If you're like me, we all spend a lot of time outside ourself - working, care-giving, raising kids and pets, pursuing careers and passions. There are endless to-do lists and obligations. We move through our days according to responsibility and purpose. We are bombarded by noise, distractions, information, and needs.
What if we made space for our heart to enter? What if we slowed down and quieted the outside world, just long enough to hear?
Journaling has been a lifelong pastime of mine. I had a girlie pink diary with a gold lock when I was 9 - even though I wrote about my possibly boring 4th grade life, I dreaded if anyone would ever read it. The lock kept my secrets tucked inside, away from the everyday noise and judgment. Inside those pages, as silly as they might seem to my adult self today, was the voice of my soul - thoughts that only I could hear, and longings I didn't even know I had.
I still journal today, and writing on the blank page has probably saved my life. It has become a sacred practice of tuning into parts of myself I don't always acknowledge or let others see. The spaciousness of a journal page is an invitation - an invitation for a list, a story, or a rant. An invitation to pause, and see what wants to arrive.
Why Space Matters
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Where do you really feel permission to just be? Our mind is constantly thinking, and journaling gives space for all those thoughts - even the ones we didn't know about.
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The page doesn’t interrupt or judge - it simply waits for us to get it all out.
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Journaling allows time to pause and reflect - in a culture that rarely lets us slow down.
Hearing Yourself Through Writing
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Writing reaches deeper than the rational mind - when we write, we access feelings, emotions, memories, and intuitive insight.
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The simple act of writing down how we feel lifts the weight of heavy emotions.
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Sometimes, the insight isn’t in the writing but in the space and silence that follows.
How to Create a Journaling Practice
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Write for 5 minutes - this seems simple, but set a timer and just start writing. You might be surprised how much comes out in 5 minutes. Try to keep pen on paper, even if you're writing the phrase "I don't know what to write...."
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Ask yourself a question and answer it on the page: Ask: How am I feeling about today? or What feels heavy right now?
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Leave space. Literally. Don’t fill the entire page. Draw, doodle, bullet, anything that feels "right" to you in the moment. There are no rules for your journal.
Every time you journal, you’re giving yourself the gift of hearing your own voice beneath the noise, and beneath the surface of the you who works so hard everyday. The inner parts of you need attention too - and they want to be heard. You do not have to be a writer at all to start journaling. Remember that the blank page is just that - an invitation. Think of it as an invitation from yourself, to yourself. For a few minutes, create space to tend to what matters - YOU.
