Creative Therapy
Why You Should Journal Your Creative Journey
Creatives are so focused on growth that we often lose sight of how far we’ve already come.
It’s understandable; we wouldn’t be doing this whole freelancing thing if we didn’t find some enjoyment in the uncertainty of where the future might take us.
But this pondering is future-focused. What about your past?
How well can you really recall how you felt when things weren’t going according to plan? When things started to fall into place? Probably not so well.
I’ve been journaling for the past 10 years, since I started as a freelancer, admittedly with some large gaps of the habit falling to the wayside.
I started with simple methods like ‘The Five Minute Journal’, attempts at splurging long ass pages in lined notebooks, before settling on my preferred method, journaling digitally with the app Day One.
I recently got my first-ever physical print from a year's worth of journaling in the Day One app, and spending time reading it back was eye-opening.
The patterns I noticed about my fears, everyday struggles, and incremental personal growth during this time would have been tough to see if I hadn’t spent the last five minutes of each day jotting down whatever I felt after it was all over.
I believe that so much of your growth as a creative person lies in the nitty-gritty details of what you’re going through. The internal dialogue of your former self and how it’s led you to where you are now.
It’s incredibly hard to detach your subjective experience of the world into a perspective that feels more objective. It’s why therapists are sought after and becoming more popular around the world.
But if therapy is too big of an initial leap for you, something like a journal may be the entry point to start taking stock of what’s going on for you internally.
Here’s a list of things I’ve learned or was reminded of from reviewing my 2024 journal.
Nostalgia is both a poison and a cure. Certain past experiences in life cannot be replicated. However, the enjoyment of what I once had and how it shaped me can propel me towards the places I truly want to be.
I’m way stronger than I feel in the moments when my anxiety is heightened, even though there are days when it feels like I’ll never be able to manage it.
Wasting mindless hours watching YouTube content is only bad if I’m using it to defer present pain for future growth. Intentional time-wasting isn’t wasted time.
If you want to learn more tips about implementing your own journaling routine and building and making this habit stick, you should check out this video on my YouTube channel.
Thanks for reading to the end 😊
Keep creating
- Adam