on journaling

abs are made in the kitchen and so did my love for journaling

I started to recommend journaling before I even journaled myself. Weird right? But I knew it had to feel good to dump all you had in mind on a piece of paper.

I can’t recall the amount of hours spent in the kitchen of my student dorm with my roommate P. Our dinner sobre mesas were a daily habit. We could not go to sleep unless we had gone over our entire day and overthinking mind a couple of times. We always had something to share. Sometimes it was only one of us talking while the other one remained silent and listened to everything that had to be shared.

And that’s when “Querido Diario” became a thing. It was all a joke until it wasn’t anymore. Since then, it has become one of the greatest habits I’ve built these past few years.

Even if none of us was journaling back then, we were sharing everything out loud and that helped us organize all we had going on in our minds. All that needed to be shared was being shared within the four walls of our kitchen.

"Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.” - Mister Rogers

Maybe “Querido Diario” only started to exist by the end of the school year when we realized we would no longer be one door and a kitchen apart from each other. Indeed, we will no longer be living in the same city or the same country anymore.

I’m not entirely sure when it became a thing but I’m so glad it did.

I would be lying if I said that I’m consistent and that I journal daily because I don’t. I never do it and I’ve never done it. But I always feel the need to open my dotted journal every couple of days/weeks. Whenever I feel like dumping on paper whatever is on my mind I just do it. Whether it is in my journal or my phone notes I just write it all out.

I never write things down on paper to look back at them. Indeed, I hardly ever reread what I write. I only do it because it makes me feel lighter. It allows me to create space, slow down, and pay attention to what is going on around me.

If you are struggling to get into it, here is a little summary of the benefits shared by some experts in this article.

• reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression

• improves mental health

• stress relief

• creates a safe space for your thoughts and feelings

• …

Our prompts for you to reflect on this:

• what is blocking you from starting to journal?

• do you need help on how to start?

• what would you like to write about?

• what do you think could help you to start doing it? (create a routine, cozy environment, time of the day…)

  

And the most important question for us right now is, do you think it will be easier for you to write if you had prompts to reply to? Would you be interested in this? write it in the comments below, and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, where we share more content and create a community <3

love,

L. & G.