In our hectic, distracting culture, finding moments of quietude where one can sit and reflect upon one’s thoughts can be like trying to find something intangible. Maintaining a journal is one way to identify some quiet time for introspection.
Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity speaks volumes about self-healing and well-being through different processes including, journaling. For many years the internet has praised the virtues of this work, not least one of its fundamental principles: morning pages, three spontaneous sheets of writing about anything you can think about the moment you wake up. Journaling has also played its part in mental health practice, with millions of individuals in recent history (the Google trend for “journaling” trended highest for April 2024). And popularity is spreading even when individuals had notebooks centuries earlier.
In addition to being posted publicly online through writing blogs such as Substack (a swift scan through the latest edition of mine returns dozens upon dozens of mentions of the book), The Artist’s Way is also available publicly through the websites of various celebrities. Investor and businessman Tim Ferriss has dubbed the book “the cheapest form of therapy I’ve ever encountered,” pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo claims the book helped inspire the follow-up disc in 2023 of Yoga with Adriene YouTube fame, invited readers, including herself, to do morning pages for September. Thirty-three years after its launch, five million copies were sold, 40 languages were spoken, and now #48 on Barnes & Noble’s list for self-improvement and #2 on Amazon’s “creativity” bestseller list. Thirty-three Year Next is the incredibly successful book The Shadow Work Journal, authored by self-published author Keila Shaheen, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and marketing. She was only 24 when the book sold more than Oprah’s most recent book club offering. Drawing from the ideas of psychiatrist Carl Jung, the guide to facing your “shadow,” or unconscious aspects of yourself, became viral on TikTok, where more than 29,000 videos with the hashtag #shadowworkjournal were noticeable.
Despite Shaheen’s lack of training as a therapist or trauma specialist, many users commend the journal’s features, such as “wound mapping,” which entails classifying your primary traumas under headings like trust, humiliation, and neglect. Shaheen’s second book, The Book of Shadow Work, is released on 14th January as part of a deal with Simon & Schuster.
Shaheen, a longstanding journal with notebooks for productivity, concentration, dreaming, and envisioning, was in a “deep crisis” when her diaries led her to research shadow work, self-help, and spirituality.
“It was almost a way of alchemizing my pain and processing it into a resource for other people to experience,” Shaheen says, revisiting the diary pages and transforming the exercises and questions she would ask herself into a guided journal.
To kickstart your writing adventure, the essentials are a pen and a blank notebook! Although guided journals may help you get started. Everyone has done it, including George Washington and Maya Angelou. Google Docs is a word processor that you may use if you like to work with technology, such as your laptop or tablet. Aside from keeping personal records, journaling can provide significant health benefits for free and with little effort.
Aside from the innumerable people who can attest to journaling’s transformative power, there is also strong scientific proof that writing down our feelings is good for our brains. The Center for Journal Therapy was established in 1988 by novelist and psychotherapist Kathleen Adams, who has dedicated her professional career to “the intersection of writing and healing in a mental health setting.”
Adams said, “There were only six books on journal writing published when I started doing this work, and now there are like 25,000.”
The Journal of the American Medical Association began publishing scientific research in 1999 that contributed to making journaling a mainstream mental health therapy. Three days were given to two asthma and rheumatoid arthritis groups to write down feelings and thoughts using the Penne Baker method. The second group wrote about the most stressful times, and the control group wrote about neutral topics. Adams points out, “The doctors said symptoms [in the patients who wrote about stress] had dropped significantly in 47 per cent of the patients. Adams’ career started at a mental health facility where she cared for patients with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other cognitive disorders.
“I discovered that even though journaling was relatively unfamiliar to most of them, they felt better when they wrote for even a short period,” she says. Following their release, they continued applying some coping methods they had learned. And for me, that was a major revelation.
To address the possible downsides of journaling, Adams created the Journal Ladder, a structure for therapeutic writing programs. The patient is only allowed specific topics to write about for a few minutes on the lowest, or first, rung, which is the most rigid. Free, unstructured writing is the highest level, which you may attain as you get more comfortable with journaling.
Numerous studies have confirmed the benefits of journaling throughout time. While a 2018 study found that journaling about a traumatic event for 15 minutes three days a week for a month was linked to decreased mental distress and improved overall well-being among patients with medical conditions, a 2006 study found that journaling reduced depressive symptoms in young adults suffering from mental health issues.
For some diarists, journaling may result in a grounded, even magical alchemy. Hunter Gardner, a 37-year-old writer and performer, was distraught after losing his tech career in New York City in 2023. He was out of employment for about a year. That summer, he was invited by a friend to participate in The Artist’s Way among a group of comedians who shared his interests.
Gardner continues: “I was astonished about how comforting it can be to just sit down first thing in the morning with a blank page and a pen and just let whatever’s on your mind spill out.” It gave me valuable insight into assessing myself and some of my self-defeating thoughts. I learned how to spend time alone through it.
Here are some simple, stress-free ways to develop the habit of journaling as the year passes. Choose a notebook that inspires you; select a design or colour that appeals to you. Because the cover of my current diary has gold embossment and purple flowers, I always keep it on my desk. Starting at the same time each day (or week, whichever suits you best) can help you develop the journaling habit. If you struggle with free writing, try going online for easy prompts, getting a notebook with prompts, or just scribbling down your appreciation.
Here are some of Adams’ top journaling suggestions:
No “rules” exist. You may change your journaling schedule whenever you want. It’s up to you to decide what works best for you and how often and for how long you write. Adams says the only “rule” worth considering is if “you’re getting outcomes value.”
There isn’t much difference between writing by hand and on a device. Whether you write by hand or type on your Notes app, digital and analogue journaling may be beneficial. You can talk into a transcription program, use a journaling app, or use a stylus for digital journaling.
Include routines that are relaxing or gratifying. Combine writing with a relaxing pastime like meditation or a cup of tea or coffee. According to Adams, “consistently applying small pleasures helps deepen and extend your writing.”
Set some goals and track your progress in your diary. You can use a diary to check in on your aims once a month. You may analyse how you feel, how far you’ve come, and whether or not you’ve stopped. Simultaneously, plan how to achieve your goals during the next month.
Adams wrote morning pages for 17 months after meeting Julia Cameron when The Artist’s Way first emerged. Adam states, “Aside from the understanding that a small amount of writing done regularly can have a big impact, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything particularly complex about any of this.” Because the notebook is so plainly the self, having a favourable connection with it indicates that you have a positive relationship with yourself.
