Journalling to Effect Positive Change
I do my best thinking in the shower. Or if I’m cooking. Or cleaning. Or basically anything else that my mind can wander and process, and reflect. But you know what happens to all those insights and thoughts that are allowed to flow freely after my task is done? They keep on flowing right out of my mind, and the progress I feel I’ve made is out in the ether, and I’ve procrastinated for another day. And guess what these thoughts usually relate to? Me.
Our lives are busy, and often we attend to tasks at hand that are time sensitive, or are relating to others in our lives who we care about and want to show that we value them. We prioritize work, our kids and our family members. Valuing ourselves and our own personal growth is a side note. So what happens when we dedicate a bit of time to quiet reflection that is intentional? It puts thoughts into action and encourages behavioural change.
In 2023, Ontario newspaper London Free Press reported on the systemic shift back to mandated learning of cursive writing after it had been scrapped in 2006, determining it unnecessary in favour of typing. Within those 17 years, children’s performance displayed a reduction in comprehension, literacy and (wait for it) retention of the concepts that were taught. There is evidence to show that the act of writing creates the necessity of reviewing as you write. Manual autocorrect to check if your i’s are dotted and your t’s crossed. While your initial scripting is spontaneous, the immediate review and subsequent reflection days, months or even years later provides an opportunity to retain the experience of processing.
Journaling about a regular day or a stressful experience is the act of processing in a safe space (the paper version of my shower thoughts), allowing yourself to remember the insights you uncover for application in your daily lives. This can promote cognitive defusion, or noticing our thoughts without feeling the impulse to act on them, or allow them to influence our mood. Improved mood and emotion regulation follow strengthened self-awareness, not only of our own feelings and experiences but also of how we affect those around us.
So if you’re like me, or even if you’re not, and your superpower is your memory, journaling as an intentional action brings positive internal and external change. It’s time well spent, and then you can go back to singing in the shower instead.