Writing Is Therapy- Do You Keep A Journal?

I have an admission to make. I see a therapist. I love therapy! I think everyone should at some time in their life. But this time I am seeing one be a better mom for a teenage boy. I have no idea how boys’ brains work, and I have learned a LOT as we talked.

5 More Minutes

As I have thought about therapy, and life, and processing hard things, I want to talk to you about writing. There is a Christmas movie on Hallmark or Up TV this year called 5 More Minutes.

I haven’t seen it yet, but the preview is good. It’s about a young woman who misses her grandpa. And she wishes for just 5 more minutes with him. Then she discovers his journals and feels connected to him through them.

My Aunt’s Writing

As I’ve mentioned before, my aunt just passed away. I can tell you that I looked high and low for her journal. I found notes on scraps of paper all over the place.

Some little bundles were even paperclipped together. But no journal has appeared so far. And I long to hear her thoughts on things. She was a wonderful lady.

A few years ago, my dad sent me some excerpts from his journal about me when I was my son’s age. It was so cool to hear my dad’s thoughts. I remembered many of the things he described. For example, when I was very small, I had a funny habit.

My Dad’s Journal

I would wake up when my dad got up to take a shower in the morning. And I would lay on the floor outside the bathroom door. I loved the draft and the air moving by. And the sound of the shower always made me fall asleep again.

Without fail, Dad would come out and carry me back to my bed. He wrote about it in his journal. But he didn’t know I just wanted to be near him. He was in graduate school, and it was the only time of day he was home.

My Journal

When I was in college, I wrote in my journal every day. It was a goal of mine, and I was proud of myself for keeping it.

But the moment I graduated I let a busy life get in the way. And it’s been years since I wrote daily.

There is something therapeutic about writing. Taking thoughts that are nebulous and making them concrete not only helps make sense of things, but it puts problems in perspective.

Writing is Therapy

For example, the anxiety and worry over a problem can keep you awake at night and seem so large and looming that it’s like the Mind Flayer in Stranger Things.

But once they are down on paper, they are smaller. And the course of action to get around them seems clearer. It’s literally therapy.

I can’t tell you how many times I started a journal entry about a boy, and by the end of the entry, I realized he hadn’t treated me well, and that I needed to move on.

That happened a lot until I started choosing better guys. And again, the journal helped me clarify my thoughts and see that the better guys were better for me.

Keep Writing- It’s Therapy

One thing I noticed as I was reading the journal entries from college was that even then I tried to see the silver lining in every cloud.

It is where I first learned that the Lord is in everything.

And that every challenge leads to a lesson, a time of growth, and ultimately to a victory.

It’s why I write the way I do- ending on a high note. It’s just a lot easier to see those highs when I can write them down.

You don’t have to be a novelist to keep a journal. Heck, I am no novelist. But if you will start, no matter how small, I know you will be glad you did.

And one day when someone you love passes away, hopefully, they kept a journal. And you’ll be blessed to have a few more minutes with them as you read.