How to Start a Journaling Practice That Lasts

How to Start and Maintain a Journaling Practice

I've had a journaling practice off and on for most of my life. It really expanded when I began my spiritual journey over a decade ago. I started by writing down my dreams, looking up the meaning of colors, images, and numbers to understand the messages inside them. I recorded angel numbers, saved articles I found helpful, and wrote down anything I was learning. It was one continuous stream of information.

I've used journals to get through hard times, to empty my brain of the thoughts that kept circling. "You should have done this. You could have done that better. What they said made me feel..." Writing it down meant I didn't have to keep holding onto it.

I've used journals and planners to track my health, my business, my daily life. I've tried keeping everything in one place, splitting it into topic-specific journals, and every hybrid in between.

The one thing all of these journals have in common is this: they let me look back. I've seen the lessons in each struggle, each dream, each intuitive hit that turned out to be accurate. I've been able to look back at earlier versions of myself with more compassion, and recognize the patterns that kept showing up. I've seen the moments the universe was guiding me, even when I couldn't see it at the time. All of that would have been lost if I'd never picked up a pen.

Journaling has taught me how I think, how I problem solve, how spirit communicates through me, and how I talk to myself, which isn't always kind. I'm working on that.

Journaling in the beginning felt like it needed to stick to a specific form or structure. It needed to be important, worthy of someone else possibly reading it someday. Don't ask me where that belief came from. I only know it once existed in my mind. As I kept writing, I found I leaned toward specific pens and journal types. I started researching, as my autistic brain often wants to do, different types of journaling and ways to document different kinds of information. I found so many beautiful works of art: drawings, colors, stickers, wonderfully laid out pages. It was intimidating and overwhelming, to say the least.

I gave myself permission to try different things. To add color and stickers to my journaling spaces. To try structured and unstructured ways of documenting what felt important. Mind you, I have no artistic skill whatsoever, so I relied on washi tape and highlighters. My journaling had another layer to it now, a creative outlet, and I loved it. Until I'd worked myself into a system that felt overwhelming and unsustainable. I found myself journaling less because I felt like I had to build out pages and layouts before I could write a single word. So in the busy seasons, my journals fell to the wayside, sometimes for months at a time, sometimes longer. It's taken me time to find a system that works for me, and it's still evolving even now. But I'm always thankful that a previous version of me picked up the pen and began writing in her fifty cent composition notebook. She taught me that the real and lasting artwork was the words captured on the page. A snapshot of a moment or belief that might never be experienced again.

Journaling for me is like having a conversation with a friend. I write the same way I speak, or the way I'd write a letter. The words are the art, and the paper is the canvas.

Journaling for me is like having a conversation with a friend. The words are the art, and the paper is the canvas.

Why People Struggle with Journaling

Google "how to start journaling" and you'll find endless articles and videos, no different from this one, showing beautifully decorated journals with color-coded pages. It can quickly start to feel like a project instead of something that helps you.

Here's what actually gets in the way, more often than not:

• Feeling like you have to stick to one method

• Too much structure, or not enough

• Using materials you don't actually enjoy

• A journal that isn't easy to reach, so you never think to open it

• Not knowing what to say

There Is No Right or Wrong Way to Journal

What matters is getting the words down, on paper or on a screen. Your style will change over time and across different seasons of your life. Journaling isn't about creating beautiful pages (though I still love my washi tape and stickers). It's about creating space where your own voice has room to be heard. Sometimes you'll write paragraphs. Sometimes you'll answer a single question. Sometimes you'll find that what you needed most was five quiet minutes with yourself. The important thing is to begin, and to keep returning.

There is no right or wrong way to journal. There is only the practice of returning.

A Simple Practice That Lasts

A little planning up front goes a long way toward building a practice you'll actually keep. Before you start, ask yourself:

What do you want to journal about?

• Dreams

• Concepts you've learned

• Meditation experiences

• Daily life and experiences

• Oracle or tarot card readings

• Therapy reflections

What kind of journal do you want to work with?

• One all-in-one journal

• Separate journals for different topics

• A hybrid planner and journal

How do you want to organize it?

• Will you want to reference it later? Consider an index, colored dots by category, or page numbers

• Or is it simply a stream of consciousness?

When and how do you write best?

• Sitting down to write a lot at once, or short bursts with just the key details?

• Bound notebook, spiral, ring-bound, or digital app?

It might feel like a lot to think through before you've written a single word, but a little time here sets you up for a practice that actually lasts. And you can always change your mind later.

What to Do When You Don't Know What to Write

There are times I've sat with my pen in hand, staring at a blank page, even though I had so much I wanted to say. When that happens, I trick myself into starting. I'll write about how I feel right now, what I've done that day, something I'm excited or upset about. If I'm home, I'll pull an oracle card and write about what I'm picking up on. Once I start, the words tend to find their way.

A few questions to get you going:

• What was the best moment of today?

• What's draining my energy right now?

• What advice would my future self give me?

You can also find a new journal prompt inside the member space every two weeks.

Start where you are. Decide why you want a journaling practice, and go from there. Give yourself permission to play, to try new things, to treat your journal like a friend. When you take the time to document your life, your spiritual experiences, the moments you felt loved and cared for, you get to look back and see how far you've come, and how you've been guided the whole way through.

With love,
Amy

Want to go deeper? The Free Resource Library has more on choosing your tools, finding your style, and prompts to help you begin.