A friend recently asked me how long I’d been journaling & when I replied that it was almost 8 years, she said ‘so you must find it helpful.’ I guess I must. Which encouraged me to ask myself how it supports me so I can share my thoughts with you. I’ve also included some research to encourage you to start if it’s not something you do (yet 😊). Let’s start with some research As I wrote in Chapter 10 of my book, Finding Joy Beyond Childlessness (where you’ll also find others describing how writing supports them) studies have shown that there are several benefits from writing regularly. Expressive writing to recover from a traumatic experience Research by Dr James Pennebaker (a researcher & pioneer of writing therapy) over many years concluded that writing about a traumatic experience for as little as twenty minutes a day, for 3 or 4 days, can produce measurable changes in physical & mental health. He called it expressive writing, which meant to just write, let go, & explore what happened without worrying about spelling, grammar, or punctuation. Just keep your pen moving continuously. Write from your feelings, so you’re venting onto the page. A regular writing practice to process strong emotions When researching her book, Rising Strong, Brené Brown found that when people wrote down their experiences of grief, they were able to make it clear to themselves what they were feeling, so that they could then articulate it to others. Again, it was important … Read more