Nurturing Mental Health and Preserving Memories

Journaling is a time-honored practice that serves various purposes, two of which stand out as particularly significant in my lives are nurturing mental health and preserving memories. In this blog post, I will explore the dual role of journaling, shedding light on how it can be a powerful tool for enhancing your mental well-being while also serving as a delightful memory-keeping method. Whether you opt for the traditional pen-and-paper journal or venture into the digital realm, there's a journaling style for everyone, offering unique advantages for each purpose.

Journaling for Mental Health:

For this very reason, I prefer to write manually with my fave pen on a piece of paper. Over the years of journaling, it makes me realise how much pen and paper can effect my handwriting and overall effects my mood in writing. I'll share my fave tools for journaling towards the end of this post. Here are some of  reasons why I journal, and I hope it can help you too.

1. Emotional Outlet: A journal provides a safe space to release pent-up emotions and express my thoughts, which can be therapeutic during times of stress, anxiety, or sadness. Write without judgement. Its only between you and the words. Let it all out and do not keep it all inside can help clear the mind afterwards.


2. Self-Reflection: Regular journaling promotes self-awareness. It encourages me to analyze my emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, aiding in the identification of patterns and triggers. If you don not know where to start, you can always google for journal prompts and start writing.


3. Problem Solving: Writing about my worries or challenges can help me gain a clearer perspective, often leading to creative solutions I might not have considered otherwise. Because when you wrote all the issues, you can start seeing things from third person eyes. Detached yourself from the problem and look for a bigger picture. Most of the time when we are in it, we can not see anything and the world seems dark.


4. Gratitude Practice: Including a section for gratitude in my journal allows me to focus on the positive aspects of life, fostering a sense of contentment and joy. Celebrate the small things, romaticize my daily life and practise the arts of noticing makes me practice simple happiness and keep my vibration high.


5. Tracking Progress: Over time, the journal can become a record of my personal growth and development, reminding me of how far I've come. More often than not, we forgot how far we've come because we are too focus on the future and trying to achieve more each day. This is important during the days we feel defeated and sad as reminder that we've done a good job so far. Don't discounted your efforts along the way just because you have not reach the destination.


Digital Journaling for Memory Keeping:

I love taking photos and videos. If you follow my personal instagram you'll see that I have thousands of photos for memory sake. And I have even more in my phone and computers of raw footages. And I am very visual person. I learn by seeing and its like 'Out of sight, out of mind' kind of situation. So, because I have so many photos and videos, I prefer to use digital journal for memory journaling. I use different types of journal template like daily, weekly, monthly etc.. 

Here is what I use for my monthly journal: Non-dated Monthly Journal


I'll share my monthly journal entries in future post. So you can see how I actually using it.

1. Multimedia Elements: Digital journals allow me to use not only photos but also videos and stickers. It brings the memories to life in a way that traditional journals cannot.


2. Efficient Organization: Digital tools make it easy to categorize and search for specific memories. And I usually print them and put it in an album or create an album to share it with other if I create for specific events.


3. Accessibility: The digital journal can be accessed from various devices, so I reach it either when I'm at home or on the go. At the same time I can create and edit at the moment if I'm traveling to make sure I dont lose the small details and anything that I want to include in the journal.


4. Creative Freedom: Digital platforms offer endless possibilities for creativity. I can experiment with layouts, fonts, and designs to truly personalize my memory-keeping experience. I'm not a perfectionist but at the same time I hate it when I make a mistake and unable to correct it. Like wrote the wrong caption, want to add more photos in small space etc.


Finding Balance:

While digital journaling excels in memory preservation, the tactile act of writing in a traditional journal has its own therapeutic qualities, promoting mindfulness and a slower, more deliberate reflection. For mental health and self-discovery, I bet many individuals prefer the tangible sensation of putting pen to paper.


Here are some of my fave journaling book from amazon:

I like simple book to journal with because its for clearing the head and empty out my mind. Fancy book will cluttered my vision and its not helpful. And some other times I just want plain notebook to bring with me anywhere so people wouldn't notice that its actually a journal.
Plus I have small handwriting and usually this kind of notebook has smaller grid which looks nicer with my handwriting.

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In the beautiful realm of journaling, there's room for both the healing and the preserving of life's precious moments. Whether you choose the traditional or digital path, each style provides distinct advantages, catering to your unique needs. Journaling isn't just an art; it's a gift you give to your future self and a soothing balm for your present well-being. So, pick up your pen or open your digital notebook, and begin this wonderful journey of self-exploration, mental health nurturing, and memory-keeping. It's a journey well worth embarking on.

Hope you find this helpful.


Love,
Elsa