You are listening to episode 106 of The Overthinker's Guide to Joy. This is the one
where we're going to talk about the benefits of journaling. Let's dive in.
This is a podcast for overthinkers, overdoers and overachievers who are tired of
feeling over anxious and just want to feel better. I'm your host, certified life
coach, Jackie de Crinis.
Hi friends, welcome back Well, this has been a week of housekeeping hell for me
Everything from the normal literal housekeeping like five loads of laundry sheets
towels clothing, etc But I also had the unpleasant discovery of finding termites in
my office cabinet My first instinct was just to throw away the cabinet But it is a
massive piece of furniture and not super easy to replace or even move for that
matter. And either way, whether we treated it in my office, took it somewhere for
treatment or got rid of it completely, it had to be emptied out first. And the
thing is, I pride myself on being a minimalist and having everything in order. But
the reality is that once I started cleaning out this cabinet, I was shocked how
full of stuff it truly was. I've had my home office for about eight years. And
while the saying goes, time flies when you're having fun, what they really should
say is time flies and stuff multiplies. I had boxes of cords,
gadgets, gizmos, and a gazillion office supplies. I don't even remember ordering most
of it and where most of it came from. And although the boxes were relatively neatly
organized, most of it was kind of a mess once I lifted the lids. Courts were
tangled, pieces of GoPro cameras and digital cameras, and I don't know,
leftover iPhone boxes. It's like they were having babies overnight and creating more
stuff. And then a lot of it was work that I had taken as a coach and memorabilia
from my television career. So there was just a lot of stuff to go through. But the
real discovery, and the whole point of this podcast, was how many shelves of
journals I had. And it wasn't just journals like neatly organized little notebooks.
It was journals, notebooks, legal pads, handwritten notes, printed emails,
and folders and folders of writing. My journals actually date back to 1976 when I
was in elementary school, and I have some as recent as last month. 50 years of
journaling off and on. Well, I don't think it would be possible to go through and
read them all, or at least not without losing like a week or two of my life, I
did glance through a few pages of each of them. And several things struck me as I
scanned the pages. First, I was shocked how awful my spelling and grammar was when
I was younger. As someone who prides themselves on being a good speller, clearly I
was delusional back then, and I think now I'm just heavily reliant on spell check.
But second, I was kind of amazed at how mundane and repetitive my thoughts and
experiences were. I mean, there were a few dishy girl drama years,
but even those were kind of like pretty humiliating as I was usually pining over
some stupid boy and how they broke my heart or obsessing over some unrequited love.
But what was interesting was to revisit the different emotions and feelings. And
third, I was also amazed at how faulty my memory was. Most of the incidents I
remember, but like my spelling, I mistakenly thought I had an encyclopedic memory for
personal details and dates. And the thing is, memories can really play tricks on
you. The details are easily misplaced and very easily intertwined with different
events. And the fourth thing was that I didn't really appreciate how much I wanted
to write when I was younger. When I first entered the television business right
after college, I attempted to write a few story ideas and even a couple of spec
comedy pilots. Mostly it was a lot of scenes and outlines and half written scripts.
only one or two specs were ever completed. And let me be super clear,
none of them were any good. So going with my executive track was probably the right
career move. But the journals, as messy and uneventful as they ended up being for
the most part, gave me a particular insight into my overthinking brain. Even as a
young girl, I was trying to process my feelings by writing them down. This is
something I tell my clients to do all the time. And on several occasions,
I would address, at least in the notebooks, that my feelings seemed irrational. I
think this was for fear that somebody would read my journals and judge me. And I'm
sure that I was mostly afraid that my older brother, Greg, would read them and
tease me. So I would caveat almost every page with things like, well,
in the future, I know I'll look back and laugh at this, or don't judge me, I'm
just trying to sort out my feelings. Like either of those things would have
protected me from an older, snoopy brother who relentlessly teased me about
everything. No. But the best part of having saved these dozens and dozens of
journals was the reminder that things change, things that I thought I could never
overcome, like the falling out with my best friend, the loss of a pet,
breakups, too many to count, the loss of a job, or even the death of a parent,
all the things that make us human, all the things that we think we can never
recover from. But we you. And for the most part,
we learn. We grow. We overcome. And hopefully,
we mature.
There's a little boy or little girl in all of us who went through something
significant when we were children or young adults. It might have been trauma with a
capital T, or it might have been trauma with a little T. And that's often in the
eye of the beholder, but it doesn't really matter which. Because these incidents
create these patterns in ourselves of doubt and hurt and fear.
And when we take the time to write them down, we do begin to process them.
We let them out by putting them on paper or onto a computer, depending on how you
like to write. And when we release those thoughts, whether they are mundane and
whiny, or they're big and scary, we diminish their power over us. Because writing
them down can help reduce the rumination or overthinking inside our heads. Journaling
is like a valve to release the excess pressure, noise or volume in our heads. It
reduces our internal suffering, it gives us perspective, and allows us to be honest
with ourselves without fear of judgment. But there are so many other benefits to
journaling. It helps you organize your thoughts and often solve problems.
It helps reduce stress. It can be an act of self -reflection and emotional site.
It can be instrumental in our personal growth. It can help with goal tracking,
whether that's business, personal, finance, even weight loss. It can spark creativity.
It can help reinforce our memories. It's an act of mindfulness because it forces you
to pay attention to your experiences, emotions, and your surroundings. and it can
help heal trauma.
Rediscovering my journals was like finding a time capsule because every entry was
provided with a date. So there was no room for interpretation or debating the
timeline. While journaling doesn't guarantee that once our thoughts and feelings are
on paper, we're done with them, it is part of the process. like having a therapist
or a coach, journaling is something we can all do to help us manage those
uncomfortable feelings.
Over time, those feelings will pass and those circumstances will change, which reminds
me of my favorite quote that I've said many times on this podcast. "This too shall
pass." For Me, my journals might be a jumping off point for my next book,
but first I need to get through the launch of my first book next month. But if
you're struggling with something at this time, whether it's physical, emotional, or
mental, I want you to try journaling and see if you can find a benefit for you.
I really think it works.
All right And as always, I thank you for listening and I look forward to talking
to you again soon. Bye for now.
