Journal to Recovery

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Last night I took out my journal and forced myself to write.  Blog posts, poetry, and fun stuff like G-man's Friday Flash 55s and Monkey Man's Sunday 160s have kept me writing almost everyday for the past month and thus, I have neglected my good old fashion pen and paper journaling lately.  Although I release my thoughts and feelings and silly musings with quick strokes of the keyboard, there is something more physically satisfying about channeling the words in my head down through my arm and out through the scribbles my pen makes on the paper.

I have journaled since I was 12 years old.  It has always been therapeutic for me.  The style of my journaling changes randomly from detailed accounts of my daily life to prayers addressed to God, to gratitude lists, to reflections on a Step 4 or 8 or 10 I may be working through, to facts about how a new medication is affecting my sleep or moods, to bullet points of life's recent happenings, and the list goes on.

I thank God for the ability to formulate my thoughts and be able to write about them in my journal.  Sometimes I go back and read what I have written in the past.  It helps me identify patterns in my moods and behaviors.  But mostly I just write it and then forget about it.  It is as if the paper absorbs the craziness in my head and I am left with a lighter heart and clearer mind after I journal.

I haven't woke up feeling rested in the morning for the past two weeks...until this morning.  My journal gained four pages of written words last night and I gained a book's worth of peace.

Happy Writing!

"I write for myself and strangers. The strangers, dear Readers, are an afterthought."   - Gertrude Stein