Tozak Filming

The reason journaling has brought so much transformation into my life is because it is spiritually economic.

Meaning just the simple act of writing my thoughts – which are things that are already here, I don’t have to chase them or look for them – has introduced so many different avenues and opportunities for growth. It opens a list of infinite benefits for mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. You realize that just by being with your own mind and thoughts, you contain a lot more power, wisdom, and capability than you think.

Here, I will write about the magic and power of journaling, my experience with it, and some ways you can start journaling today with ways that I use from a day to day basis.

First things first, the power of journaling is just the power of your own mind.

Journaling is not an external thing that brings you something. Journaling is a way to dig up the potential and answers that are already within you.

This is something very important to remember; the answers come from within. The best ones always do. This is an experiment and exercise that engages with the mechanisms and potential of your mind so that you can come closer to it and understand it better.

The power comes from within.

The simplicity of journaling is part of what makes it so brilliant. Anyone can do it. You can use whatever writing material you want and whatever page, notebook, or paper material you want. The tools are not the important part, your mind is. 

Don’t let yourself make excuses and obstacles between you and your journaling. You don’t have to journal for a long time. You can write for 2 minutes or 2 hours. 

Do not overthink journaling.

There is no right way to do it. The ways that I will list are ways that I personally use them; but please, use these ideas however you’d like. Take what resonates and change or leave the rest. Make them your own. 

Parts of the ways I use journaling have been found in other places or have just come naturally to me after journaling for a couple years. So use your individual and creative approach to journaling so you can make it fun and curated for your soul.

Also, you don’t have to be a writer to journal. It doesn’t have to be “poetic” or “pretty”.

THE MORNING ENTRY

I like to journal before I start my work for the day, whether that’s a project, going to class, or just going. I do journal after my basic morning routine because of the following question I ask myself in the morning entry…

• How do I feel?
• Am I groggy because I only slept 4 hours or ate a heavy meal before sleep?
• Am I full of energy and ready to tackle the day?
• And why?
• Why do I feel this way? 

One time I listened to some songs that got me inspired and excited to work on my short film. Consequently I was full of energy and motivated to get to work and when I did my morning journal entry, I noticed this and wrote about it. I continued this into other days. In the morning entry you can state how you are feeling and why so that you can be more proactive with you energy going into your days.

Proactivity is the real benefit of the morning entry. You can consciously start the domino effect of the day in your favor instead of being hit by life off your own terms. Write down your goals and set an intention for the day. The morning is the most influential part of the day over the rest. It sets the day into motion, so journaling is a great way to take control of that vital window of time.

Another thing I like to do in the morning entry is to visualize the day. Sometimes, I will describe how I go about the day. If I know I have a certain event coming up, I write how I will enjoy the event and maybe do x, y, and z in preparation for it.

The goal of morning entry for me is to set myself up to consciously go about the day.

Journaling in the morning can prime you for the day and help you succeed in playing the lead part of the day. 

WHEN YOU’RE AGITATED OR ANNOYED

Journaling can be a very great way to deal with tense emotions and emotional breakdowns when you need to release. 

Release is the key word. When we are in stressed emotional states, it’s important that we deal with them in healthy ways. Journaling has helped me tremendously with dealing with my emotions in a very healthy way. 

Journal however you want. I have written so physically hard, in an intense emotional state, that I have ripped through the paper. This is your chance to release. Do whatever you think is truly best and most healthy for your release. Do not repress. Release and reflect. Ask yourself why you’re feeling this way. Allow whatever wants to come. Write with your emotions and allow your soul to reorganize.

Keep writing and I promise the answers will come. 

David Goggins has said that when he’s angry, he’ll get a paper and pen and

study the darkness. I love that phrase – study the darkness.

There’s no help in shying away from our shadow. We owe it to ourselves to explore our individual psyche and understand why it works the way it does. A lot of the time, we stress over things that our highest self knows are not worth giving energy to. 

“We suffer more in our imagination than in reality” – Seneca

Journaling when you are in a dark place will give you that space to release, reflect, and get a bigger picture. Ask yourself at the end, “What do I know to be true?” Often our stressed emotions can take us away from what we know to be true.

WHEN YOU HAVE A RECURRING THOUGHT

From time to time we will have that thought that keeps replaying in our head. Maybe we’ve been thinking about something for the past couple of weeks and we have no idea why. Maybe you have been thinking about a book you want to write for the past 5-10 YEARS! 

Whatever it is, it’s common to have recurring thoughts in our mind. If something intuitively comes to you as you’re reading this, I suggest you journal about it. Sit down and ask yourself this:

• Why am I having this thought?
• What does it mean?
• Should I act on it?
• How?

This is a great way to engage with your mind and learn more about yourself. Especially for creatives, if you have an idea for a piece of art that has been floating around in your head for a while then sit down and WRITE.

DREAM JOURNAL

I believe our dreams have many messages for us. Yes, dreams can seem weird, random, and just flat out nonsensical but there is an enigmatic order to this chaos. 

I like to look at my dreams like art films.

They are best interpreted intuitively. You aren’t supposed to think about them in the traditional way. Don’t try to understand them, try to feel them. Trust your instinct when it comes to seeing what a dream could mean.

Try working with your dreams by setting intentions. Write in your dream journal what you would like to see in your dream. Ask a question. When you remember your dream, write about it and explore what it means to you. 

It is also fun to journal about crazy dreams and record all of the dreams you have had over time. Return to them and maybe you’ll look at them differently.

Dreams are mysterious. The laws to the dream world are waiting to be explored by us in order to discover what we’re truly capable of. But more of that is for another day…

THE NIGHTLY ENTRY

After all of the buzz of the day, it’s important to collect yourself and your thoughts.

This entry is similar to the morning entry only now, rather than intention-focused, we are reflection focused.

I ask myself, “How am I feeling?” and of course, “Why?”

I believe that how you feel at the end of the day is a lot more important than what you actually did. Our experience of the events of the day are what we take away, not the events themselves. What is your emotional and psychological state?

Use this as a time to explore why you are feeling a certain way so that you can do the interior work to live each day to the fullest.

Then I like to move on the events themselves. While I do journal on areas I can grow and improve on, I also journal on things I did well. I think this is very important. See what worked and why it worked. Write about a moment where you were truly happy or proud of yourself. A moment where you felt good about your emotions, your work, your relationships, anything.

Possibly the most important part of this entry for me is the return to peace before sleep. I notice that mental stress is the biggest factor to having a bad night’s sleep. You deserve to sleep at night with a calm mind. As we doze off, many of us have a tendency to do all of our negative thinking as we reflect on the day. Instead, do this thinking and reflecting in a nightly journal entry so you can get a big picture on your thoughts and bring yourself to a calm state.

I can’t stress enough how well this time of journaling fits into my daily routine.

The space and solitude for myself when the day goes quiet is one where some of the best answers come to the surface. 

Like I said before, all of these ways to journal are ways that I personally love; but make them your own. You don’t have to journal in any particular way. As long as you give yourself the materials to journal and the space to write, something brilliant will happen.

Remember that the power is all within you. Journaling doesn’t give you the answers. It helps you bring them out.