The Value of Journaling in a Self-Care Regimen
“Paper is more patient than man.” – Anne Frank
The use of words to express the thoughts of man marked the seminal invention of civilization. The process of journaling has a history as old as mankind, and its use in the recollection and confrontation of trauma is one of the great art forms of our collective enterprise. Whether the musings of a Roman emperor like Marcus Aurelius, the mundane and brilliant daily thoughts of luminaries like Da Vinci, Curie, or Darwin, or the heartsick memoirs of those whom the world only ever met through their words like Anne Frank, the journal has been a daily outlet by which folks vent their daily stress and personal traumas throughout history.
The beauty of the process of journaling is that it has no innate structure or demands. Although journaling does not work for everyone, for some it is a transformational experience – one which helps them to cope with the struggles around them as they seek balance. For some like Thomas Jefferson, the journal contained observations of the world around them. Others, like Thomas Edison recorded quite humanizing elements in their journal – battles to avoid tobacco addiction, struggles with dandruff, and complaints of indigestion (Edison, 1885). Marcus Aurelius waged philosophical battles with himself, speaking about the difficulties of being the person in charge of the western world on one page of his Meditations, yet personalizing a battle against the desire to curl up under the covers instead of meeting the challenges of the day just pages later. There is no structure – there is no form. For some, days are skipped. Others, whole years passed between the needs to spill their guts out on the pages. Nevertheless, many find the process illuminating, restorative, and constructive enough to continue.
On Valentine’s Day in 1884, the daily journal of future President Theodore Roosevelt recorded the sudden deaths of both his mother and wife with a simple and poignant line: “The light has gone out of my life.” Roosevelt continued to write in his daily diary and several days later he recorded his feelings on the day of the double funeral, stating “For joy or for sorrow my life has now been lived out” (Gerald R. Ford Library, 2022). This low point in Roosevelt’s life, confessed to the pages of his diary, marked the commencement of a five (5) year personal journey through trauma recovery. Roosevelt gave up on his life in the east, turned his daughter over to his sister’s care, and uprooted his entire life – headed to the wide-open spaces of the American West to seek quiet and mindfulness to save his fragmented soul. Roosevelt’s wanderlust, so fraught with self-doubt, personal loathing, and mental resurrection, gave rise to the concept of the National Park – protected spaces where others could go to heal from the ashes of their own life. History tells us that Roosevelt’s life was certainly not “lived out” – but he did not know that story at the time of his sorrow. Journaling was not the miracle cure for Roosevelt, but it was a piece of the puzzle, a place where he could confide in himself, trusting his thoughts to a page when he could trust them to nobody else – and Teddy does not stand alone in the annals of history. We are learning that the use of written thought as a cathartic tool for healing is being revealed by modern research to be a powerful tool in the quest for self-care.
Studies into the efficacy of journaling during times of stress have indicated reductions in depression, reduced long-term physical health problems, and improve social supports (Riddell et al, 2020). It has also been suggested that journaling may help restore self-efficacy and mastery and add meaning to trauma (Ullrich & Lutgendorf, 2002). Mindfulness as a concept, which takes many forms to include meditation, yoga, journaling, expression of gratitude, and other introspective tools – have been shown to help to control emotions (Rousseau et al, 2019), lead to improved post-traumatic growth (Ekström, 2020), have positive impacts on psychiatric symptoms (Van der Kolk, 2014), and mitigate stress levels (Jaco, 2021). For many practitioners, journaling helps to develop consciousness over their surroundings and provide a snapshot of their life to put the events of life in focus against the backdrop of their world. Struggles, both large and small, can be confronted in bite-sized chunks. Figurative dragons can be slain, as the journaler uses the pages to work out their thoughts or to provide introspection to a problem at hand or a traumatic event.
Abraham Lincoln would regularly write vitriolic letters to people vexing him in his life, channeling his feelings onto the page in a way that his political reality would never allow. Relieved from the stress by committing the concept to paper, Lincoln would often file the letters away, simply writing ‘Never Sent; Never Signed’ on the envelopes (Lincoln, 1863). Journaling can form an erstwhile ally in the quest to provide meaningful self-care, helping to keep every trauma in perspective, being available to peruse to see how much the journaler has grown, or to vent off the stress of the day or prepare for the battles to yet come. Most of all, it serves as an outlet, it allows the journaler to be honest with themselves, to admit weakness, self-doubt, and loathing. It allows the practitioner to confront their own weaknesses and vent – developing skills in communications, emotional growth, and trauma recovery that are a worthwhile addition to any self-care regimen which has found success in mindfulness.
“One advantage in keeping a diary is that you become aware with reassuring clarity of the changes which you constantly suffer and which in a general way are naturally believed, surmised, and admitted by you, but which you’ll unconsciously deny when it comes to the point of gaining hope or peace from such an admission. In the diary you find proof that in situations which today would seem unbearable, you lived, looked around and wrote down observations, that this right hand moved then as it does today, when we may be wiser because we are able to look back upon our former condition, and for that very reason have got to admit the courage of our earlier striving in which we persisted even in sheer ignorance.” – Franz Kafka
References
Aurelius, M., Haines, C.R. (trans.) (161-180 AD) Meditations. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA.
Edison, T.A., (1885) The Diary of Thomas Alva Edison. Retrieved on 23 April 2022 from: http://ariwatch.com/VS/TheDiaryOfThomasEdison.htm
Ekström, C. (June 22, 2020) Comparing the Effects of Positive Psychology Interventions: Using Gratitude Journaling and Personality Strengths Interventions. Retrieved on 23 April 2022 from: https://www.proquest.com/docview/2436439170?parentSessionId=Z2ugIyraIEFHKNoIIVUxY0AtP0sF%2FyL810sYV8bVO%2B8%3D&pq-origsite=primo&accountid=9676
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library (2022). The Light Has Gone Out of My Life. Retrieved on 23 April 2022 from: https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/museum/exhibits/TR/light.htm
Jaco, B. (2021) Art Journaling as a Stress Reduction Technique for School-aged Children. Retrieved on 23 April 2022 from: https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.bu.edu/docview/2593201544?pq-origsite=primo
Kafka, F. (1948) The Diaries of Franz Kafka, 1910-1913. Secker & Warburg Publishing, London, UK.
Lincoln, A. (July 14, 1863) Lincoln’s Unsent Letter to George Meade. American Battlefield Trust. Retrieved on 23 April 2022 from: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/lincolns-unsent-letter-george-meade
Riddell, T., Nassif, J., Hategan, A., Jarecki, J. (June 25, 2020). Healthy Habits: Positive Psychology, Journaling, Meditation, and Nature Therapy. Humanism and Resilience in Residency Training, pgs. 439-472. Retrieved on 22 April 2022 from: https://link-springer- com.ezproxy.bu.edu/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-45627-6_14
Rousseau, D., Long, N., Jackson, E., Jurgensen, J., Rosenbaum, J. (September 2019) Empowering Through Embodied Awareness: Evaluation of a Peer-Facilitated Trauma-Informed Mindfulness Curriculum in a Woman’s Prison. The Prison Journal. Vol. 99, pgs. 14S-37S.
Ullrich, P., Lutgendorf, S. (August 2002) Journaling About Stressful Events: Effects of Cognitive Processing and Emotional Expression. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Vol 24, pgs. 244-250.
Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking Publishing. New York, NY. USA