Journaling is a great tool to use when you are struggling with your mental health.  Today we talk about why journaling is so effective as well as going over some of the basics like what framework and templates to use when starting.  And if it matters whether you use paper and pen when you write over an electronic device like a computer or an app on your phone.  

Transcript:

I'm going to start off by saying this is a podcast where we talk about the work that it takes to rebuild an amazing life.

And I use that word rebuild because we're specifically designed for women who feel like they're starting over in the middle of their life.

Well, I think it can mean different things for women.

I think it means to start over.

I think it means for different people.

For me, it was divorce after a 20-year marriage.

For my sister, it was the death of her husband.

I think the commonality is when all your plans, all your hopes, all your dreams for the future, for whatever reason, have gone up in smoke, when your day-to-day life looks completely different than it did six months or a year ago, when everything has changed and it really does feel like you're starting over.

If that's you, first, I want to say I'm sorry.

I know how hard that is.

But I also am here to say there's hope.

It gets better.

You are not alone.

You're actually in the right place.

Welcome.

I'm so glad you're here.

So let's get down to today's episode.

Today, we are talking about mental health.

If you'll remember in the beginning, I said there were five areas I focused on when I rebuild my life.

I focused on my spiritual health, my mental health, my physical health, my financial health, and growth and goals.

So today falls under that umbrella of mental health.

And we're going to talk about journaling.

I absolutely love journaling, and I'm really happy to talk about it.

It's made a huge impact to my life.

I do understand that not everybody is as big of a fan as me.

But if you're going through a really dark season, I challenge you to hear me out on this and try it.

You know, I have to try it forever, maybe just a month.

But I challenge you to try it.

It may make a difference.

I believe we have a few tools in our mental health arsenal to help buoy us when we're going through a dark season.

And journaling is a mental health powerhouse kind of tool.

I really believe that.

Journaling is a powerful tool.

It really, really is.

It has made a huge impact in my life.

So today's episode, we're going to talk a little bit about the impact journaling has had on my life.

We're going to talk about some practical things.

Do you journal on your computer or on your phone?

Do you use a pen and paper?

How do you do it?

What type of framework do you use?

What kind of template do you use?

How do you lay it out?

What do you say?

All that kind of jazz.

So, in the beginning, let's start with the beginning.

I have probably journaled the bulk of my life.

From the time I could put sentences together, I probably started journaling.

I got my first diary.

I remember it was a Hello Kitty diary, and it had the little lock and the two little bitty keys.

I feel like it was a quintessential 80s kids thing to get.

I loved it.

I wrote in that little diary on and off for a couple of years, so I filled it up, got another one.

So I journaled probably on and off, maybe not super consistently, but I journaled for a while.

When I realized what an impactful tool journaling was, I was 16.

So I was 16 the summer before my sen