Like many people, throughout the years I had projects that I started enthusiastically - some were completed successfully, some fell through the cracks along the way, most are still work in progress. But there is one "project", I don't count it as a project really but more like a part of me. It is one that I've been committed to for the past 10 years including this year - writing a journal. I made it a point to start every year and end every year with a page in my own private journal, so there is one every year which brings to a total of about plus minus 10 journals in different shapes and sizes. Some years the journal pages are bare, some years, one is not even enough.
Like I said, it didn't start so much as a project more than me feeling like I need a place to voice. And believe you me, I am not that extroverted, my thoughts are very much my own, so my journals are my safe place to pick my own brain and heart to say the least. It's been years now, and what all these journal entries provided me are a sense of continuity, a sense of grounding. I don't suggest living in the past, but I do believe in remembering your roots to fly towards the future. I don't read my old journal entries everyday, but when I do, I am reminded of the stories I lived and thrived to. And I guess that's my point here;
Writing is nourishing.
I consider using the term healing, but it's not like a dosage of once a day scribble can automatically take your headache away, though research has shown the benefits of journaling. What I do think is nourishing though, is that when you write, you give voice to your thoughts, you respect it, and you learn to love it for what it is. In a world where everything competes for your attention, sometimes the most important core of ourselves get drowned in these external sources. Writing it on the other hand, tends to empower what is really within you - though admittedly this gets easier with practice. I have to say though, writing my journal sometimes lead to me being caught up with my own perspective of my stories. But if there's anything I've learnt throughout my years of journaling is that if you are true to yourself, and take it as a mirror for you and only you, the real stories get differentiated from those we are told by whatever source that stops us from thriving in our lives. After all, we are only as true as the stories we tell, or the stories we let ourselves believe.
Some people prefer blogs, some people prefer microblogging, but whatever media you choose to empower your thoughts in, the choice is to be with your thoughts, and that could be all that matters. To find a way to release the becoming burden of thoughts on the brain by freeing them into words.
I have an inkling though that if a fire were to break out, and I could save only one possession, it might be my journals, hahaha. As a matter of fact, when asked what are some of the most important possessions in my life, I could really only say two; my phone which I use to communicate with the world, and my journals, which I use to communicate with myself.
That said and done, writing does not have to be about yourself, or your thoughts. It could also be writing about others, or even to others; the latter being something I really advocate. When was the last time you received a snail mail and it's way way more exciting, most importantly heartwarming than the Whatsapp message you can receive within a milisecond? While I don't deny that the beauty of letters is much influenced by its scarcity in this era, I still strongly believe that it will always be classic beauty. A lot of soul goes into writing a letter. Love letters, care letter, hello letters, random letters. It's nourishing both for the person who wrote it, and the person who receives it. Tell me that is not killing two birds with one stone, haha. I must say I've been very blessed in this arena having been given the chances to both be the writer and recipient of letters that breathe soul, which somehow can never be found in any other media. And for a person to actually sit and write a letter, and try to frame their thoughts in relation to another person, I think it really nourishes the connection between them. This video by Hannah Brencher sums it pretty well.
A lot of us presume that writing is something only the most creative can do, and that it's only most valuable when there is some form of creative value attached to it. I strongly beg to differ. I think writing is about the honesty and genuine-ness of thoughts that are now given life as words.
So if you've not tried writing, give it a shot? Forget about the essays we had to write in high school, the ones where you have to have a paragraph statement, and proper pronouns, adverbs what-nots. Oh and forget the an-inch-from-margin rule as well, just write. "Some of my most honest writing occurs in the twilight zone of walking and sleeping, of feeling, knowing and understanding". I literally typed this sentence into my phone when I was inspired by a 5 a.m. jolt from my sleep. So I daresay, writing is something we all can do, it's not about prettifying words, nor is it about correctness.
It's about you, your thoughts and your words.
P.S: Oh, another way I write, is by writing to my future self. I know that can sound totally weird, but before you freak out, it's just basically trying to create a sense of continuity into the future, and often, to encourage hope. So my letters to future me often involve goals, asking me about how I am in the future, and just giving myself the space to imagine how I want to be at whatever time I am in the future. Personally, it helps me make a commitment within the time space, and often when I receive it in the future, it grounds me and reminds me of all the blessings I had. I don't think there's a correct format for it, it just really is writing a letter to another person, who happens to be yourself. And trust me, you'll more likely smile when you receive the letter than weirded out, haha. For this I use awesome technology which enable you to set when to send the letter such as futureme.org and ohlife.com.
So, you writing tonight?
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