2 Journals for Twice the Healing: Why One Notebook Isn’t Enough

by Tiara Mitchell

Writing is a therapeutic tool. As humans, we have thoughts we don’t care to discuss and need an outlet on where to put them. We have memories that have a lingering effect on us and need a space to let them out. We can call our friends or discuss them during therapy, but what’s better than keeping a log of your inner thoughts?

Journalling has been the best go-to tool for inner guidance. You create a non-judgmental space to speak freely about situations and people who have affected your life. You can document your days and create a meditative time to reconnect with yourself. The daily hustle of life doesn’t give us much time to check in with ourselves and focus on how we feel. Emotions are fluid and there’s no definitive tool on how to manage them. Yet, a simple pen and paper could be a great start to checking in with you. I must say my favorite thing about journaling is, reviewing old entries when I’m in my feels and don’t care to write. It’s an instant way for me to dust my shoulders off and keep triumphing through life.

Why two journals?

In science, we learn 2 things about energy; 1. it can’t be created nor destroyed 2. there is positive and negative energy. This is stuck with me into adulthood. The deep understanding that life is a yin-yang symbol but it is up to us to take the time to see it this way. If we’re honest, life moves fast so when can we allot time to digest our lives? We have experiences feel the emotion and don’t take time to analyze the deeper details.

I started a journal in March 2020. Hello, pandemic. The shutdown had just begun, and I thought, “ why not start writing more?”. It was a great time for me to review my life and be honest. I mean, once my pen hit paper, I couldn’t stop writing. I talked about things that happened in elementary school, back to having dinner in the finest restaurants and to the hairstyle that I wasn’t too impressed with.

Once I skimmed through the shallow experiences, I put my therapist hat on and asked myself, “But how did that make you feel?”. The next thing I knew, I was crying and writing pages of bottled emotions. My daily practice was waking up excited to deep dive into my psyche and express myself freely. Months passed, and I felt like I had gotten it all out. But for every problem, there should be solutions.

If you’re anything like me, I owned multiple blank journals. I decided to put my old journal down and began a manifestation journal. I didn’t want to have the energy of sadness or heaviness near where I wrote for the things I wished for. The entries started out short in my manifestation journal, like micro, mini short. My ‘sad’ journal entries averaged three pages while I could barely pencil a paragraph.

I began to force myself to write what my heart truly desired, what I wanted to heal, and how to move forward towards the way I wanted. Seeing the dark feelings you’ve hidden for so long come to light gives a sense of relief. Issues you’ve kept bottled up finally having free expression gives a sense of freedom.

Over time, this practice of picking up my manifestation journal felt instinctive. My venting journal was for suppressed emotions I played in real-time to clear out my mind and heart. This simple switch in journaling allowed me time to sit with the emotion and feel it. After a hard day, I sit with the emotions and then write how I can fix them or cool mantras tailored to my life issue.

For anyone on a journey, please grab two journals. I will warn you; favoritism will eventually show. I won’t pretend I don’t get sad and want to vent. But, I choose to allow the emotions to be there for a minute. Once they pass, maybe a day later, I jot down everything that would make my heart smile. When I look at old entries, I am not living proof of the things I wrote for. I challenge you to the two journal challenge.

Disclaimer: If you are dealing with serious mental health issues, please seek professional help. I wish you peace and love.