BOO! Happy last Sunday of October everybody! In honor of Halloween being less than one week away, I thought I’d write a Halloween themed post this week! It’s about this time every year that my anxiety starts to get a little worse (I think it has a lot to do with the days being shorter), and my go-to for tough days is getting outside with my journal. There are days where I will literally write pages of my thoughts and feelings, and it feels so fantastic to get all that emotion out. So I thought it would be helpful for you all if I wrote down all the benefits I’ve found to journaling, in the hopes that it might convince you to start taking up journaling for yourself. And, well, if that’s not enough to convince you, then I have a witch on stand-by who is ready to cast any spell I request, and I think that might do the trick.
1. Lift your spirits
One of the biggest benefits of journaling is the stress relief. By “brain-dumping” in your journal, you can let go of a lot of your anxieties, frustrations, and struggles; this will help you release a lot of that pent-up stress. Also, because journaling helps to evoke mindfulness, past frustrations and future anxieties lose their edge in the present moment. It makes it so your mind isn’t wandering, allowing you to actively engage with your thoughts, which is going to make you worry less about the future and just focus on the here and now. As someone who struggles with anxiety, this is a huge deal for me.
2. Achieve your ghouls
The idea that writing down your dreams and ambitions will help you achieve your goals seems fanciful, but it’s not. Writing down your goals tells your brain that they are important, which will help you recognize when you come across relevant opportunities and tools you’ll need to achieve your goals. It’s similar to providing a blueprint for your brain; the more detailed you are in writing down your goals, the more likely your brain will focus on what it needs for you to achieve that goal.
3. Boo-tiful writing
Journaling everyday has definitely had the biggest impact on improving my writing. Just like athletes have to train to get better at their sport, writers have to train to get better at writing. Journaling is one of the best ways to train that writing muscle; because journaling is an exploration of language, you’ll have the natural urge to search for new words and expand your vocabulary. You’ll be able to build sentences differently and come up with ten different ways to rearrange a sentence. Your confidence will also improve the more you write, and that’s going to help you connect with your readers better. As a writer, I never want to be stagnant. I want to continue improving every day, and journaling is a big step in helping me do that.
4. Fangtastic organization
Journaling also helps keep your thoughts organized. As someone who tends to overthink, my thoughts can become jumbled and it becomes hard to focus on what is important and what isn’t. When I stop and take a minute to write my thoughts down, I can really hone-in on what I need to actively be focusing on, and I can let the other stuff go. It’s also beneficial when I have a million ideas going through my head and I don’t want to forget about them, so I write them down as soon as they come to mind, that way I can refer back to them later. This has been super helpful since I started writing my blog, because I’m constantly thinking of new posts I can do and I don’t want to forget, so I just write them down real quick in my journal.
5. Unmask your creativity
Julia Cameron’s “Morning Pages” has become a huge way for people to unlock their creativity. Basically, you sit down in the morning with your journal and write without thinking. It’s called “stream of consciousness” writing, and it allows you to pour out thoughts and ideas you never knew you had. It helps loosen up your writing muscles and lets your ideas flow. It’s honestly amazing with how helpful it can be in overcoming mental blocks. She recommends writing three pages, done first thing in the morning, but even just one page can help get those creative juices flowing.
That’s all I have for you today! I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Make sure to comment below what you thought, and subscribe to the blog to get updates on new posts! Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you have a Spook-tacular Halloween!
Sunkissed Lex 
Ha. I’m always one for wordplay, so this post was terror-rific. I’ve always enjoyed journalling, but the most important aspect of it is being able to externalise my thoughts, which helps me see my problems or goals in a clearer light. Anyway, thanks for this post!
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