6 Reasons You Should Start Journaling Today

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Journaling has the power to transform lives. 

It’s much more than a simple “dear diary” entry; writing in your journal is an opportunity to explore your life, express your emotions, and empower yourself to face the days ahead. For Black men and women especially, the pages of your journal offer a necessary space to navigate both the joys and pains of a chaotic world. In your journal, you can find peace, creativity, organization, healing, and much more. You may even find yourself.

Elev8 spoke with three inspiring Black women who have embraced journaling as a lifestyle and a career, sharing their insights on how to harness the power of words. Take their advice (write it down!) and take the first step on your journaling journey and discover the healing this writing practice can bring.

6 Reasons You Should Start Journaling Today

You should definitely start a journaling practice for…

1. For Healing.

Nya Jones has been journaling from a young age but she didn’t discover its true healing power until a particularly tumultuous time in her adult life. Since then, she’s helped others unlock the power of journaling through her company InsideThenOut, which creates guided journals and writing essentials to help find the words to express their inner feelings.

“Journaling helps us dig a little deeper, make sense of our emotions, and understand what’s really going on beneath the surface,” Jones shares. Through starting a writing ritual, she and other Black women have been able to release the burdens they carry in their minds and move forward with more clarity and hope for the future. “It’s been there for me in hard times, helping me process things I didn’t even know I was holding onto. After journaling, I always feel lighter and a little more clear.”

2. For Peace.

“Journaling is a way for me to calm down the noise in my head. I used it as a way to get clear about my thoughts. After journaling, I typically feel more calm and grounded,” Jasmin Foster, creator of BeRooted shares with Elev8. Through her creative journals that celebrate Black womanhood and culture, she’s been able to help thousands of women find peace of mind through the pages of their journals. 

“Journaling is one of the best ways to create a space for yourself in a world that can be very fast-paced,” Jones adds. “It’s been my little way of coming back to myself when everything else feels loud and chaotic.”

3. For Dreams/Manifestation.

“Journaling is a great way to help take small digestible pieces of your vision and move towards making those dreams a reality, one step at a time,” Foster says. Journaling for manifestation or planning for the future is a popular way people use their journals, to write down their visions and make it plain.

“I do really believe in the power of writing things down, and it’s been really cool to see things I’ve written down years ago come true today,” Jones reflects on her own journaling journey. “It’s also really just helped me manifest some amazing things in my life.”

4. For Creativity.

Nicole Russell uses the power of the page to save lives. As the co-founder and executive director of the Precious Dreams Foundation and through publishing multiple bestselling books and journals, she empowers youth in foster care or homeless shelters to use their journals to find their voice in as many creative ways as possible. 

“Many of the communities I work with give the excuse that they dislike writing, but journaling doesn’t have to be pen to paper or fingers to keyboard anymore. With the use of technology, reflections or ideas can be expressed verbally and transcribed later,” she tells Elev8. “Some people need prompts, while others may need paper without lines to allow for more creativity and doodling in between.” 

“It’s not just about pouring your heart out in paragraphs,” Jones adds. “It can be lists, doodles, random thoughts, or even just jotting down what made you smile that day.” Your journals don’t have to be perfect, it just has to work for you. There’s no right or wrong way to journal, you just have to find the right words.

5. For Self Care.

You can use your journal for to-do lists, for gratitude and affirmations, for collaging, for braindumping, or for responding to writing prompts. However you choose to journal, make sure you’re doing it for you and for your own self expression.

“With journaling, you can write out all of your thoughts, feelings and fears without the pressure of making it all make sense,” Foster says. “Taking time to reflect on your thoughts and ideas is so important to establishing a self-care routine and journaling is a great way to do that.”

6. For Self Discovery.

Journaling is good for you but it doesn’t always feel good. As Russell explains: “Some journaling moments feel great while others might force me to confront difficult emotions.” But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.

“Journaling in many ways breaks generational silence offering a safe outlet to process trauma, stress and the daily challenges we’ve both inherited and encountered as Black and Brown people,” Russell shares about how developing a journal practice helped her discover more about herself and her triggers. “Sometimes closing the journal can feel like ending a tough therapy session, but still, I recognize it helps. It always helps.”

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6 Reasons You Should Start Journaling Today, According to the Experts  was originally published on elev8.com