Reflective Journaling

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A Release:

Psychologists always recommend reflective journaling as a way to release pent up emotions and reduce stress.  There are many things in this world that we should not do, either because it will hurt someone physically or mentally, or because it will have unpleasant consequences.  Reflective journaling helps us to release emotions that we would otherwise be unable to release.

An Art Form:

One thing that most people don’t realize is that reflective journaling can also be very artistic.  For most, this writing occurs during periods of high emotion.  Art is generally considered the visual expression of emotion, and yet very few people who do reflective journaling would consider themselves artistic.  Why?  Because writing takes a different method of skill than other visual arts.  However, it does take a skill that few people ever truly master.

Reflective journaling can bring people to tears, or laughter, or anger.  There is a type of journal that is currently gaining much appreciation online, called a blog.  This is reflective journaling made visible to everyone, allowing others to leave comments.  Blogs are becoming so popular because people enjoy expressing their feelings, or reading the emotions of others.  They enjoy this the same way that a painter enjoys expressing himself through painting, or a viewer enjoys interpreting said painting.

The Process:

So how do people learn reflective journaling and turn it into an art?  It isn’t hard, and it is very productive.  First, get yourself a journal.  There are many different quality journals available in our online store, including a variety of themed journals (themed with fairies, movie characters, etc)

Next time you are experiencing a high emotion, regardless of what emotion it is, sit down and write.  Do not censer yourself.  Do not be afraid that others will judge you for what you write, or that you will write something that is controversial.  The best artists are always those who aren’t afraid to tell their true feelings.

A Blog:

If you are really afraid to express yourself fully within your reflective journaling, create a blog account somewhere like livejournal.com or blogger.com.  This account can be anonymous, so you can receive comments about your reflective journaling, but no one has to know who you are and the entries don’t have to be stored where others can find them.  You can even make the entries private if you desire.

You can also do your reflective journaling within a diary, or password protected on your computer.  It doesn’t matter how you choose to write, just write and hold nothing back.

A Final Note:

Also, never edit your reflective journaling.  What you write in the heat of the moment is usually what you are truly feeling.  More often than not, editing will take the emotion and fire out of your writing.  The only editing that should ever be done is spell check.

The more often you write, the easier you will find pulling your thoughts together and expressing your emotions to be.  Eventually, you will notice that your reflective journaling is as much of a form of artistic expression as any drawing or painting available!