Permission to change your mind about journaling
Or at least try to
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Permission slip
Traditionally, I hate journaling. I think some part of me associates it with the faith I grew up in and the pressure to “keep a record for your posterity” when in reality I would rather all trace of me and my existence be lost to the ether than know even one person read the journals I kept in middle school.
But, this month, like those preceding it, has been rough. I’ve been feeling a lot of anxiety, and hyperventilating in the shower, and thinking I should be doing better by now, and overall just kind of having a sense of impending doom. Most of the time it seems unwarranted but my therapist says it’s valid and I should journal about it. (Gross.)
She recommends what I call “journaling lite,” which is essentially list-making. Make two lists, she tells me, where one list is what you’re feeling right now and the other is what you know to be true.
And because I’m someone who always does my therapy homework, I’ve been trying to take her advice and try this out a few times a week. Unfortunately (for me), it’s helping. So I might have to change my mind about journaling, or at least give myself permission to back off from continuing to make hating it a core tenet of my personality.
What I’m feeling (March edition):
Pent-up energy and anxiety
Anger and helplessness
Unsettled
Pulled in too many directions
Overwhelmed/like I’m not doing enough
Alone
What I know to be true:
I can make space to breathe.
I am safe right now and so is my family.
My feelings are valid and don’t need to be fixed.
I am doing the best I can.
I am showing up for myself and those around me.
I am never alone.
Can someone forward this to my posterity? TIA.
This month’s recs
Can’t decide whether to buy this cookbook because on one hand, desserts, but on the other, why is the featured editorial review kind of scathing?
A very good article on how to show up for your friends when you’re in different stages of life.
I don’t know how long my favorite cheese has been available in spreadable form, but now we both know and we are better for it.
Getting excited for summer camping thanks to my REI member sale purchase.
More book-to-screen adaptations coming to TV: this one (loved the book but not so sure about the show) and this one (didn’t love the book but it will probably be a better show).
Poetry prompts for the month of April.