Honor Yourself with a Pen and a Journal
Today’s post is from B. Lynn Goodwin, author of the wonderful book for caregivers: You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers.
Imagine you are on an airplane, and the oxygen mask drops in front of you. You would put on your own mask before attending to the needs of others, right?
The same principle applies if you are a caregiver. You must take care of yourself before you can help others. So, how can you renew yourself? One way is to try a bit of journaling and see where it takes you.
Not sure what to say? Start anywhere. If I gave you “Today I feel…” as a sentence start, what would you do with it? Here are a couple of examples, taken from You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers.
- Today I feel sad. You didn’t want your breakfast. You didn’t want to talk. Neither do I. I want to stare at the dust motes floating in the sunshine that’s streaming through the screen door. So mindless. Like me. If I were a dust mote, I’d have no hands or feet or responsibilities.
- Today I feel hopeful because Kristi is coming in while I go shopping and I’ll have an extra hour. I’ve been e-mailing this really nice sixty-year-old divorced man on Craigslist, and today we’re going to meet for coffee at Starbucks. I have a coffee date and I feel like a teenager sneaking away to meet some hottie.
Let the writing take you wherever it wants to. Feel free to make leaps. Trust yourself and trust the process.
Write while the coffee is brewing or you’re waiting for the kids to get out of school or your loved one is taking a nap.
Put your judgments about writing out on the patio or send them to play on the freeway. They have no business lurking in your home when you are journaling. They keep you from honoring yourself.
Writing gives perspective and restores sanity. It is therapeutic and can even save lives. Do not underestimate its power.
If you share what you do with “Today I feel…,” I’ll write back and tell you what resonates with me.
Get your frustrations, hopes, and love on the page. Your story is buried treasure, and it can’t wait to come out on the pages of your journal.
B. Lynn Goodwin is the owner of Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com and the author of You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers, which contains encouragement, instructions, and over 200 sentence starts to help you journal any time.
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February 23rd, 2010 at 11:52 pm
I just read upwards and found all of these responses.
Joyce, I love your observation that “Journals let us back up and get a broader look at what we’re often too close to see.” I am so glad you are using yours as a tool for self discovery.
Beverley, congratulations on journaling that led to a book. You are exactly right about journaling being therapeutic.
PopArt Diva, I’m glad to find someone else doing a dream journal. It’s hard to get those images down before the dreams slide away.
Ms. Dale, thanks for sharing your story here. I hope you keep a journal to record the struggles of moving on. It’s an issue many women face, and believe it or not, journaling is a way through being stuck. It will help you move on.
Over 200 sentence starts are available in YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT? JOURNALING FOR CAREGIVERS. Be sure to use both title and subtitle if you’re looking for it at Amazon. You’ll see why when you get to the site. =)
Take care,
Lynn
http://www.writeradvice.com
Author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers
February 23rd, 2010 at 11:45 pm
Jodi,
I just found these responses. Those worries are real, honest, and specific. I hope by now, late February, that the carpal syndrome is under control, and you are journaling whenever you like.
Opportunity for anyone reading this: WriterAdvice seeks flash fiction, memoir, and creative non-fiction that mesmerizes the reader in 750 words or less for our Fifth Annual Flash Prose Contest. DEADLINE: April 15, 2010. Entry fee: $10 per submission. First prize: $150. Former prizewinners are the judges. Complete guidelines, mailing address, and prizes at http://www.writeradvice.com.
Lynn
http://www.writeradvice.com
Author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:36 pm
i would like to share my story with you i am a baby bommer and have gone through a terrible marriage break up 2 years ago and still cant move on i haven,t even gone out in 2 year only with my best friend and all we do is go out for dinner and good thing because she keeps me for i just cant forget him i get alot of anxiety attachs for no reason i guess i invested more to the marriage then he did and that i was maddly in love hime where he wasn,t for he did commite adultry when we were together how can move on with out feeling sorry for myself maybe you have ideas. dale
December 17th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I do my journals online now as blogs – all of my blogs are journals though a few don’t get the attention lately. I used to keep a dream journal when I was going for my Masters in psychology, sketchbooks have been my friends for decades.
Journaling is a great form of therapy and self-discovery as your guest blogger says – it’s also a way many have discovered they can write!
December 16th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Journaling is how my first book was created so I totally appreciate it’s impact and meaning. I have been journaling since I was a teen. I think we called it keeping a diary back then—but it was still a process of putting our thoughts on paper.
Journaling for caregivers can be challenging in the sense that there can be real raw emotions that come out as a result. I think it can be therapeutic and certainly a blessing for someone else who may be going thru a similar situation.
December 15th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I love journaling as a tool of self-discovery–and thank you for this wonderful resource and reminder, Eileen! Not only does a journal allow opportunities to see your life on paper for noticing patterns of behavior and concern; it can offer a place to release old pain to help you move on. Recently I had a lot of “core issues” come up that led me to write an overdue letter to my long-gone grandmother. There it is in my journal, continuing to let go of these hurts like a time release capsule. I can just relax, knowing that this ancient wound is being healed between the lines, between the pages of my journal.
Every New Year’s Eve, I start a review of my year’s journal to see what I’ve accomplished and what I want to bring forward to the New Year–as well as what I want to let go of. It’s often startling what I learn! Journals let us back up and get a broader look at what we’re often too close to see.
December 11th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Good morning, everyone. It’s great to be here. Thanks, Eileen, for sharing the article, and for all the great tags. It’s good to see my work through your eyes.
How would you finish the sentence, “Today I feel…” If you want to share it here, I’ll write back and tell you what resonates.
Take care,
Lynn
http://www.writeradvice.com
Author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers
December 11th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Today I feel…scared because my hands are hurting again and I’m worried(I know) the carpal syndrome is getting worse and I won’t be able to type, or cook, or everything else everyone needs me to do.