When Life is a Page-Turner, Journal About It

by Ayesha Gallion

Through the day, our minds become cookie jars filled with thoughts. Some of those thoughts are savory and some – well, we leave them to grow stale. We engage many people, from our spouse or significant other, colleagues at work to the cashier in the supermarket. We make observations about what we see, whether mundane or shocking, and perhaps we even find time to sit silently and sift through the crumbs in-between. Journaling is a wonderful way to take the ingredients of each day and find meaningful validation, catharsis and resilience at our very fingertips.

Journaling has been used for centuries by people all over the world. Written on tablets or stone walls, on papyrus or in fancy linen paper bound in the finest of covers, people’s thoughts and discoveries have yielded inventions, emotional independence, entrepreneurial wisdom and personal narratives that have lasted for generations. Even one of the most famous characters in literature, The monster from Frankenstein, discovered who he was from his “father” Victor’s journal. And take Anne Frank’s diary, for example. Was it not for this 12-year-old’s self-reflection and honesty, how many of us would have understood the suffocating fear experienced by a child and her family during the Holocaust? There is no doubt that young Frank found solace in her own words, and now, in the 21st century – chock full of digital enticements and distractions – we, too, can discover the diamonds in the chunks of coal yielded in our experiences.

Let’s try a quick exercise. Get a writing utensil and a piece of paper – lined, graphed or blank. Answer the following question: What amazing, superhero-like task did I perform today? Let’s take our time and be honest. Were you a superhero at work because you helped several people find solutions for an important project? Did you assist your community in preparing for a food drive? Could it be that you made a new recipe after not cooking for about a week? Maybe you apologized for hurting someone’s feelings. Heroes don’t have to wear capes and fly over skyscrapers.

Did you find that you might be able to honor a bit more about yourself more often? You may have even learned that you’re not living up to your innate potential. There’s something about the quiet honesty of journaling – whether you write a song, a list, the beginnings of a business idea or invention or even just one word – that allows us the freedom to see more clearly than we can during our incessant daily activities.

If we review our history, we’ll see that some of our greatest thinkers and innovators made journaling a regular practice – perhaps not daily – but it certainly was a habit they integrated into their lives. Not only were they better off for it – those of us who were lucky to read those published journals learned much from their brilliance and candor.

Journaling is our way of making sense of the Jenga blocks with which we build the towers of our lives because even if the tower falls, as it might, we have been watching and deconstructing all of the players and elements, so that when the time comes to rebuild, we have a keen sense on how to win or better play the game next time around.

Ayesha Gallion is the founder of Distinguished Archives and facilitates journaling workshops on a host of topics for all ages and genders. Learn more about this year’s workshop offerings at http://www.ayeshajgallion.com/distinguishedarchives or call 973-280-8117. See the news brief by clicking here.