What is Expressive Journaling?
Expressive journaling can be your road to de-stressing and re-energizing your mind. It can help you declutter your brain and your soul, and help you get feelings out on paper where they can be examined and interpreted.
Journaling like this can help you live your life in the moment, as you deal with the past and future in your journal.
You’ll feel more secure in your daily life without all that hanging around in your brain, and you’ll find yourself enjoying your days with less worry and pressure.
Here are a few different types of expressive journals, and each of them can be used exclusively, or you can mix and match what you want when you want it.
most common types of expressive journals:
Art Journal
Whether or not you are artistically talented, an art journal is an excellent idea if you love to doodle and sketch.
What are you feeling? Turn that into a sketch. Draw an outline and then color it in with colored pencils or gel pens.
If getting better at art is your goal, make the page opposite your creation where you write about how you feel about what you’ve created and how your progress is coming along.
Positivity Journal
Each day, pick something positive that happened that really inspired you. Write about what happened, the people involved, and how it made you feel.
This can help you see more positive things in life overall, and helps decrease negativity.
Gratitude Journal
There’s no better way to increase positive feelings in your life than with a gratitude journal. Each day, reflect on your experiences, what you’re thankful for, and lessons that you want to remember for the future.
Then take it a step further and let the people you’re thankful for know about it!
Related Post: How to Benefit From Gratitude Journaling
Dream Journal
Each morning, grab your dream journal and write down your dreams from the night before.
Leave room after each dream, in case you come back with different insights later on, and you want to record them. Your dreams can tell you a lot about your waking life when they’re interpreted correctly!
Creative Writing Journal
If stories are your thing, try a creative writing journal. Write a short story every day, or challenge yourself to write a short story in just 100, 200, or 300 words.
Challenge yourself and hone your skills!
Don’t overthink your journaling - just get started and try!
BEFORE YOU GO:
I hope you’ve found these journaling tips helpful. Let me know in the comments below why you love journaling.
JOURNALING SUPPLIES I RECOMMEND
Even though you only need a pen and paper, here are some of my favorite journaling supplies if you want to check them out:
I like to use a few different notebooks for journaling but my favorite is this Leuchtturm1917 Softcover. I prefer the squared pages but you can also get the dot grid, lined, or blank formats.
If you would rather use a spiral binding, these notebooks are the best! I love that they come in a three-pack so I always have an extra one on hand. These are also squared format but I think they are available in line and dot grid too.
To be honest, my go-to pen is a simple, classic black Bic but when I want something a little fancier I use either use these Muji Gel Pens or these Micron Sakura Pigma.
Get creative with your journaling and add some Washi Tape, Stickers, or if you’re artistic you can draw your own doodles.
Sometimes I like to add photos to my journaling and over the years I’ve tried a bunch of different printers. I started out using this Fujifilm Instax Mini but it wasn’t very practical to carry around all the time. Since the quality was so much better when I use my phone for pictures I decided to splurge on the Canon Ivy Mini Printer. It connects directly to my phone through the app and easily prints on 2x3 sticker photo paper that I can add right to my journal page instantly.
THE ULTIMATE LIST OF PRODUCTS, APPS, TOOLS, AND RESOURCES I USE ON A DAILY BASIS
Here are a few more journaling posts you might like:
Printing Tips:
See my Link Party Directory for a current list of blog parties I attend each week.
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