress, reduce sadness, increase focus and elevate happiness.
Journaling is one tool that you can use to engage in mindfulness (another could be meditation for example), journaling allows you to explore your mental landscape and bring consciousness to what you are experiencing or what is going on around you.
Journaling creatively in this way can help you express your thoughts and feelings without fear of judgement, bring awareness to your emotional triggers, relieve stress in a safe and controlled space and support you with processing difficult experiences.
Mindful journaling is about fostering a mind body connection, slowing down the mental chatter, creating a soothing ritual and a safe space for true self reflection, it is about experiencing a state of flow to access the dormant parts of your mind, the parts that already know the answers you are looking for.
Mindful journaling opens up pathways to creativity while quietening your inner critic, fostering introspection, self knowledge and gentle growth.
CREATIVE JOURNALING
If you feel ready to take your journaling to the next level you can start to add in some more creative elements, which again will only serve to connect the mind and body and open up new ways of thinking.
You don’t have to be an artist to add creativity to your journal pages, it could be as simple as writing in a different format, for example, expressing your thoughts by writing your words in a mind map or using highlighters to bring your attention to key discoveries you have made in your writing, or splashing painted backgrounds down before you write on them, or sticking in imagery or quotes you find inspiring - there really are no rules and its all about the experimental process and finding the joy within it.
So to finish, here are my top 5 tips for building a creative journaling habit that will support you in the times when you feel you want to write but don’t have anything to write about!
5 quick TIPS TO BUILDING A creative journaling habit
1 - ROUTINE
Our brain loves consistency and routine, try and stick to the same time of day and place to practice your journaling
2 - ACCESSIBILITY
Make a space for yourself and your journaling - just little nook in your home will do. The simple act of leaving your journal out in plain sight will support you in actually using it
3 - ENGAGE YOUR 5 SENSES
Journal from the 5 senses is powerful, when you sit down to journal surround yourself with things that inspire you - your physical space affects your mental space. Consider how you can open up your 5 senses to really engage your mind, for me, it looks something like this: a hot drink (taste), pens with quotes on (touch), an intention from a card deck (sight), music (sound), incense or candles (smell)
4 - INTRODUCE CREATIVITY
As mentioned above, look for small ways you can inject a little bit of creativity into your journal to excite your mind and inspire it to write.
5 - USE PROMPTS
Using prompts can be a great way to give yourself a little kick start, remember that they are just prompts and you can always switch them up, use them inspiration to write your own prompts, anything goes, but often having something there to read and literally prompt you can take action can be all you need to get started. Be sure to grab my free 20 mindful journaling prompts!