A Journal versus. a spiritual journal
Woman writing at sunset (Dollar[hotoclub)
Part two of Start with your Spiritual Journal series
Editor’s Note: This four-part series, Start with your Spiritual Journal, is taken from Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story: Tools, Tips, and Testimonies by Nancy HC Ward. The series begins with Part 1: How do we start? Part 2 covers A Journal versus a Spiritual journal and Part 3 presents Best Practices. Part 4: The Blessings of Journaling concludes the series. Enjoy!
A journal of any kind is a way of writing about your life, as opposed to other things you might write: vacation dreams, career plans, business strategies, bucket lists, or health and fitness goals. Scientific research finds that journaling can enhance your life in remarkable ways that benefit your mind, emotions, relationships, confidence, creativity, communication, and self-discipline. A journal is written by you for your own benefit.
A spiritual journal is by you, yet inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is usually addressed to God, to grow your relationship with him. You might address parts of it to someone you need to forgive or ask forgiveness from, or someone you share a memory with or wish to encourage. Your spiritual journal benefits others when you share excerpts for the glory of God, in person or in writing. Everyone around you wins because all of you become better Christians.
While ordinary journaling might explore language or encourage you to increase your vocabulary, spiritual journaling gives you new words to express what God is doing in your life.
Journaling keeps your mind attentive to the present moment, providing a state of mindfulness that increases your happiness, but spiritual journaling increases your mindfulness of God. Because God is in the present moment, I visualize an oasis of peace where I stay close to the Source of all ideas and encouragement. He gives me much to write about from spiritual lessons learned in my everyday experiences, and much to share about his love and mercy as he heals me of many hurts of the past and calms my fears of the future.
Journaling can help you sketch out plans to achieve your dreams, but when you write down your goals in your spiritual journal, you allow room for God to steer you toward what he has planned for you.
Many people find that journaling increases their self-awareness by allowing them to sort out their feelings and helping them manage them. Writing through your experiences can build a “bridge of empathy” where you can meet others and understand what they are going through. In a spiritual journal, the Holy Spirit can enlighten this process and guide you to share bits of your own story to minister hope to others.
When you write down your experiences and aspirations, your brain and hand cooperate in composing and re-composing thoughts and ideas, bringing clarity to your story and improving your cognitive recall. In a spiritual journal, that improved clarity is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, who will then prompt you to share your recollections in spontaneous one-on-one conversations and public speaking.
Spiritual journaling exercises your spiritual muscle, growing holy habits that bring joy to every area of your being. Keeping a journal requires discipline and consistency for the best results. Like an athlete training for competition, to get good at it, you need to set aside a time each day or week to write in your journal, and then repeat the exercise frequently and regularly to build your “spiritual muscle.” As you develop this holy habit, you’ll find it comes easier, and the self-discipline you’ve acquired will spill over into other areas of your life.
And like regular exercise, journaling puts you on a path to emotional, physical, and psychological healing. Putting your disordered thoughts into your spiritual journal clarifies them and frees you from the snarls of traumas that your mind replays. As you release your emotions during journaling, stress decreases and you sleep better in the peace of the Lord.
Want to jump-start your creativity? Try writing whatever comes into your stream of consciousness first thing in the morning. Julia Cameron introduced this practice in her book The Artist’s Way as “morning pages,” an excellent exercise to destroy writer’s block and loosen up your brain to divulge ideas that will amaze you. In spiritual journaling, this exercise gives you the creative freedom to explore more deeply who you are in the Lord, so that you can discover all that God meant for you to become.
Research shows that, as you record the positive aspects of your life, journaling boosts your confidence by releasing endorphins and dopamine in your brain that elevate your self-esteem and mood. Spiritual journaling elevates your confidence in God’s plan for your life and your ability to cooperate with his grace in all that he wants for you. Recording your faith story boosts your confidence by encouraging you as you explore what God is doing in your life and realize the many ways he loves you.
Journaling can heighten the joy of everything you do. When you place your thoughts and dreams, disappointments and dilemmas before the Lord, your journal becomes a spiritual journal.
Ask Yourself: How do I perceive that spiritual journaling will change my life for the better?
Next: part 3: Best Practices for Keeping a Spiritual Journal
