The Power of Journaling: Self-Reflection, Creativity, Stress Relief and more

I'll never forget the day I stumbled upon my old journal from sixth grade. As Amanda and I giggled over the memories, we realized that journaling has played a crucial role in our lives – from teenage angst to adult stress relief and self-awareness. Join us in this soulful episode as we explore the power of journaling and share our personal journeys using this therapeutic tool.

Imagine a safe space where you can release your most private thoughts, tackle stress, and boost creativity. That's what journaling has been for us, and we're excited to chat about different styles like guided journals, morning magic journals, and even the "Fuck It" journal. We also discuss using prompts and setting intentions to live a more grateful, connected, and creative life. Get ready to be inspired and find the perfect journaling technique for you!

As a special treat for our listeners, we've got a surprise at the end of this episode, so make sure to stick around! Whether you're new to journaling or a seasoned writer, we hope this conversation encourages you to pick up a pen and start exploring your thoughts on paper. Let's unlock the benefits of self-reflection, inspiration, and manifestation together – and don't forget to share your journaling adventures with us!


RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY'S EPISODE
F*ck it Journal on Amazon
Today with Intention Journal 
Rising Strong by Brene Brown
Dear Universe Journal 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Hello and welcome to what women want today. Podcast season three, the soul sister series, where we will tackle tough topics straight from our heart to yours. I'm Terry Kellams, your host and coach for women who struggled find meeting and fulfillment in midlife.

Speaker 2: 0:17

I am Amanda Keeper. I am your new regular contributor. I come straight from the Midwest Rockford Illinois. I'm a public speaking teacher and leadership development professor. I'm also a coach and clinical mental health counselor. I am so thrilled to be here, and let's get started.

Speaker 1: 0:34

Let's do it. Hello and welcome to this week's episode. Hello, my friend Amanda, you know what I was thinking of. today is the first time we have been behind the mic just the two of us, because we've been doing a lot of interviewing guests lately.

Speaker 2: 0:49

Yes, and I was going to tell you I'm so excited to be back with just you.

Speaker 1: 0:53

I know how fun. I am, however, a little disappointed because you know what? today is Wednesday as we record this. I believe you were supposed to be at my house tomorrow. I was Yeah, and we had to postpone, reschedule our visit together.

Speaker 2: 1:13

But what I love about us is I know we will postpone and we will be back together soon.

Speaker 1: 1:17

That is true, august. Yes, i will see you in August. Yes, excited about that. So, amanda, i have a question for you today. Do you remember what age you were when you started journaling?

Speaker 2: 1:30

Well, it's interesting that you say that. I think I was probably in sixth or seventh grade, and the things that I journaled about I still struggle with today.

Speaker 1: 1:42

Seriously, do you go?

Speaker 2: 1:43

back and read those journals. So not purposely, yeah. But when I'm cleaning and I stumble upon them, it's like I can't focus anymore because I have to stop everything I'm doing, sit down with my journal and start reading everything. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 2:01

I have come across them like in a box and just kind of open it up and thumb through it. I don't intentionally go looking for something to go and read And I think to myself wow, i've grown Like my thoughts and the things that I put down in some of those earlier journals. I think to myself wow, i don't even think like that anymore.

Speaker 2: 2:23

Yeah, well, i was actually reading something that I wrote to somebody I really care about out loud to Noah, my son and my husband last night And it was from 2009. And my husband said it was so interesting to hear you talk in that letter. He said because you sound like yourself, you repeat yourself a lot and you do that to me too. And he yeah, and he goes and I could tell how passionate you were and the things that you desired and that you wanted I feel like we have in our relationship. So it made me feel really proud.

Speaker 1: 2:59

Oh, that's so cool. You know, i used to journal like years ago and a lot of it was angst, like lots of things going wrong in my life, things I was really unhappy about, and I always kind of held myself back because I was afraid that the person that I was writing in about was going to read it.

Speaker 2: 3:18

Yes, i wonder that too. I actually I started a new group for my counseling practice. It's a group for women And I'm actually giving all of them a new journal tonight when they arrive, And I'll share. I know this is one of the things that we're going to do today, terri. We're going to share some of the journals that we've had over the years, but I think I'll get everybody's attention if I don't mind kicking it off. The one that I'm going to give all of my clients tonight for participating in this women's group is a journal called Fuck It, a journal to unfuck your life, exhale the bullshit and love who you are. I love that Is that from Amazon.

Speaker 1: 4:02

Yes, okay, we're going to put a link in the show notes for that. I actually really love that. I love that a lot. Yes, yeah, that's interesting. Today we're going to go over quite a few things, but I love that you're giving that to your group. And actually, what I was going to say before I forget, because I'm just like in that brain space right now where I'm very like brain foggy. But when I was talking about like writing, wondering and worrying about if someone's going to read it, i said this on another podcast episode It's probably been a year ago where I said your journal is your private thoughts. If someone chooses to read those private thoughts, they're going to have to deal with the consequences of what they read. So encourage people to write as though no one's going to read it, because it is a very powerful tool and we should be able to write without worrying about what people are going to do with that information. So it should be a safe spot to write down your feelings.

Speaker 2: 4:58

Yeah, i agree, and maybe we should put like a disclaimer in all of our journals, like a sticky note, that says if you choose to read this, just know that these are my private thoughts. My intention is not for anybody to read this and read at your own risk. Exactly, warning warning.

Speaker 1: 5:13

So today we're going to cover the benefits of journaling. We're going to talk about tips to get started. So if you're somebody who has never journaled before, we're going to give you a couple tips on how you can get started. We're going to talk about using prompts and make sure you stick around to the end, because we have a special gift for our listeners today. And then we're going to talk about some different styles of journaling And, amanda, i love that you brought up kind of like a guided journal.

Speaker 1: 5:40

Yes, i love that because I have this one. It's called Today with Intention a guided journal for reflection mindfulness in self-care. So if you're not good at just like free flow writing, you might consider our listeners might consider opening up a journal like this. Target has some really cool ones. Amazon has some great ones. There's another really good one. It's called Dear Universe. I think this one is special because it's short. So if you're not someone who has a ton of time to like sit down and dedicate to, you know, 30 minutes of journaling every day, you know, say you've got still got small children or whatever you've got going on. This one is just pretty quick. It's like things I want to manifest. Affirmations for today, daily gratitude for today and like an action plan. So this one's really cool. I really I really love this one a lot, but I do love the guided journals.

Speaker 2: 6:35

They're great. Yes, I do too. And after you jump right in and kind of talk about the benefits of journaling, I'll share with you why I think privacy is so important. With one of the prompts out of the bucket journal.

Speaker 1: 6:50

Oh, okay, All right. So listen, benefits of journaling. Tell me which ones of these? Well, there's. I wrote down probably five of them, but we'll see if you had some more to add to it. So the first one is reduces stress and anxiety. So writing down your thoughts and feelings can help you process them and reduce the impact on your mental health. I believe that one probably really resonates with you.

Speaker 2: 7:14

Wow, it really does. There's a book called Your Body Keeps the Score, and it's How Stress and Anxiety Live in Our Body. And one way from the research that I've done is that we change our emotions is through purging our emotions. So we need to first of all, first of all, be able to acknowledge what our emotions are, be able to claim them, to name them and then be able to change our state after we reckon with them. So I love that first one that you have.

Speaker 1: 7:45

Yeah, i think you know, just as someone who went into this very much just needing a safe place to kind of like throw up all over the place and not necessarily feel like I was being a burden to someone, because I'm pretty sure when I very first started I didn't feel comfortable sharing some of those things that were going on. So I imagine just being able to write them on paper and then walk away from them, come back to them later and seeing if I still felt the same way was probably very beneficial at the time. Number two on my list is that it boosts creativity. So journaling can help you tap into your creative side by allowing you to explore new ideas and perspectives.

Speaker 2: 8:28

I could not agree more. Like all of the examples that I have with you today are very creative and I'll I think you'll see that when I show the samples and they tap into a side that I would never have on my own had I not had those prompts, or even the color of a journal, or even the way that that author uses their own, like creativity, to think about how we can be more creative. And I know you know the author, sark, but I'm going to share one of the examples. Yeah, i love Sark.

Speaker 1: 8:56

Yeah, okay, number three it improves self-awareness. Now, this is probably like number one. if you do nothing else in your journal, i wish people would do this one, because self-awareness, it helps you reflect on your experiences and your emotions and it helps you gain a better understanding of yourself and your behaviors. Yes, so much. Yes, awareness, and we've talked about getting to know yourself so that you can grow and learn. This is a big one for me.

Speaker 2: 9:26

Yeah, and when I talk with clients, i always say that one of my jobs as a therapist is to help you move things out of your blind quadrant into your open quadrant. So one of the things that journaling will help you do is be able to see yourself, just like you're holding a mirror up to yourself with your words and your feelings.

Speaker 1: 9:44

Yeah, it's like if you can't be honest in your journal, then you really do have a lot of blind spots, don't you? Yes, yes, i mean I think of some of the angry things that I've said, like when you're handwriting. When you like, look back at your journal and your handwriting is just atrocious because you're so pissed off. You know, it's just angry writing. We call it angry writing. Okay, where are we? Enhance is problem solving skills, so writing about your problems can help you identify solutions and help you make better decisions.

Speaker 2: 10:15

Yeah, i mean, depending on how you style, how you journal, you could even do like a pros and cons list, or you could do costs, rewards, like a benefits analysis, your prompts, some of the ones that I'll share today, you can look at consequences of not solving the problem. So yeah, i agree with that as well.

Speaker 1: 10:36

All right. In my last one it promotes gratitude And this would probably be really high up there with the self-awareness. This is how I kind of got back to journaling after being away from it for several years was by doing a 30 days of gratitude every November. I've had people join me for doing it. you know, kind of on a schedule type thing. but it says journaling the things that you are grateful for can help you cultivate a more positive outlook on life. Yes, so true.

Speaker 2: 11:04

I do too, and it reminds me of the podcast we did with Melissa Segru, who actually went through a very traumatic diagnosis with breast cancer, and she went back straight to her gratitude journal because she knew that was one of the things that would help her withstand the stress that she was going to have to endure during that time.

Speaker 1: 11:23

Yeah, I feel like there is always always something that you can find to be grateful for.

Speaker 2: 11:29

So I think we should have some fun with this. I think that was a great list. So why don't we go back and forth and kind of share some of our journals and some of the prompts and then we can kind of just free associate, as if we were writing things down, but we'll talk it out, okay, this will be challenging, okay. So the one that I was just talking about, the Fuck It journal. You really have to be sure that nobody's reading it, because one of the first things that it asks you is to list things that you don't give a shit about right now.

Speaker 1: 12:04

Wow, i feel like this is so trendy to say I don't give a fuck, i don't give a shit about what people say, what people think. I'm in this time of life where I don't give a crap about any of that anymore. And, oh gosh, what don't I give a crap about? I think I'm getting closer to that point where I think I don't care as much how you feel about me not you in general, but how you feel about me as your business and how I feel about myself as my own business. Now, when you and I were in King Coo and a couple months ago, having some of our deep conversations, i said to you I like myself, i like who I am, and that might not be something that someone else likes in a person, but I like me. So you don't have to like me because I like me.

Speaker 2: 12:59

Yes, that is so powerful. Yeah, my husband and I talk about that all the time. If you legitimately can look in the mirror and you like who you are and what you stand for and your values and how you treat people and at the end of the day you feel like you're living in your integrity, and somebody still doesn't like you, and I agree with you. It's not my job to make everybody in the world like me And, as a two on the enneagram, that's been a really hard lesson for me because my personality is naturally inclined to want everybody to like me.

Speaker 1: 13:32

Oh yeah your bigger on relationships. So yeah, totally, i get it. So what about you Turn that background?

Speaker 2: 13:39

on you. Let's see. So a list of things I don't give a shit about. Oh, this is going to be really controversial, but I don't give a shit about yard work And I don't give a shit about cleaning Like I know that sounds so spoiled and everything. But I work really, really hard. So I do three different careers And I've gotten to the point where I would rather just use some of my harder and money and pay to have somebody who really enjoys that work and do that work. And it's hard for me because, like my husband, will walk in the house and he notices everything if it's out of order, if it's not, like his. His quote is you take a pan out, you put a pan back in, you turn a light on, you turn a light off, like everything has a place and it goes back This is why we very love each other by the way, yeah, 100%, and I just don't see those things.

Speaker 2: 14:32

Like he will come home and he will he used to before we decided to hire it out because we were arguing about it so much. But he would come home and like do the landscaping and mow the grass and like do all these things around the yard, and I wouldn't even notice it because it's not like my value I'm. I'm like rushing into the house to like engage in conversation with one of my family members because I've missed them so much all day, i don't even notice.

Speaker 1: 14:58

Right Back to the relationship thing. The relationship, yeah, you're still focused on the relationships. You could care less about the world falling out around you And you know you and my husband are so much alike And we, you know, we've talked about this before because Brian could care less And I I I was talking to someone about it one day and I was like it is very important to me, it's a value of mine. Um, however, i can appreciate the fact that it's not a value of his and sometimes it works to my advantage, because if I am really busy with my own personal pursuits and I don't want to make sure all the dishes are clean and floors are swept and mopped and everything's dusted, but she doesn't care because he doesn't notice.

Speaker 2: 15:38

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:39

You know that's being, you know like if they're like, you know, like.

Speaker 2: 15:40

you know, like if Gary left the kitchen mass for a day or two and was like let's just do it when we get home, I'd be like sweet.

Speaker 1: 15:47

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 15:47

Okay, How about you? What's one of your journals Um?

Speaker 1: 15:51

okay, so let's see. Oh, let's see. Um, so Brian and I were playing this game the other day and it's a card game that you, you pull out these cards and you ask each other questions. I love that. I love those. Um, it was funny because he didn't want to see. I'm trying to remember how it went. He was having a hard time coming up with words and I said, well, okay, let's turn this whole thing around. I said, you know, let's do it. You talk about me and I'll talk about you, because he didn't want to talk about himself. Okay And um, and then, you know, then I was like at the end of it, I was like I don't. I don't like this either, because I feel like I'm prompting you for compliments and I don't. I'm not want to fish for compliments, but so I'm one steps out to me from this list I have here. But, um, what are your proudest accomplishments and what can you learn from them?

Speaker 2: 16:45

Yeah, that's a really good one For me. Um, it is my my getting back into counseling. I stepped away from counseling for a long time because Noah was young and I didn't want to work two jobs and miss out on any baseball games or anything that he had. I have one, you know, one bi-biological child. I do have two step kids, but they were older when I met them. So I feel like I got one shot at like the baseball games and like all the being there for your child And I just wouldn't, um, give up that that time. So I stepped away from counseling.

Speaker 2: 17:21

I'm so proud of myself for going back to it because I feel like I'm in my gift when I'm counseling. Um, and it was scary because I didn't know if I was still going to be effective. I didn't know if, um, you know you, you just you step away from something for 70 years and you don't know if you lose your skill set. And I'm just really glad that I had a good mentor that encouraged me to go back. And, and my husband asked me last night because we were doing one of these journal prompt things. We were actually the three of us my son, my husband and I were doing the whole journal last night, the fuck it journal. And um, he said, if you went a billion dollars tonight, would you go to work tomorrow? I said I would absolutely go to my counseling job. Yes, Well, i think that says a lot.

Speaker 1: 18:09

Yeah, i would not bail on my clients, like I am so connected and there for them and invested and helping them on their journey And my integrity would not let me walk away from that And I love it, so yeah, That's awesome, i'm going to say and I don't know that I've ever talked about this on the podcast before but I dropped out of high school and had a baby at a very young age And I could have been one of those statistics. I could have been one of those stories, right, but I wasn't, because I had a drive in me. I don't know where it came from. I still don't know where it comes from, but I went on to be a leader in a Fortune 500 company And I was good at it.

Speaker 2: 19:01

Yeah, we were good at it. I talked to your people that worked for you and you were very good at it, and you still are good at training and coaching, and I think that's a huge thing to be proud of. A lot of people use that narrative of I dropped out of high school as an excuse And you just did not. In fact, you've always said part of why I don't like talking about things that have been hard for me on the podcast is because I don't want anyone ever, ever feeling sorry for me And I've coached you into it's not about feeling sorry for you, it's about normalizing. Like look me too. I've been through some of these experiences as well, and here we are persevering and resilient and having courage And we keep going.

Speaker 1: 19:46

Yeah, you know what's interesting about it is when I was at my happiest, just in my zone and everything is. When I met Brian, he used to say to me, smiling so much Why are you so happy? Just joking, i'm so happy And I legitimately, like you said, with your clients. I did not ever mind getting up and going to work every day Hour and a half commute in the morning in traffic And I was energized by going there and the people. It was all about the people.

Speaker 2: 20:23

Yeah, you felt alive.

Speaker 1: 20:24

I did, i did. I felt so alive, i felt like I was. you know, the industry I was in, i can't say is, like you know, the best, most wonderful industry in the whole world, but helping people realize their full potential made me feel good about what I did every day. So, yeah, 100% 100% All right.

Speaker 2: 20:45

So one of my other ones is from Renee Brown, and so sometimes you'll buy a book and it comes with a journal or a workbook. So there is Atlas of the Heart This is Rising Strong. Rising Strong, ok, this is Rising Strong. The Reckoning, the Rumble and the Revolution. And so you read through her book and then there's questions that kind of go with the content, and so she just has all kinds of prompts. One of my favorites is what she calls shitty first draft.

Speaker 1: 21:16

No, i love that when she says that.

Speaker 2: 21:18

Yes, so she believes that sometimes we make our own misery by telling ourselves of shitty first draft about what happened. Yeah, so she says we can't get to a brave new ending if we start from an inauthentic place. So she asks us to think about what is the story that I'm making up or telling myself about this situation that could or could not be true, and what assumptions am I making that are probably not true? because I've gone to a negative place in my mind. And one of the things that she also talks about is in healthy relationships, you always assume positive intentions.

Speaker 1: 22:03

I love that too, yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:05

So, for example, a shitty first draft. So say, i get home and Gary isn't home when he said that he was going to be home at 6 o'clock. Well, a shitty first draft could be like, well, he just doesn't care about me, or he doesn't prioritize his family. or I could be like wow, i wonder what's going on. He must have ran into somebody, or I'm sure there's something going on that it's not anything personal, right, right.

Speaker 1: 22:39

Here's another story that I used to tell myself about a friend I had. I had this friend, and I'm sure everybody's had this friendship where you feel like you're the one putting in all the effort And then you just sort of start telling yourself Because the little things that happened. It took them a long time to respond to a text message, tried to call them twice and they haven't returned your call. You went by them in the break room and you felt like they were cool towards you And then they canceled your happy hour on Friday night And the next thing you know when you reschedule, unbeknownst to you, she shows up with another woman that she knows you don't care for.

Speaker 1: 23:22

And now your shitty first draft is she doesn't care about me anymore, doesn't care about me, doesn't care about our friendship, she's trying to blow me off, blah, blah, right, yeah, here's a. Here's a question I absolutely love. I don't remember where I first heard it. I'm not gonna take credit for it. It's not my original one, but here's, here's a great question to ask yourself. When you do have a shitty first draft, what else could it mean? Right? What are the possibilities? Yeah, could it mean that she's got something going on in her personal life that she's just not willing to share yet.

Speaker 1: 23:55

Mm-hmm you know what else could it mean if Gary wasn't home when you got there?

Speaker 2: 24:00

right.

Speaker 1: 24:01

So I love that question.

Speaker 2: 24:02

Yeah, i, i do too. And it goes into more depth. And it's like when I tell myself a shitty first draft, the first thing I want to do What is my thinking, what are my emotions, what am I, what are my beliefs? So it really has to be Reflecting on what's happening in your body physiologically. Is your heart beating fast? Is this like a reaction to something else that's happened to you in your life that you're projecting on like what? where else could this be coming from?

Speaker 2: 24:32

mm-hmm what alternative? x x, x. Help me, terry. Explanations Are they? I'm having that brain today too. So that's a good one. Shitty first draft Rising strong from Renee Brown love it, love it.

Speaker 1: 24:47

We'll make sure to put all these in the show notes.

Speaker 2: 24:48

Yeah, how about you? What's next?

Speaker 1: 24:50

Okay, so I am gonna say I think one of the my most favorite journaling is Something that has probably Was probably born out of my childhood. So I've talked on the podcast about my imaginary friend that I have. When I was a child, mm-hmm, i was a huge dreamer, like a huge daydreamer. I I am one who says I don't get bored because I can always be an entertained by my own thoughts. Dream journaling like just making up stories for your own life of, like the best possible outcomes of things. Like I went to this exercise With one of my clients once and it was like Imagine the perfect day.

Speaker 1: 25:38

I love doing this type of journaling and you can do it, you know, today, and then you could do it a month. Now It could be totally different. But your perfect day. You get up, you have coffee today, you having coffee, you were sitting outside on your deck, i could hear birds chirping in the background, but then you start adding in flavor to it.

Speaker 1: 25:56

It's like I could smell, i could taste, i could feel the sunshine on me If you look cool breeze going across my skin. Like you just really start enveloping, invoking all the senses, like it's so real the colors of the flowers and the nearby pot on the table. Like you just like make so much detail that now this is like almost really really happening in your world. Like you can see this, yes, and you just do as much as you want of your day and you just continue this, this process, in your dream journal. And When you need some inspiration, you can open up your dream journal and read about some of your dream days. You know, on those days when you feel like I have nothing to look forward to today, like these shitty things have been happening, my, this relationship with this person is, you know, not going well right now, or my job sucks, or whatever the case may be, and you can open up that journal and read about your perfect day when your mind is in a really good place, and it can take you an instantly back there.

Speaker 2: 26:57

No, i love that, and it already like makes me think about, well, what would my perfect day be? where would I be in? So I encourage our listeners to do that one. I love it.

Speaker 1: 27:07

Yeah okay.

Speaker 2: 27:08

Another one is the morning magic five minute journal and This one I was gifted from my stuff that are packed in is that, that a chat of how that one book, the Happet book, or is that a totally different? No, this is by Tanya Peterson. Oh, okay, it's called inspiring prompts to set intentions and live with gratitude all day long.

Speaker 1: 27:33

I love it.

Speaker 2: 27:34

So You know, this one really talks about Lots of different things, but so the vision, what would make today great?

Speaker 1: 27:45

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2: 27:46

What's my intention today? I will. What am I grateful for? I love this one Release. What do I need to let go of?

Speaker 1: 27:55

Oh, I love that one too.

Speaker 2: 27:57

What do I need to let go of to have a great day and Make space so on my mind, in my heart, on my shoulders, lighting my way. So like what's, you know what is? what do I need to make space for in my life today?

Speaker 1: 28:13

Hmm, i love that.

Speaker 2: 28:15

Yeah. So, like Terry, we made space for our friendship today. You and I, we have this habit of like we won't. We'll go a couple weeks without talking and then we'll we'll finally get one of our 25 30-minute conversations and then, after we hang up, we feel like so invigorated and alive, innovative and creative, and Sometimes we just need to write down what we need to make space for so that we can stay in a good state of mind, in a good place.

Speaker 1: 28:44

I love that. But even if you don't have an Amanda in your life, you can dedicate a whole journal. So I have this beautiful journal and I wish you could feel it, because I'm very much a census person and it's really soft And it's got this really beautiful turquoise tree on it, which I love. Um, for me, like part of the experience of journaling is the medium that I use. Yes, so, um, i love to write, love, love, love to write. I have my favorite pen. It's pink, my favorite color. I have my favorite journals. I probably have two or three. They're very similar to this one, but I have one that's just like an inspiration journal, because Amanda and I were talking this morning and I Like, when I get on a roll, like when we get on a roll, like all these ideas Just like start flying out of our mouths, like we have all these, like wonderful ideas.

Speaker 1: 29:38

But if you don't have someone that you can do that with on a regular basis, why not do it with your journal? Why not set aside an entire journal just for inspiration and creativity? Yeah, you don't have to do every single thing you write down, but it's just a way to, like you, and I call it brain dump. Amanda, we have a whole thing on Facebook. It's a private group, just the two of us and we go in there and we brain dump to each other. But you don't need a facebook group, you don't need, you know, 25, 30 minute conversation. You can do a brain dump on paper if you love to type, which sometimes I'm in the mood to type more than I'm in the mood to write.

Speaker 1: 30:13

But I was talking to my daughter yesterday and she said one that I've done with a client before, which is video journaling. Oh, technology, right, i like that. She's doing video journaling right now because she said Her brain is faster than what her fingers could type or her hand could write. And I love that. And There's also, if you're an apple iphone user, there's a little voice recorder on there. Sorry, I'm running out of breath. Um, i'm so excited. Um, you can, if you're out on your morning walk Oh sorry. Or whenever you take your walk, open up that voice recorder thing on your phone. Or even if you don't have an iphone, i'm sure there's some app you can download for any kind of phone you have. I just just put your thoughts down, get them out of your head, get them, get them somewhere.

Speaker 2: 31:04

Yeah. I love that.

Speaker 1: 31:06

I had a client to um. She is probably your dream client, like she. Just if you gave her a challenge or if you presented her with a you know a new way to process information, she was all on it and she loved to do Marco Polo with me. And I told her. I said you can, you know you can Marco Polo with me. I might not respond to every single thing you say. I meant I have time to watch every single one, but you feel like you're talking to me when you're on Marco Polo. Marco Polo is an app if you're not familiar, but Um and so she loved it. She felt like she was talking to me even though we only had one hour session once a week. She felt like she was talking to me when she would put her thoughts into that Marco Polo And then she had time to process them between the next time that we were able to have a conversation. So You don't have to pick just one. Just one way of journaling is my point.

Speaker 2: 31:59

Yeah, so you just gave me another idea that I hadn't uh planned on talking about. But there's also an app called super better And this is actually related to one of the the videos that I show in my public speaking class, and it talks about how you can improve your different types of resilience So physical, social, emotional and cognitive And this is a way that you can like on your phone. Um, you can write down your, your reflections, your progress. You can set goals for yourself. You can set emotional goals, physical goals, mental goals. You can like add friends to it. You can talk to each other and journal your feelings if you're in a safe space. That's pretty. I love. Yeah, it's about super better, and I really love how you brought up technology as a way of journaling.

Speaker 2: 32:47

Okay, another super fun one is from sark. If any of you Haven't heard of sark, sark is so colorful, like every Look at the writing, it's like Everything is just play about this. Um, so I just opened up a page and it says imaginary friends or friends I wish I had. I wish I had a little pocket friend That could go everywhere with me. I would take out this miniature friend where, whenever I needed company, there would be lots of gibgling and secret telling. The pocket friend would have a tiny voice. I wish I had pocket friendships. I wish I had smoked those miniature Sigs and we'd stay up late all night long wearing velvet clothes and discussing literature and arguing Like who would your pocket friend be if you had a pocket friend? like, what was your pocket friend look like? What would you talk to your pocket friend about? I mean, seriously, like some people are just so creative They aren't very creative. I think more creatively.

Speaker 1: 33:53

I have a journal here, um, called the Better Life Journal, and this journal is dedicated specifically for things I want to manifest And I in that journal, somewhere the journal I've had that journal for a long time in that journal somewhere was the attributes of Uh, i didn't call it soul sister, probably called it with bestie or something, but I had this, like your pocket friend. I had a list of all the things that I would want her to be And I, you know, i could imagine snare, i was like just different things. Like um, i manifested The house that Brian and I built, like I didn't even realize I did it. But when the secret came out and I first started doing vision boarding and all that, um, i shared it with my daughter, courtney, and Years later she comes back to me and she goes mom, that was on your vision board, wow, it was, it was crazy, the pool and everything.

Speaker 1: 34:46

So, um, having a manifesting journal, i really highly believe that you don't Need to, like, put every single thing in one kind of journal, because You know there's just days where okay, here's another great example of a journal that I just started doing recently, within probably the last three or four months, like a sea journal. So you're just writing down little stories so that you don't forget, because you and I, our moms, are passed away, and so there's there's still questions. I wish that I could ask her, and I can't, and I'll never know. That piece of information is gone now and I think, um, well, wouldn't it be neat if I had This journal that was dedicated just solely to The legacy, the legacy of our family, memories, um, that they can look back on and they're, they're happy things. They're not my angry journaling, they're not my dreams, are just strictly like legacy journaling and I, i love that kind of journaling.

Speaker 2: 35:46

And they have so many out there like I remember buying my dad one He never filled it out, But you know it asked him like where he was born in this hometown in military service and like greatest childhood memory and like all these different from So it's. It could be a gift too.

Speaker 2: 36:01

So the last one that I have to share with us is one that really goes back into our childhood, and it's called shadow work journal for self-love. So these are prompts that integrate your shadow and embrace your inner child. Um, so I actually have this in front of me and I'll just give you an example. Um, so this one is one that I'm actually doing today in my small group, and it's called mirror work.

Speaker 2: 36:27

Mirror work is a powerful practice in which you gaze at yourself in a mirror And, literally in your face, look at your limiting beliefs, fears and doubts. So you're going to sit or stand comfortably, comfortably in close range to a mirror. You're going to look into your own eyes for two to three minutes and, as you do, repeat a compassionate affirmation. Motivational author louise hay encouraged saying I love you, i love you Or, if that's too difficult, maybe I'm able to love myself in the future. As you repeat the affirmation, notice what thoughts and affirmations come up and allow yourself to feel whatever it is in that moment. So it's literally like a prompt that has you do a creative exercise by looking at yourself for two minutes And trying to write down what comes up in your body, in your, in your emotions.

Speaker 1: 37:22

And so we're doing this one tonight love, it love it my last journal type that I have on my list here is um. It's something that brian and I've talked about for years because, like six weeks after brian and I started dating, we went on our very first vacation together and my friend heather which she probably is listening She said he's going to chop your body up and throw the parts into the ocean. She was you do not know this man. You should not be going on a vacation with him. But we, like, we love to sit in, reminisce about different times that we've been on different different places We've been, and, and so I want to start a travel journal and I want to try to go back and See if the two of us can remember. And he wants me to like somehow Organize the photos and you know people don't do that anymore, he's kind of like old school, but I'm going to try to figure out how to do this all together where I can put down some of our memories, like where we stayed, what we did, like the highlights of the trip, what something funny that might have happened, and the photos to go with it.

Speaker 1: 38:21

But I was thinking of if, um, if somebody listening is like I don't really like to travel. You know I kind of like I'm just like a homebody or just like a sick list of home, or I enjoy doing simple things like Gardening or hiking or whatever. Um, it could be an adventure journal. It doesn't have to be a travel journal. It could be like the highlights of my weekend. This weekend where I was, i'd be able to go out to my garden and pick a beautiful bouquet of flowers, or We went hiking and I saw the most beautiful birds, and so it doesn't have to be about journaling, but it can be about experiences that are worth remembering down the road.

Speaker 2: 38:57

Yeah, i love that and I also you reminded me of like mindfulness journals, where you know, if I go to like A garden like Anderson gardens and Rockford, right, live You'd or beautiful garden, and you just have pen and paper and you just write down what you're noticing with your senses And it just really brings so much into awareness that we usually just, you know, walk right right by, and so I think that's really the word Um journaling brings To our conscious things that are subconscious, so like it's a practice in awareness, in awareness, and it's bringing things from like just living in a robotic life where you're actually getting to know your inner self And being intentional and reflective about your own experiences.

Speaker 1: 39:44

Yeah, like an exercise I had one of my clients do was um, take a different route to work If you're having a hard time like Noticing like little things and and being, you know, super aware of what's going, because we tend to get in the car And we're an autopilot right? Wait, you were telling me this morning that you're really enjoying going to that new coffee shop.

Speaker 1: 40:06

Yeah and so I I said to her take a different route. You know, i don't even know if I mentioned stopping to get coffee, but at one point we did talk about her. You know, taking her, her laptop and going and working in different environments to kind of Start creativity, but like even taking a different way to work and noticing a new restaurant that you might want to try, or You know, seeing a friend on the sidewalk and waving and you just like little things like that can Do absolutely. What you just said is just bring us, bring us back to ourselves. Like, stop being an autopilot, be aware of the world around you so that you can Find gratefulness and tiny things you know.

Speaker 2: 40:44

I I could not have said it better. It's it's the opposite of autopilot. It's awareness. Become aware And you will live a fuller life for sure.

Speaker 1: 40:56

Well, let's talk about some tips for getting started. Okay, so this might be the hardest part for somebody, so I kind of touched on it a little bit. Um, because my um Value is, like a, very much aesthetics, like we talked about, the clean house, like the, the manicured yard, the beautiful flowers, all that stuff The, the journal and the pen Are huge for me. Yeah, i want to see this journal sitting on my desk or On the table beside the couch where I sit, often cut up with my dog, like I want to see it and think, oh, i can't wait to pick it up.

Speaker 2: 41:33

Yes, yes, i back for just some um journals from artists.

Speaker 1: 41:38

Oh.

Speaker 2: 41:40

It's, uh, it's. It's just so true like I would rather pick up a beautiful journal and a beautiful gel pen, then pick up like a white pad of paper.

Speaker 1: 41:49

Absolutely writing, and if you are somebody that's really crafting, creative, like, just get a plain one and decorate it yourself. Yeah, you know, it could be like a little mini vision board on the front of your journal notebook, you know.

Speaker 2: 42:03

Yeah, and journal, and that's the thing is. Journals can be scribbles, they can be artwork, they can be collages, they can be words, they can be any form of creativity that you choose to express yourself in.

Speaker 1: 42:14

Absolutely. The second thing is to set aside specific time. So schedule a regular time each day to journal. Whether it's morning or night, it doesn't really matter, it could be on your lunch break at work, just as long as you set aside, give yourself I don't know.

Speaker 1: 42:30

I talked about this recently. I was invited to do a live instagram um little interview thing, and I was talking about A period of time in my life when I was going through a really rough spot and I was feeling, um, very down a lot. My moods were very low for quite a while and I developed this thing I called my um, my minimum required effort. Um, i called it Marie, mre, and You can't do Marie for a long time, because then it becomes sure you're normal.

Speaker 1: 42:59

But if you have a minimum required effort, if you say to yourself I'm going to start out with 10 minutes, i'm going to say to myself 10 minutes After coffee in the morning or 10 minutes before I go to bed at night or whatever it is. It's kind of like people who want to um read a book in a specific amount of time. They'll say I'm going to read a chapter a day. I'm going to read 10 pages a day. Give yourself an allotted time and if you even have to set your timer on your phone or whatever, 10 minutes And it becomes a habit. Mm-hmm, develop a habit.

Speaker 2: 43:30

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 43:33

Number three is write freely. We talked about this a little bit during our talk today, of not censoring yourself, so that you're really truly taking full advantage of the benefit of journaling. Don't censor yourself.

Speaker 2: 43:47

Yeah, and sometimes you need to be really careful not to judge yourself or what you're writing too. Sometimes it reminds me I have clients come in and they're like well, i felt bad about what I said last week in session And I said so you're even judging yourself in your therapy session.

Speaker 1: 44:04

Oh gosh.

Speaker 2: 44:05

Like I want you to come in here without any masking and any pastoring. I want it all. I want it uncensored, and that's what a journal, a journal, should be uncensored and raw.

Speaker 1: 44:14

Or, sure, experiment with different styles. We talked about this a little bit too. The different types of journals you can do, whether they're guided, whether they're specific, like dream journals or adventure journals or creativity reflection, childhood, childhood I don't wear a grad attend.

Speaker 1: 44:33

Yeah. So experience with those and find out the ones, the style that works best for you. We even talked about methodology or modality. I guess it would be like, whether it's typing or writing or voice or recordings or videos, whichever Apps, right, whatever gets you to do it, they say the most effect, like if you're going to the gym, and they say what's the best exercise for me to do? The one that you're going to actually do? Do that one Exactly.

Speaker 1: 44:57

And the last one, which is kind of like our wrap up a little bit today our gift to you is use prompts, and Amanda had some really great ones for us today. If you're not sure what to write about use prompts, use books that already have them, amanda, and I would love to gift you with some that we came up with. If you would love to receive a copy of that, just send us an email at wwwthenumber2, the word day podcast at gmailcom and just put journal prompts in the subject line And we will send you off some free journal prompts to get you started, amanda. What So fun? Amanda, i want you to tell me because you have admitted on the podcast, and I know this because you're my sole sister and you tell me these things, but you have a hard time sticking to things, and what do you call it Like?

Speaker 2: 45:52

sticking through it, or I call it consistently inconsistent. There you go.

Speaker 1: 45:58

So what advice would you give to somebody that has the same kind of personality as you that would normally be consistently inconsistent? What advice would you give them about journaling?

Speaker 2: 46:07

Well, it's interesting that you asked that, because I was sitting here contemplating myself of, like, how can I make this a habit? Because mine, of course, is like I'll pick it up, then I won't pick it up for three months. I was thinking about how cool it would be, in one way to deepen our friendship, terry, if I were to have it like an accountability person, and the purpose of my journal was not only to get out my emotions and know myself better, but also to deepen my friendship with you. So I was thinking well, what if I did my journaling for 10 minutes and at the end of the day, i took a screenshot of it and sent it to you?

Speaker 1: 46:41

Oh, i love that, i love that idea. Yeah, accountability is big. Yeah, it's a big one, i would say. For me, i would say try to connect it to your values. Try to find some way to connect journaling and the benefits of journaling to something that you value dearly. And for me, personal growth is a very high value, so I know that journaling helps me with my personal growth. So therefore, i can and I was talking to my husband about this the other day. He comes in, he's been wanting to clean the garage and he's like I just have no motivation, honey, i have no motivation to go out there and clean that garage, like you right, like if you're being curious, just like looking at it would be like motivation enough, like we just want to be clean, so we're just going to do it. But it's not always about motivation, it's about discipline.

Speaker 2: 47:32

Yes, so talking about that all the time, one of my favorite quotes is your life is made up of your habits, and your habits are made up of your ability to have discipline.

Speaker 1: 47:43

So there you go. So that's, a great way to end it. I enjoyed our conversation today, as always, And remember if you are enjoying the content of this show, please share the episode with a friend. go out to your favorite podcast platform and rate and review the show. We appreciate that. It helps more women find the show. What would you like to leave with listeners with today? I mean, I'll leave the last word for you today.

Speaker 2: 48:08

Oh well, my last words today are do more of what makes you feel alive.

Speaker 1: 48:17

Yes, I love it All. Right until next time, everybody, please remember to take good care of you. Bye-bye, Bye. Well, that's a wrap for this week. Thank you so much for joining us. We're so glad to be here with you.

Speaker 2: 48:30

And just remember, we're here to serve. Reach out, connect with us on social media platforms and dig in deeper.

Speaker 1: 48:37

All those things will be in the podcast show notes. So join us. We'll see you in the next episode.