Keeping a diary is something we regularly did in our younger years. So why stop when we’re older? It can still be so nice to write down those thoughts. Here are some reasons to start (again).
The sound of pen on paper: there’s something truly meditative about it. And the act of guiding that pen across the paper is actually a bit like meditation, too. By writing about your thoughts and emotions, or about what you did today, you also observe your emotional life from a distance, and you don’t have to be sitting cross-legged on a cushion to do that. Here are four more reasons…
1. You slow down
Writing with a pen on paper is something than cannot be done ‘fast, faster, fastest’. You have to take time over it, and that causes a moment of slowing down. Put your phone on silent, make a cup of tea and really focus on the task at hand. Moments like these are scarce and can do you a great deal of good.
2. It sparks creativity
Your diary can take any form you want. You can write in it, but you can also take a creative path: Stick it full of beautiful pictures, get busy with a brush and some paint, write poems or paste in mementoes such as receipts and cards for that day or week. It’s your book and you can do whatever you want with it. Be inspired.
3. It helps against (over)thinking
Do you often lie awake at night with a head full of to-do lists and worries? Then it can be beneficial to write all those thoughts down before you go to bed. Because, once they’re on paper, you can let go of them easier and (hopefully) sleep with an emptier and calmer mind.
4. A moment of self-reflection
By regularly writing about your emotional life, about your thoughts and what you have done today, you gradually start to recognize patterns. When do you feel stressed? Which activities make you most happy? That sort of thing. Keeping a diary also involves self-reflection.
- Want to start? You can find tips about keeping a diary here.
Text Bente van de Wouw, Translation Julia Gorodecky, Photography Kinga Cichewicz / Unsplash.com
