Journalling Tips & Techniques for Creative Hearts
Free Journalling is a way of writing without censoring yourself. It’s about giving yourself the freedom and permission to write imperfectly, to write your heart’s desires... in a word, to write freely.
I’ve been using Free Journalling as a tool in my creative process for years and have found it’s done so much for my life.
I have friends and family who also use Free Journalling to process the ups and downs of life, clear their minds and find direction towards what their heart is calling them to cultivate in their lives.
Beautiful Effects of Free Journalling
You may be pleasantly surprised by the beautiful effects of free journalling. Here’s just a taste of what you can experience from this simple process:
1. Clarity around what you want to focus on in your day.
2. Introduces us to our authentic self. Get to hear and know you authentic self as you give yourself time and permission to listen to yourself.
3. Build your muscles - stretching exercise to be able to write more freely in other areas of your life too.
4. Soothing ritual that calms the nerves and creates a form of focused meditation.
5. Gratitude as you begin to notice what’s around you and track the changing seasons in your life.
6. Builds your creative muscle, seeing a blank page and then seeing how you can transform it into your own expression simply by following the process.
7. Practice being gentle with yourself and taking time to ask yourself what you need.
8. Draws you into the present moment.
9. Is a safe place to express your emotions - don’t have to dramatise them but feel them and allow them to flow through you and onto the page.
10. Reminds us how our feelings always change and shift, so we can be with them but not get too identified with them. This too, shall pass.
What You Might Find Yourself Journalling About
1. Your surroundings - Writing about your direct experience draws you into the present moment. I often begin my free journalling by simply describing what I can see, hear, or feel around me. It’s a great meditative process and helps to get your hand moving.
2. Your feelings - Free Journalling is a great way to process your whole range of emotions from joy, to frustration, sadness, boredom, freedom and delight.
3. Your desires - a great way to create a truly meaningful to-do list by asking yourself what you need right now, and what you deeply desire.
4. Your questions - By asking questions, you’ll open the way to tap into your inner wisdom and wise self. Sometimes solutions will become clear after a little while, but if you keep asking, it’s surprising how your inner guidance and intuition will kick in to help make you aware of your next steps.
How To Do Free Journalling
1. Write regularly – while you may not write every day, stick with it. Find a routine if you can, or simply return to the page every time you feel drawn to. I’ve had times where I’ve written every day, and other times when I’ve picked up a notebook and brain-dumped every few weeks. Both ways work for me at different times. Give yourself permission to use this tool to best support you. But I do recommend you try it for a couple of months at least to see how it truly feels for you.
2. Write freely – Don’t censor yourself, deliberate or second-guess your writing. Just write whatever comes to mind. If you sit down and find you have no idea what to write, begin by describing what you can see.
3. Leave it as it is – Spell a word incorrectly? Forget to use a full stop or capital letter? Don’t worry about it. This is a brain-dump of your mind’s stream of consciousness. Keep writing and don’t worry about correcting your writing. The value I’ve found is in getting the ideas out of your head, not on crafting a perfect page of writing.
4. Keep it private – It sounds a bit like a teenager’s journal full of details of a crush on a hot boy at school, but it is important to keep your Free Journal writing private. This is a safe place for you and for you alone.
5. There are no mistakes – There is no wrong way to use Free Journalling! Do whatever works for you. And remember, the process that you enjoy this month, may be different next year. Be open to change and let yourself evolve the process so it supports you in all phases of your life.
Choose A Format That Works For You
Simple Notebook - I like to use a A5 notebook for my Free Journalling. If you’re concerned about making a mistake and feel that ‘messing up’ a beautiful journal makes you tighten up and not want to write, you may like to try an inexpensive exercise book or simple notebook to let your writing flow.
Tear it Up - If you’re concerned someone may see what you’ve written, you can tear the pages up after you’re finished each session. While I like to refer back and look at what I’ve written at times, the main benefit is from the writing itself, not the recording or re-reading.
Type on Your Computer - I actually write faster on the computer, and sometimes I like to type rather than write by hand. You may like to create a folder for Free Journalling on you computer as well as having physical notebooks. I have two notebooks (one in the studio and one next to my bed) so I can use Free Journalling any time I want to. I suggest you don’t get too caught up in the ‘right’ way to do it, and instead just make it easy to pick up and put down anywhere.
Choose Your Favourite Pen - Do you have a particular pen you love to use when you’re writing? One that flows so easily onto the page? If not, take yourself on an excursion to a stationary store, test the pens out and choose your favourite, then buy a stock of them so you never have to worry.
Be Flexible - Try one format for doing Free Journalling and if it doesn’t work for you, try another way. The key is to make it accessible and work for you.
Location Location - I love to write in different places, depending on the weather and my mood. Some days I’ll write on my bench seat in the orchard, other times in bed, or in the studio, or even at the kitchen table. I’ve heard of some people who put a chair in the laundry and write in there! The family leaves them alone and the hum of the washing machine drowns out the noise from the household.
Delight your inner child by giving yourself a variety of places to write, or if you enjoy writing at the same time or in the same place, make it a soothing ritual of comfort.
8 Steps To Get Started With Free Journalling
1. Choose a notebook or pad
2. Grab your favourite pen
3. Make a hot cuppa
4. Sit down for 15 mins
5. Write your heart out
6. Remember you can't do it wrong!
7. Notice how you feel afterwards
8. Repeat tomorrow
Do you have a journaling practice? What benefits do you find? Or do you want to start journaling? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below!
Be kind to yourself and nurture your creativity.
With my warmest wishes,
