Guest Blog Post by Lynda Monk
I believe journaling can change lives and change the world. Journaling has been both a creative pursuit and a self-care tool of mine for over 25 years. I started writing in a journal as a teenager, and while I have started and stopped many times over the years, I always come home to my journal eventually. I have grown to realize that when I am journaling, it is a way of coming home within myself.
I used to work in high trauma and high stress work as a crisis response social worker. Many of my working days were filled with hearing and responding to stories related to trauma, abuse, suicide, pain, suffering and loss. I noticed that when I was journaling it helped me process the difficult emotions that were a normal part of my life, due to the nature of the work I was doing. I believe I have been a healthy and happy social worker and helping professional for the past 20 + years, partly because I have whole heartedly embraced going to the page to observe, know, grow and care for myself through regular reflective writing.
I have cried while journaling, laughed out loud, surprised myself and nourished my spirit in ways that not even a day at the spa can bring me. I have been journaling during the moments that have lead up to significant life events: driving away from my first marriage, being in labour to give birth to my son, waiting to meet my biological mother for the first time, the morning of the day I got married again. I journaled when I got the phone call that my grandmother died. I write in my journal to try to remember things about my dad while he is forgetting who I am due to having Alzheimer’s disease. I journal about the colour of light when the sun comes up over Reginald Hill, casting orange hues over the water in Fulford Harbour in front of our home. I sometimes write in my journal to delay doing the dishes that are stacked up on the kitchen counter. I journal to catch all of the amazing things our two boys so often say, like yesterday when Jesse (age 5) asked me how long a rainbow is and if he could ride his bike to the end of it.
Somehow the simplicity of my pen moving over paper, the deep listening, the stillness, the silence…all mix together with my thoughts and feelings and ideas to offer some validation of this life I am living. Journaling evolves one word at a time, one moment at a time. For me, journaling is a spiritual practice; an act of mindfulness on the page which helps me to bring a deep presence to my life.
Journaling is also the heart of my work in the world as I am a Writing for Wellness Coach. I teach helpers, healers, coaches and caregivers how to use Life Source Writing™ – a reflective journaling practice for self-care, stress release, healing and renewal. If you are curious about this – you can learn more at Creative Wellness Works.
Journaling is a passion and a practice that enriches every area of my life – motherhood, marriage, my relationship with myself and others. For the cost of a fast moving Pilot .05 mm pen and a 8.5 x 11 inch blank paged sketch book, spiral bound – my two favourite tools of the trade – I have a lot of fun, I nourish my spirit with words and I play with what is possible beyond the pages of my journal.
About Lynda
Lynda Monk, MSW, RSW, CPCC is the founder of Creative Wellness, an arts based coaching business specializing in supporting the self-care, burnout prevention and renewal needs of people who make a difference. Lynda is the author of both Life Source Writing™: A Reflective Journaling for Self-Care, Self-Discovery, Creativity & Wellness, as well as the Creative Wellness Guided Meditations CD. She offers Writing for Wellness retreat workshops for helping and healing professionals, inspirational speaking, e-courses and products through Creative Wellness Works. Lynda’s passions include her husband, her sons, trips in their Airstream trailer, living on an island, speaking to inspire, reading, book stores and writing (both in her journal and working on her two books in progress).
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