One of the best ways to look at anything is cross-eyed.
Not literally, of course. I mean when you examine anything from both sides – right and left, up and down, pro and con – you end up with a more precise understanding of it.
We have political debates to look at different sides of questions. Education generally tries to help us grasp many angles of events and issues. And you comparison shop, right?
So why not apply the same principle to your process of self discovery through journaling?
You can get used to the idea by imposing an opposite viewpoint on something you just penned into your journal. Suppose you're going on about how you are sad and blue, wishing you were somewhere else. You can get a better idea about this suffering by imaging and then writing what the opposite of it would be.
If you are journaling obsessively about a particular concern, you can begin to counter the anxiety by devoting a similar amount of ink to the opposite of that worry.
On the micro level, within your daily posts you may wish to pop into the opposite of things now and then, because this sparks up your thinking and writing and feeling.
A few examples:
Why do I have such an adverse reaction to her? It's like I will take a detour rather than drive by her house. It's almost superstitious, like I think she has cast a spell on me. (Or, maybe she has blessed me in some mysterious way.)
Or perhaps,
Leaving work every day is always such a thrilling moment. I can't wait to sink into the car seat and cruise home, free at last. There's gotta be a better way to live. (Or, I love slowly cooking dinner, drinking a glass of wine, enjoying my family.)
Or how about,
I hate eating alone in restaurants. I always think people are staring at me, feeling sorry for me. (Or, the fact is they are probably not thinking about me at all.)
And then as an in-depth exercise, you can apply this principle of the opposite using the following process.
1. At the top of a clean page, write I am aware. Then keep writing until a page is filled.
2. At the top of the next page, write I am afraid. Again, keep writing until the page is filled.
3. Looking back over these two pages, fill a third page with a comparison of them. How does what you are aware of relate to what you are afraid of?
4. As a bonus, you can circle the words in the third page that stand out and write more about them on a new page.
How's about giving this exercise a try? Let us know how it worked (or not) for you. Post your comments below.
Check out more other journal writing options, avenues and exercises write now.
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