I am always open to fresh journaling ideas and techniques. As such, I am a big fan of introspection and reflection. Introspection takes me into the world of my core where thought and belief and opinion reside. It is critical if I am to evolve and grow in ways that benefit me throughout my life. I am required to be honest with myself and also with others. When I strengthen my relationship with myself, I do so with my relationships with others. Reflection takes me through a memory, so I look at the effect the experience had on my life. When I learned about Mari’s self-paced course, Who Am I? I was intrigued.
Who Am I? provides a universal yet individualized approach for you to look inward and find your buried treasure. The course asks questions of introspection, the answers to which will be different for everyone and will generate further unique questions for everyone. Journaling is all about self-awareness whether you use entries to write your shopping list or as a dedicated space for a specific purpose. Self-awareness can lead to discomfort or even painful revelations. Yet, written in Mari’s straightforward but gentle style, the course offers thought-provoking self-discovery, problem-solving, empowerment, hope, and celebration.
Mari opens Who Am I? with an explanation of why she created the course. She presents the concept of self-awareness and its importance. I knew right away the course would help me dive deep within myself to find the nuggets of gold at the core of who I am. The course rewarded me with the excellence I have come to rely on from Mari. Like people referenced in this section, I like to think I am self-aware. However, this notion is disproven daily as I learn more about myself. So, self-awareness becomes a process of perpetual unfolding. Recently, I learned the source of a habit spanning the past five years. I can now take that revelation to my journal and into my therapy sessions. Though I have journaling experience, the course posed questions I had not considered. I had more than a few “Ahhh, so that’s why I…” moments to work with and make decisions to move forward.
Mari explains Who Am I?’s themes and how they address self-awareness. She lays out the sections and how they are separate but interconnected parts of life, each affecting the others. They offered me a challenge to confront myself about beliefs and behaviors that hinder me on my life path. Some questions made me smile or laugh. Others made me wince. Some provoked tears. Not only did I think about my views and actions, and why I did them, but also to compare my responses to similar past experiences. I could see the wisdom of growth as well as repetitive reactions that do not serve me. Introspection and the resulting self-awareness can be stressful and difficult to even write down and face. They also can be sources of great joy and peace in your life. As you progress, they are meaningful and rewarding. I sometimes find myself journaling about the same issues repeatedly. This is often good as I can reread my journal entries to find out how much I have improved. Sometimes, though, they reveal a belief or behavior I refuse to accept or to let go, neither of which are healthy or beneficial for me.
The topics fall under one of two umbrellas:
Throughout Who Am I? thoughtful questions invite you to spend time on you, to gift yourself to yourself. New journalers will find the questions and exercises sensitive and intuitive. Experienced journalers can slip into a zone of comfort and feel their journaling, and possibly their life, has stagnated. Here, the course treats them to fresh approaches to self-discovery. The course’s questions and exercises give you ways to look at yourself and your place in the world through a broader lens. The course shakes up the familiar to help you find a yet-to-be-discovered you.
Who Am I? is an excellent tool for such endeavors as re-creating your life, developing a dream, or making choices between two or more really good options—most of us want this dilemma—in ways that reflect your strengths, challenges, and values. The journey of finding out who you are and why you do what you do is an exciting and freeing experience. Try to view self-awareness with an open mind and an open heart. Share your discoveries with people you trust whether you are celebrating or stumbling. Treat yourself with self-compassion, remembering always you have the power to decide what happens next. You may want to keep some revelations and incorporate them into your life. Others, you may want to let go. And still others may need your attention for a long time. You do not have to make decisions immediately. Let your revelation sit for a day or two, then revisit it. The process of self-awareness is, well…, all about you and what you want for your life. Other people can make suggestions based on their experiences, but only you know the correct answers for you. Try a solution and see how it works for you. If it does not fit or is not quite right, discard it and try another. Reword the course’s questions to adapt them to your life, situation, and circumstances.
I invite you to spend time with Who Am I? –at least fifteen minutes at a time--and see how you can begin to transform your life. If fifteen minutes is too unnerving, back off the time to ten minutes or five minutes. Written in digestible language with doable exercises the course is an outstanding addition to your current journaling practice. It comes to you as an easily downloadable .pdf file which you can print and save to your computer. Use the course frequently to apply to specific experiences of just because you have a moment of curiosity.
Happy Journaling! Happy Self-Discovery! Happy Life! Enjoy!
Billie Wade, a lifelong journaler, believes people are precious, sacred, resilient, and stronger than they know. She created Journaling to Heal, LLC which helps people discover the power of writing in their process of recovery from emotional stress and trauma. Visit her at www.billiewade.com and find more of her writing on www.dmpcc.org/billie where she writes a monthly newsletter column for Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center.