Journaling for healing (+ self-love journaling prompts) | Healing is the Best Revenge episode #19 transcript
Welcome to Healing is the Best Revenge, a podcast for survivors and the folks who love us, to discuss the politics of survivorship, healing, and self plus community care. This is a space where we honor the messy and complex realities of healing from trauma, rejecting pedestals and perfectionism along the way.
Hi, I’m your host, Karina Hagelin. I’m a survivor with complex post-traumatic stress disorder AKA C-PTSD and, I get it. I’m here to offer affirmations, pep talks, encouragement, support, and conversations about being in the messy murky middle of healing from trauma. Wherever you’re at in your journey, I believe in you. And I believe you. Now, let’s do this - not in isolation but together, in community.
Hi sweet friend! Karina here. I want to share something I’m so proud of myself for: I’ve created and have been doing morning and evening routines! They’ve been a source of much-needed structure and stability, reducing the amount of friction at the beginning and end of my days. I usually have rough mornings, between the chronic pain and the nightmares, which can make thinking, let alone being a person, so incredibly fricking difficult. Being able to rely on my morning routine to support me when I wake up has been really good. And has helped me build some confidence in my ability to be someone who can do routines instead of just… chaos.
Now, let’s dive into today’s episode.
I want to talk about journaling. Journaling can be a useful tool and practice to support our healing journeys. Let me speak from the I: journaling has definitely has been helpful for me as I’ve worked to heal from trauma.
I didn’t always love journaling because writing things down offered me a way to actually remember them. And when I was in a really bad place, I didn’t want to remember any of it - even though my bodymind definitely remembered anyways. Looking back, I wish I had journaled more through the really low lows and darkest of the dark places so I could have more context for the progress I’ve made: how different my life is, how different I feel on a day by day basis, and how far I’ve come.
The thing is, we can choose if we want to re-read our journals. I definitely don’t re-read mine unless a significant amount of time has passed or I’m doing so for therapy.
I use journaling as a safe container for overwhelming emotions, as a form of creative self-expression, as a way to deepen my self-knowledge and get to know myself better, as a place to process experiences and feelings, as a way to document my day to day life: what I’m doing, thinking, and feeling, and as a placeholder for therapy (for example, to help me remember what I wanted to talk about).
There are so many different ways to journal. You can journal with a pen on paper, in a notebook or a journal. You can journal in a blank document on your laptop or even using an app, like the Notes app on your phone or something like Notion.
When it comes to what to journal about, you could try free-writing. If you’re the type of person who feels overwhelmed by that, you could use journaling prompts to guide your writing. Try searching online for “journaling prompts” or even “journaling prompts for” or “journaling prompts about”, adding what you’re working on to the end of those search strings, such as self-care, relationships, or inner child work. If you hang around for the whole episode, I’ll be sharing some journaling prompts for self-love at the end.
Sometimes, I use my journal to write lists or do brain dumps. I’ve also done the Morning Pages, an exercise from the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, which is supposed to help you clear your mind to strengthen your creative practice. The idea is that you free-write every morning, for 3 pages. That’s it.
There are other journaling practices, like creative or art journaling, and journaling systems, such as bullet journaling. My point is that there’s no one right way to journal; you can pick and choose, creating a journaling practice that works for you.
I do have a few tips for getting started with journaling:
Start small. Try journaling a few times a week or even for a few minutes each day. You don’t need to be overwhelmed by starting a new habit and/also by making the habit itself overwhelming.
Embrace messiness. For those of us who are perfectionists, try your best to embrace the fact that your journal will never be perfect. It’s not supposed to be. You will smudge your ink, need to cross out words, and probably make a few spelling mistakes. It’s okay, I promise. If you’re having a hard time starting a journal because of the fear of ruining it, here’s an exercise that helped me. Open your journal to the first page. Now, scribble on it or put a sticker there or write your name; just something, anything, to get it started. This has made it much easier for me to begin a new journal.
Make it fun. It’s much easier to start a new practice when we make it enjoyable. Try using colorful pens or markers, stickers, and washi tapes. Experiment with doodling, painting, or even collaging. Knowing I get to play with my art supplies has helped me look forward to journaling. How might you make journaling more pleasurable for yourself?
Be gentle with yourself, sweet friend. You’re doing the best you can and that’s enough. Don’t use journaling as another reason to beat yourself up, okay?
Before we go, I’d like to share some journaling prompts for self-love to help you get started.
Write yourself a love letter
What helps you feel loved? How could you offer that to yourself?
Make a list of things you like about yourself
What would you want to tell your younger self?
What would your future self/higher self want to tell you?
Create a list of the things that bring you joy
How do you define self-love?
Where in your life can you add some play?
Name your most important values
Okay, that’s all for now. As always, I believe you and until next time.
