I recently started to read a book called ‘The Artist’s Way‘. It’s about unblocking our creative potential. Some of us think we are not even creative, but everybody is creative in one way or another, it is our very nature… And we are all blocked, to a certain degree, depending on our life experiences. One of the main tools this book uses for unblocking, is to write something called ‘Artist Pages’. Basically, every morning, you write 3 pages of long-hand in a diary (or journal). You can write anything you like. I’ve tried this in the past and never kept up with it, always giving up after a couple of days.
This book requests that you do this for six weeks at least. At first I found it difficult to know what to write, but now on week six, the words are flowing more freely. I never thought I would enjoy something so much. What I have discovered is that this daily diary writing practice has helped me to:
1) record my weird and wonderful dreams – something I have been meaning to do for ages but never got around to;
2) process and engage with my emotions, instead of them being a jumble in my head, seeing them written down on paper gives them a different quality and enables me to view them from a new perspective;
3) review the previous day’s activities and decide what I could have done better;
4) take some time to be grateful for the good stuff that happened yesterday (thanks to Tony Robbins, I also try and find 3 good things I achieved – whether its cheering up a friend, completing a new blog post, or going for a run);
5) be my own best friend. Yes, anytime I have a tough situation, that diary comes straight out and I write to my hearts content, giving myself the balanced advice a good friend would give;
6) vent any anger and resentment I may be holding about the challenging situations I have faced. I do believe that suppressed anger and resentment can be a cause of dis-ease in the body, so finding a way to vent anger, whether through exercise, punching or screaming into a pillow, or as I have found, diary writing, is a good thing;
7) make positive intentions for how I would like my day to go, i.e. ‘today I have a hospital appointment, and instead of being anxious and nervous, I will breathe deeply and give appreciation for the kind doctors and nurses who will look after me.‘
So there you have it, plenty of positive reasons to write a diary. Hopefully, the people you share your space with will respect your privacy and not trespass into your diary uninvited!
I personally do not even read my own diary, once its written, I leave it there to rest.
Good luck =)
lovey0urself 