Why I’ll continue to journal

“Why do you stay in prison
when the door is so wide open?

Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking.
Live in silence.”
Jalal ad-Din Rumi

I just handed in my first packet of work for this semester, so I feel I have been away from my blog for a long time.I’ve done a lot of writing the last three weeks and because I did a little every day I was surprised how much was there when I went to hand it in. I consciously made the decision not to procrastinate this semester, the negatives from procrastinating are too great. My last adviser told me it was part of my process so I gave myself permission to “play” on the computer a little bit each day just not for the hours I did last time. Journaling almost every day the last three weeks has been pretty amazing. I hit the keyboard or the pad and pen, within 15 minutes of waking up. I’d also journal at slow times at work, when I was a passenger in the car, sitting in front of the TV, waiting at the dentist office

For me just in this short time I’ve found that journaling has given me

1. Less anxiety
2. 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep almost every night
3. Increased focus

I considered that it could be something else but I didn’t change anything else in the last three weeks…and the great part about it is it’s free!

Here’s my found poem I wrote about journaling
The source is a 1925 ad in The Ladies Home Journal for The Hoover

Speed your work, lighten your brain

To prove words need journaling:
Why Not a “Vacation” for Your Brain?
The leisure hours you’ve always wanted—
the little “vacations” so inviting—
they’re yours, when journaling comes into your home.

Turn over a corner of your mind;
with the handle of an ordinary table knife,
this may be painful
some may consider a sedative before hand
or a glass or two of Pinot Noir
nothing too strong

give the underside of your memory
15-25 sharp taps
and watch
the words dance out
feel the destructive characters
of some words.

These are the words
your present writing methods have missed
and that beating them out has dislodged.

Correct use of journaling causes this embedded memory to be vibrated
to the surface by the rapid, gentle beating of the keyboard
or the wonderful new tool called a pen
Powerful suction lifts the words from your mind and draws
all the beaten-out, swept-away memories onto the blank page

An immaculate mind: longer-wearing memories
of enduring beauty; freedom from destructive thoughts
these are yours, with a journal

Today, a writing prompt for your journal. Write about what this quote means to you as a writer on your journey. It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. Ursula K. Le Guin
Now get back to work!

Lovingly,
The Writing Nag