Writing by Sophie Gray
Writing by Sophie Gray
Journaling came into my life a few years ago. At the time, I had dedicated my life to physical fitness. I was in great shape physically and yet totally ignoring my mental health. And, my mental health was… struggling. My anxiety and depressive thoughts had been creeping up gradually, but I did my best to shun it away and meet those around me with a smile. Fake it till you make it, right?
Wrong. The peak of my anxiety culminated on a flight home and led me to opt out of boarding, instead, choosing to drive over 38 hours to get home.
As I looked to recover, I turned to journaling. After a couple weeks of reaching for my journal each morning, I quickly realized how powerful of a tool it was. It allowed me to embark on a journey of self-examination and self-discovery. It was that one tool that helped me piece my life back together.
Journaling is a practice that can be a completely customizable process prompting you, as the writer, to find your own path of self-examination and self-discovery – in whatever way is best for you. It can take you anywhere from writing on everyday stressors to more specific ‘I can’t believe this happened to me’ moments. Taking the time to reflect on these moments in our lives will not only help us better understand why they are happening but will also help you deal with the emotions that follow suit.
While people know they should journal, they often don’t know what to journal about. So, whether you’re new to journaling or not, here are five journaling prompts that can get you started:
- How am I doing?
When was the last time you asked yourself how you were doing? You’d be surprised at what comes up when you answer this simple question honestly. To answer it effectively, take a moment to check in with yourself. Take a breath and notice any thoughts floating around, any feelings you’re experiencing and just how you’re doing at that moment.
- What am I grateful for?
Gratitude will change your life. Plain and simple. While this question may seem simple, it’s a powerful prompt to answer daily to bring gratitude into your life on the daily.
- I currently feel….
When answering questions isn’t working, another way to start your journaling question is by completing sentences. By exploring how you feel through your journal, you can help yourself make sense of it.
- What’s stressing you out currently?
We’re all about diving thru what you go thru so we couldn’t share five journaling prompts without a question that requires exploring some more in-depth stuff. By being honest with yourself about what’s currently stressing you out, you take a step towards better managing it.
- How do I feel about myself?
Journaling about how you feel about yourself can result in some tears. But, we’re all about that. We also find that taking the time to journal about how you feel about yourself opens the doors to other topics you’ll realize you have to DiveThru!
As mentioned, journaling is an incredibly powerful tool that can help you work through things you’re facing. And, because of that, I created DiveThru, a guided journaling app rooted in journaling therapy. We work with mental health professionals to create guided journaling exercises that help our users take charge of their mental health. If you’re interested in checking it out, you can download it here.
Whether you want to use a journaling app or not, grab you pen and paper, and start diving thru the prompts above.
Happy journaling!
