T.I.M.E to Grieve: Journaling as Medicine

Welcome to my weekly update called T.I.M.E. to Grieve.

Each week, I pick a theme, share an idea on that theme, reflect on the deeper meaning, and give an exercise to help put it into practice. I trust you find it helpful for yourself or for a grieving person you are walking beside.

THEME

Journaling will help to facilitate healthy grief and give you a place to process what you’re going through.

IDEA

My journal is a storehouse, a treasury for everything in my daily life: the stories I hear, the people I meet, the quotations I like, and even the subtle signs and symbols I encounter that speak to me indirectly. — Dorothy U. Seyler

Journal writing is a voyage to the interior. — Christina Baldwin

Writing is medicine. It is an appropriate antidote to injury. It is an appropriate companion for any difficult change. — Julia Cameron

MEANING

Let me start by giving you a few benefits to journaling. These benefits are also the answer to the question, “Why journal?”

Why journal? Because…

  • It will improve your physical health

  • It will enhance your psychological healing and growth

  • It will help you release pent-up emotion

  • It will counteract your anger and frustration

  • It will help you reduce and overcome stress

  • It will help you detach from past events in order to let them go

  • It will help you articulate and clarify your thinking

  • It will help you foster healthy self-talk and neutralize self-sabotaging conversations

  • It will reinforce learning and increase retention of anything heard or read

  • It will promote honesty and cut through denial and self-deception

That’s a pretty compelling list.

If you do decide to journal, where do you start? Let me share four decisions you need to make that will open to door to experiencing the benefits of journaling.

First, decide on the focus of your journaling [it’s OK to have more than one focus area]. Will it be as a place to express your grief? Will you use it to record gratitude? Will you write down interesting phrases or quotes you come across? Will it be a place to vent emotion? Decide what your journaling will be about.

Second, set a regular place and time to journal. This will help you develop the habit and in return, increase the benefit and usefulness. Will you journal in the evening or the morning? Will you pause part way through you day to journal? Regardless of when and where, make sure it’s a time and place free from distractions.

Third, figure out a structure or journaling prompts you will use to help you journal. A few prompts I use are in the form of questions: What am I thankful for? What am I feeling? What are my questions? What am I thinking? What am I learning? What prayer do I want to offer? What action do I want to take?

Fourth, after you have some journaling under your belt, go back occasionally and read what you wrote. By looking back, you can see the progress you’ve made, reflect on what you’ve learned, and find encouragement for the road ahead.

If you journal — keep at it! If you are new to journaling or dropped it for some reason, give it another change and stick with it for long enough to see if it serves as medicine for your mind, heart, and body.

EXERCISE

  • What’s a benefit to journaling you are looking forward to?

  • Who is a safe person you can share some of your journal entries with?

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T.I.M.E to Grieve: Grief is a Process of Learning