Deepening the Conversation Through Journaling
I usually journal in the morning. I use a hard-cover notebook with the pen clipped into the wire spiral that I keep on my bedside table. It’s not unusual for me to write a page or a paragraph at 5am while sipping my coffee and greeting the day. I always start my entries with the day, date and time in the upper right-hand corner of the page, take the first thought that bubbles up and begin writing. Inevitably, I wind up in a place very different from where I started.
Those unconscious leaps are gold for me. It’s what’s kept me going through the decades – to uncover fresh insights and learn something new about myself.
I like activities that show me who I am in ways I haven’t witnessed before. It’s what was so alluring about endurance sports that I began exploring in my 50s. Whether it was back-to-back-to-back 100-mile road cycling rides or running an ultramarathon or doing a five day fast – these activities are not about competing against others. It’s about learning something new about yourself and seeing what you’re capable of doing.
It’s been my experience that when you come face to face with yourself at a critical threshold, some point of physical, emotional or mental depletion, and sometimes all three, not only do you realize you can complete what you set out to do – you get a clear view of what’s beyond the imaginary boundary you thought you could never transcend. From your new vantage point, you see what you’re truly capable of with such clarity,vibrancy and intensity – and it’s so much more than you’ve imagined. You reset your realm of possibility.
In similar fashion, journaling takes stamina and endurance – it has the qualities of an ultramarathon rather than 100-yard dash. It’s the same invitation to find your inner edge and peer beyond it. It will help you grow in ways you didn’t know you needed or wanted until you arrive at that new threshold.
Here’s the bonus. Once you forge a true connection with yourself through journaling, the changes that occur inside start to reflect in your outer world. You begin to seek the same truth in others and start to attract kindred spirits who are fed and wired in a similar manner into your life. And those folks not only become your friends, but know you in ways others can’t, because they’ve also made a choice to travel similar terrain by deepening the conversation with themselves. As the quality of life deepens, you notice an undercurrent of richness and beauty, along with a never-ending stream of topics to explore on the page.
So how do you begin to deepen the conversation with yourself through journaling?
Keep entrance barrier low: Use a simple set-up that’s accessible – a plain notebook and pen is fine, the kind you can find at a pharmacy or office supply store. I still have an affinity for old-fashioned marble composition books.
Jump right in: Open the notebook, date the page and go! Free write. Give no thought to neatness, grammar or whatever flows out of your pen – just keep going. Should the inner critic make itself known, remember the gauge of quality is not grammar, neatness or choosing the “right” words – it’s truth.
Keep a list of snapshot moments: Collect a running list in the back of your notebook. Look for those everyday moments that are emotional or physical turning points – a moment of clarity, a choice made, a realization, a scene, or a snippet of a conversation.
Approach writing like a photographer: Momentarily reflect on the scene you’re going to write about as if composing a shot. You can choose to zoom in or zoom out. Take a macro view or go wide-angle. You can focus a bit on the background to give the subject room or even put the subject a bit off center. Different angles will give you different outcomes and different points of view. You get to fill in the details and emotion. In doing so, you reveal a bit about yourself in the choices made and lessons learned.
Go vertical: In times of painful personal experiences, consider a dedicated notebook on that specific topic. It may be helpful to write in the third person to get some distance from the situation, as if it were happening to another person. You can vent your feelings by writing an unsent letter or a series of them. If you’re working through a professional transition, it may be helpful to re-examine your values and beliefs. You can journal through pros and cons and differing points of view. You can also examine what types of activities boost your energy and how you might begin to explore them further.
These captured moments are a way in, a portal to discovery. When you write about them with curiosity in how they make you feel, you invite mystery. That’s when you can experience a magical leap or surprising turn and take elusive dive into deeper waters.
Journal Reflections: How might you go deeper with your journaling practice? What stops you from doing so? How might you invite deeper insights and connections?