3 Simple Tasks to Turn Your Journaling Into Healing
My journaling was chaotic and erratic before I learned how to journal on purpose.
I am sure I am not the first but I use what is called a healing journal. Through a series of color-coding, I am able to track my progress as I deal with recurring issues that like to manifest themselves in all sorts of new ways. When I finally created a routine, I finally began to move forward.
Intention Is the Driving Force
Anytime I am sitting down to write in my healing journal, I begin by saying a prayer. I am a believer in a higher power. I also believe that I shape my own destiny by my words, actions, and my deeds.
I believe there is an enormous amount of power in speaking aloud and visualizing your intentions. Our words are magic. We weave spells with our words, invoking emotion, drawing the listener in with our words, whether written or spoken.
After all, when we write it is called spelling, is it not?
So, I pray, often and freely, putting my intentions out to God and the Universe. I like to say I believe in a God of my misunderstanding. I believe that to know love completely, without expectation, without restriction, but true unconditional love is to know God. Or at least as close to knowing God as we humans can get. More on that here.
This is not a new concept. We’ve all heard of vision boards. We have all at least heard of the book “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne or have seen the movie. Tony Robbins, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Deepak Chopra, and countless others have designed their entire message around this very point.
The Law of Attraction is neither new nor a secret.
Being Present Is the Clarifying Force
When I am done with my prayer of intention, I like to take 20–30 minutes and just clear my mind. It is a powerful thing to be active and conscious in your life. Being in the present moment, breathing with purpose, slowing down the noise of everyday life.
If you haven’t guessed by now I am speaking of meditation. There is no better medicine for the soul than sitting still and being with your breath.
“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day — unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.” — Zen Proverb
My wife is great, she meditates first thing in the morning and right before we get in bed. She is a beast. I have been using meditation and mindfulness techniques for so long that I kind of just do it when I can throughout each day, but definitely every day.
I find washing dishes by hand to be extremely calming. I can lose myself in the suds and the task at hand, but I can do that with almost everything. I am not a worrier. I never have been, never will be.
I am not speaking about just your run-of-the-mill, daily check-in meditation. I’m talking about sitting still and being with your intention. Give it time to stew if you will and gestate in your subconscious for a tick before moving onto pen and paper or keyboard and screen, whichever the case may be.
Question Everything, But Make Sure to Color Code
After I have spent 20–30 minutes in prayer and meditation with my intention I get to the nitty-gritty. I like to begin by forming a question either out of the wording of my intention or inspired by it.
For example, if I get angry because the person in front of me is driving really slow. This is a real example by the way because it happens all of the time. I can go back later that day and say a prayer and meditate on the events of the day, but it isn’t until I start to put it on paper that it all begins to come together.
I can ask, in my journal, questions and then just free right a response. By color-coding the questions I can go back and reference them to track my progress.
There are 6 primary questions, who, what, when, why, where, and how. So I use the 6 primary colors, red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and violet-colored pencils to write the question mark at the end of the sentence.
This may sound trivial, but it works, at least it did for me. It saved my life after 27 years of heroin addiction and a failed suicide attempt. I’ll put that story here.
Find what works for you, ask questions like,
“How is this behavior still serving me?” or “What purpose does this anger serve?” or “Where is the benefit to acting or behaving this way, whatever is relevant to your story. The wording is personal to each individual but it is important to you.
I hope you found this helpful in some small, or big, way.
As always, be well
~Namaste
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