“We write to taste life twice,” says Anais Nin.

 

Journaling is creative expression.  It is a way to capture ideas that otherwise would float by unnoticed.  We have thousands of thoughts each day.  When I journal I have a way to collect the jewels – the valuable ideas.  There are thoughts and feelings that are important.

 

When I take time to journal, I am most often just writing.  I write and let whatever idea that I am presently experiencing just emerge.  Writing this stream of consciousness on paper enables me to see them clearly and examine them.  I put my thoughts and feelings into a concrete form.

 

Unfortunately, 65% of our thoughts are negative and redundant – or both.  Yet when I capture these negative thoughts, I am able to see the negative patterns that keep repeating themselves.  When I identify my negative thoughts and write them down, I give myself a choice.  I can see the patterns.  I have the ability to choose what is of value, instead of subconsciously living out the self-destructive patterns.  This is taking responsibility for my own life, and as a result, I have the ability to respond consciously.  Words carry power.

 

I have done lots of journaling, using free association, since 1986.  As I have done so, I have learned to observe my thoughts and feelings with neutrality and simply record them.  This allows me to capture gold amidst, a great deal of worthless rock – dross.  In this way, I am like a social scientist observing an indigenous tribe in the wild.

 

One day, I sat down and wrote this poem spontaneously and effortlessly:

 

Treasure in a field

There is a treasure in a field.
I sell everything.
Buy the field,
and regret nothing.

There was a time
that this seemed foolish.
Now, it has no parallel.
There is no choice.

Love is the only option.
The mess left is why
I have forgone the way
of shallow pursuits.

This is what I tell myself,
at least.
Nothing is left of the old life –
my newness is rewarded.

Single minded presence
begets a way of life
rich in mystery and potential,
lacking the hopeless wandering.

So many stones overturned
– hearts broken!
As if this time,
the outcome would be different.

Yet it is all the same.
The bitter aftertaste,
the regret of love,
lacking heart and meaning.

Don’t be depressed.
Regain the vitality of
endless opportunity,
buried in a hidden place.

For it is a secret.
The place is known,
but eluded me for so long –
far too long.

Being home, I know –
the sweet sorrow of past regrets,
the aimless wandering
of dead end streets.

As I enter the threshold,
my heart leaps with joy,
my step is light,
I know the trust life brings.

 

Chade-Meng Tan, one of the founders of Google, suggests this journaling exercise: “You give yourself a certain amount of time, say, three minutes, and you are given (or give yourself) a prompt, which for our purposes is an open-ended sentence such as “What I am feeling now is. . . . “  For those three minutes, write down whatever comes to mind.  Try not to think about what you’re going to write – just write.  It does not matter how closely you follow the prompt; just let all your thoughts flow onto the paper.  There is only one rule; do not stop writing until your time is up.  If you run out of things to write, just write, I ran out of things to write.  I have nothing to write.  I still have nothing to write. . . . until you have something to write about again.  Remember, you are writing to yourself, for yourself, and you will never have to show this to another person unless you want to.  Hence, you can do this with full honesty.”

 

Please watch this video of Judith Peterson discussing the process of writing in a journal.