The Magic of Writing – Create, Share, Inspire – Journaling for Mental Health and Emotional Wellness

You may have noticed in recent years that your handwriting has gotten messier and less defined. This is because, overall, we are using it less and less. Age also may be a contributing factor as fine motor skills begin to wane.

While people do still hand write letters, most communications are now done via text, email, or social sites. Messages are typed out on a keyboard or a phone and no pen or paper is needed.

It has been estimated that upwards of 70% of the population no longer writes their own signature legibly enough that if shown a signed document later on they would themselves be able to tell if it was authentic or a forgery.

Many schools have stopped teaching cursive at all and place little to no emphasis on penmanship.

While this may seem like a natural progression in innovation by letting this “old way” of doing things fall by the wayside, in doing so you are losing something truly magical.

The overuse in conversation of newer abbreviations, chat lingo, emojis, and gifs are helping to set the stage for a potentially massive communication breakdown should the grid ever go down. We are no longer forced to find the right word or come up with a creative way to express ourselves. Instead, we can choose to click a button and an animation, an image, or even an expressive emoji face is used in places where colorfully descriptive written words formerly would have gone.

The problem here is that while this is the direction society is going at the same time the old school of thought which believed that “Eloquence of speech directly correlates to eloquence of mind” still holds true. This leaves many with an ever-widening gap between the grammatically correct communication that they are being taught and what they experience and use daily.

Writing Can Have a Profound Effect on Us Emotionally

It allows us to express and vent our feelings, emotions, and deepest thoughts. Journaling can be very freeing and even therapeutic. Each stroke of a pen means something. The written word is a powerful expressive genre. Typing simply does not have the same effect. Look at all the great literature throughout history that we have fought to preserve for future generations. Much of the meaning would be lost if segments were to be replaced with happy faces and hearts.

Writing Therapy, sometimes called Automatic Writing, appeared on the scene in the mid 1970’s. A notebook or journal is a book of your very own creation. You never have to share it with anyone unless you choose to. It can be used as a powerful way of allowing thoughts and feelings you might otherwise be uncomfortable expressing to be released.

Journaling has been used to help in cases of abuse, illness, depression, mental health disorders, and even trauma including PTSD. It has been shown to produce positive physical changes in heart rate, immune function, blood pressure, stress relief, and even in helping to overcome disease and infection. It allows the writer to regain control over their feelings and in doing so, regain some control over their life.

It is because of this that I felt it was important to try and be a positive role model. I have created and regularly use my own line of Create, Share, Inspire Notebooks.

Not only have I become more focused and less stressed out, but my handwriting has also improved drastically! You may notice when you first start doing automatic writing that your hand muscles cramp up in only a couple of minutes. Be patient and give yourself some time. For many, those smaller hand muscles have not been worked like that in quite some time.

The more you write the easier it becomes, and you will find that you quickly come to think of it as a relaxing escape from reality where you can simply be yourself.

The directions are simple.
Sit somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed.

Grab a pen and your Create, Share, Inspire Notebook and open to the first available page.

I currently have 7 Volumes available from the Create, Share, Inspire Notebook Series. 

Do not think about what you are going to write. There is no right or wrong, good, or bad, there is only creative outlet. Just start writing, let whatever is going to come out come out. Non censored and non-edited. Do not worry about spelling or mistakes just keep going.

You may at times experience emotional releases, this is completely normal and positive. Just roll with it and let them out. Healing comes from release.

It is a wonderful practice to keep these notebooks and look back on them in a few years. You may just be impressed with yourself to see how far you have come!

Wishing you all happy writing!
xoxo
Kristin

I currently have 7 Volumes available from the Create, Share, Inspire Notebook Series. Just click the link and choose whichever volume may be the best suited for your creative needs.