“Keep a journal and one day it will keep you.”
– Mae West
As we kick off 2025, I find myself reflecting on reflection itself. Yeah, it’s meta as Heaven, but bear with me. You should be used to it by now. This post is an attempt to drag you kicking and screaming into the tribe of journaling and morning routines if you’re not already. Your future self will thank you.
Let’s get nerdy for a second. Journaling isn’t just some hipster trend or a way to feel productive without actually doing anything. It’s a practice backed by hardcore science, spirituality, and personal growth. It’s an ancient practice too.
The Science: Your Brain on Journaling
Ever feel like your thoughts are a tangled mess of Christmas lights? Journaling is like slowly untangling that mess. Sometimes our Christmas light ball looks a lot like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It gets dumped out and untangled one bulb at a time. When you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, you tech-savvy folks), you’re literally rewiring your brain.
The slow act of linearly writing out your thoughts and feelings, the tangible action of it, as well as the space to process all this stuff, forces the prefrontal cortex and limbic system, as well as several other parts of our brain, to coordinate and flow. Over time, this 10-30 minutes every so often builds up neural pathways just from the discipline of it. With self-honesty and acceptance, we can learn how to better think and feel, and how to manage our own minds, in various situations.
Emotional Regulation: Not Just for Toddlers
James Pennebaker, the “Godfather” of expressive writing research, found that journaling about traumatic events can actually reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. He’s not the only one. It’s like having a good listener in your pocket, minus the hefty therapy bill and judgmental stare.
When you write about the stuff that’s eating you up inside, it loses some of its power. Brene Brown’s book, Atlas of the Heart, convinced me about the power of accurate labeling. Taking the time to sort through everything on the inside can feel like running in circles, usually because we’ve been spinning too long in a particular direction. By taking the time to write it all out, listen to yourself, look at it, and keep doing it, a person can’t help but become aware of more things. It’s shining a light on the monster under your bed and realizing it’s just a pile of dirty laundry. Still gross, but manageable.
Cognitive Gains: Buff Brain Edition
Journaling isn’t just emotional vomiting. It’s a full-on workout for your gray matter. Studies show it enhances neuroplasticity – your brain’s ability to adapt and form new connections. With a bit of a Growth Mindset and applying the 1% Rule, from Atomic Habits, every day, personal progress can be made and felt in life. This mental flexibility doesn’t just help you process the past; it equips you to handle future challenges with more grace.
Physical Health: Wait, What?
Regular journaling has been linked to lower blood pressure, a beefed-up immune system, and faster recovery from illness. It’s like your mind and body finally got on the same page and decided to work together for once. It makes a lot of sense, to me. Through journaling, I’m more comfortable in my skin because I have sat in my skin long enough to feel everything I’m writing. If I’m journaling, I’m also more aware of when I’m not taking care of my body well.
In one study, patients recovering from surgery who journaled healed faster than those who didn’t. Even if this is a placebo effect, it exemplifies the power of our perspective. Richard Emmons, in Thanks!, also researched at length the power of gratitude journaling in physical healing. It could be that journaling forces us to face and accept our situations, as well as provide a space to do something more than just stew and assume. We can remember we are more than our suffering and have faith in the things that matter beyond our present circumstances.
Gratitude: Not Just for Hippies
I know we already mentioned it, so let’s down. Gratitude was the first thing I learned in my second rehab that made room to learn the second thing, radical acceptance, that I needed to get over alcohol. I know “gratitude” sounds like something your Sunday school teacher and yoga instructor chants. But hear them out. Gratitude journaling actually rewires your brain to focus on the good stuff. BTW, radical acceptance will come up in a bit.
When we consistently note things we’re thankful for, our perspective shifts. we start noticing the silver linings, even when life feels like one big thunderstorm. We’re also more likely to notice when we’re just being a butthead. It’s putting on glasses and realizing the world isn’t actually a blurry mess.
Once it’s done for a while, and it clicks, it’s difficult to forget about gratitude.
The Spiritual Dimension: God’s in the Details
For Christians, journaling can be a spiritual practice that hits harder than communion wine. Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Journaling is like inviting God to pull up a chair and read over your shoulder while whispering in your ear. If that doesn’t spook you, then it ought to excite you.
Journaling helps us track and engage with big themes in our lives over time. At a minimum, it helps us notice the patterns and things that keep coming up. Eventually, we have to do something about them, even if it’s just changing how we feel about them. So much of my growth has just been getting comfortable with myself again. Journaling is like being a spiritual detective, piecing together the evidence of God’s work in your life.
If I may, some of the most influential Christian thinkers and spiritual giants were devoted to journaling and structured morning routines. C.S. Lewis, known for his profound reflections and theological insights, often captured his thoughts in writing. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, journaled daily to track his spiritual growth and hold himself accountable. Jonathan Edwards, a leader in the First Great Awakening, filled countless pages with reflections on God’s beauty and sovereignty. Likewise, Saint Augustine‘s Confessions is a testament to the power of writing to wrestle with faith and transformation. The missionary figure, Jim Elliot, recorded his prayers and thoughts as a way to stay connected to God.
This “cloud of witnesses” from the giants of our past, whether Christian or not, reminds us that journaling is a spiritual discipline that meets us wherever we are. It bears fruit in time as it becomes a way of life. It provides a sacred space to process doubts, record revelations, and pour out our hearts before God, helping us grow in authenticity and maturity.
My Journaling Journey: From Skeptic to Evangelist
Let’s rewind to pre-journaling Paule. Picture a dude who couldn’t keep his crap together long enough to finish homework. The thought of journaling? Terrifying. What if someone read it? Vulnerability wasn’t exactly my middle name.
Fast forward to 2024. There I was, developing a guided journal on Radical Acceptance for a client, and my step-dad. It was a topic that hit me hard in my second rehab. Jocko Willink, of Extreme Ownership, wrecked my refusal to accept responsibility. We needed to “test the product” so I went through this 10-week guided journal on the same subject that wrecked me two and half years earlier.
What started as an experiment turned into a lifeline. By the end of the 10-week program, journaling wasn’t just a habit; it was as essential as my morning coffee.
Over the past year, journaling has been an anchor through stit shorms and sunshine. It’s given me clarity when my mind felt like a fog machine at a bad rave. It connected me to God when I felt spiritually empty. Journaling catalyzed my creativity to the point I had to get serious about managing my ideas, research, and creations. Then it helped me work through that.
During the really tough moments in life – you know, the ones where your skin feels too tight and your thoughts are screaming for a drink – journaling gave me a place to dump all that crap. It helped me process emotions I couldn’t even name, let alone talk about.
My Morning Routine: The Sober Edition
Getting sober forced me to take a long, hard look at my habits. I had to build a life centered on growth and stability, not hangovers and regret. My mornings are now my sacred time. It’s been pieced together, one habit at a time, starting with finally getting a habit of waking up early. It works for me and is still evolving.
Here’s how mornings typically go down:
5:00 AM – Rise and Shine
Most mornings I beat the alarm. Before getting out of bed, I reflect on my sleep and what kind of mindset I want for the day. I say a quick Serenity Prayer. Then, I get my butt to the kitchen to start the coffee. The ritual of making that first cup is almost as comforting as the caffeine itself.
Dream/Sleep Journal: 5 minutes
Before I even touch that sweet, sweet coffee, I jot down any dreams I remember or thoughts on how I slept. It’s like tuning into my subconscious radio station. I don’t remember most dreams, so most of the time I’m processing how I slept and felt waking up. This journal is also my random journal that acts as a dump whenever I want it.
Coffee & Main Journal: 30-40 minutes
With coffee in hand (because let’s be real, I’m not a complete masochist), I dive into my main journaling session. This is where the real crap happens. I unpack emotions, reflect on Scripture, and let my thoughts run wild. It’s raw, unfiltered, and more therapeutic than any session I’ve had on a therapist’s couch.
Gratitude Journal: 5 Minutes
Just a paragraph, listing the stuff I’m grateful for. It sounds simple, but it’s powerful enough to shift a mindset. This practice not only improves my mood but also aligns my heart with God’s provision.
Smudging & Breathing: 5 Minutes
I picked up smudging in rehab, and it’s stuck with me. Paired with some breathing exercises and meditation, it centers me like nothing else. My focus is on cleansing: letting go and accepting what I’ve spent the morning processing.
Prayer: 5 Minutes
My prayer is short but packs a punch: “Not my will but Yours.” It’s a daily surrender, aligning my stubborn heart with God’s purpose. It’s sort of my carpe diem – the point where I visualize and accept the day ahead of me with gratitude and faith.
Day Planner: 10 minutes
Planning used to feel overwhelming, like trying to organize a tornado. Checklists felt like daunting obligations. Journaling helped me overcome this. Now, it’s empowering. I set priorities, making sure I stay focused on what actually matters. The journaling beforehand helps me approach this with clarity, not chaos.
Read A Bit: 5-10 minutes
It’s usually a chunk of the Bible and something like Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations or The Art of War. But it’s always Scripture meditation and another voice other than mine to give me something to frame myself with. Then I meditate on it.
Writing/Content Creation: 30-45 minutes
I dedicate this time to writing or working on content for projects. This is when I often outline blog posts, do business work, create social media content, catch up on my journey, or brainstorm ideas. The point is an outlet. There also are some days I catch up on needed sleep.
7:00 AM – Breakfast, Dog, and Shower
By now, even if there’s still stuff weighing on me, I at least have more room to navigate the day. After breakfast and taking care of the mutt, my shower acts as a time to “rinse” and reset from my morning “ritual”…that makes it sound like a baptism…kind of.
We must begin with ourselves: it is foolish to try to reform others when we cannot reform our own lives.”
St. Ignatius of Antioch
How I Journal: The Nitty-Gritty
My journaling practice is a hodgepodge of methods, drawing from Internal Family Systems (IFS), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and spiritual reflection. It’s like a therapy buffet, a toolkit for wherever I’m at. Over time, after trying a lot of things, if something worked, I kept with it until it became mine. After a year, I have a method to my madness.
Internal Dialogues
Inspired by IFS, I often write dialogues between different parts of myself – the inner critic, the protector, the wounded child. It’s like hosting a round table discussion in my head, but on paper. This helped me early in sobriety overcome panic attacks and has been crucial for inner work. It’s just something I do in prayer, breathing, and meditating, and randomly during the day.
In journaling, for example, I’ll often flip between speaking in the first-person perspective (“I feel this way about this thing for this reason.”) to the second-person where I’m talking to myself (“You have ample opportunity and are forgetting this.“). It helps me untangle the mess of emotions and sometimes leads to some pretty profound insights.
Cognitive Restructuring
Combining CBT and mindfulness practice, I track thoughts without judgment and work on accepting and then letting go of them. Journaling becomes the arena where I identify thought patterns and rewrite the narratives that have been holding me back.
For instance, I might notice a recurring fear of failure creeping up. Instead of letting it fester, I’ll counter it with evidence of past successes. OR I can sit with it until the noise subsides.
Ego Work
Pride, fear, insecurity – all the greatest hits show up on the page. By naming and exploring these feelings, I can address them with honesty and grace. This often involves asking God to reveal hidden motives or insecurities where I need to grow.
It’s not always comfortable. Sometimes it feels like performing surgery on my own ego without anesthesia. But the clarity and growth that come from this process are worth every squirm.
Free-Association Writing
Every time, I let my thoughts flow without any structure or goal. All I’m “trying” to do is be aware. It’s opening the floodgates of the mind and seeing what falls out. Sometimes, I go off on a creative tangent but always bring it back to the discipline of the journal.
Reviewing Past Entries
Flipping through old journals helps with keeping time in perspective and remembering important decisions. If we’re serious about discipleship and personal development, then making sure we keep things in context and don’t space important matters becomes an essential skill set to grow and refine. Journaling helps.
Flipping through journals time travels us to the moments we swore we wouldn’t forget and helps us remember what has happened since. It reveals growth, patterns, and God’s faithfulness over time. Often, I’ll find answers to prayers I didn’t even realize I was asking.
Practical Tips for Journaling Newbies
If you’re new to this journaling game, don’t worry. We’ve all been there. Here are some tips to get you started:
- Start with a basic notebook. Don’t overthink it. You don’t need a leather-bound tome with a wax seal. A simple composition book works just fine.
- Write without fear of judgment. This is your space. No one’s grading you on grammar or content. Let it all hang out. Hang the journal if you need to be able to feel comfortable about it.
- If you’re stuck, try some prompts. “What am stressed about right now?” is a good place to start. Or “What was my day like?” Writing through your day always works when I don’t know where to start.
- Commit to consistency. Even five minutes a day can make a difference. This is a discipline, not a fix. It’s like working out – the results come from showing up, not from occasional heroic efforts. Keep at it and pick up whenever you forget.
- Don’t edit. This isn’t your high school English essay. Let the rawness guide you. Sometimes the most profound insights come from the messiest writing.
The Last Word: Just Do It
Journaling has transformed my life. It’s helped me process pain, celebrate victories, and connect more deeply with myself, others, and God. It’s been a key tool in my recovery, helping me navigate the treacherous waters of sobriety with more grace and less face-planting. It’s helped me find my voice and face hard things.
If you’re hesitant to start, my advice is simple: just write. Don’t overthink it. Get paper and pen (or a writing app). Let the words flow. Over time, this practice will teach you more about yourself than you could ever imagine.
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
Carl Jung
As Carl Jung said, “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” So grab a pen, open a notebook, and start your journey to awakening. Your future self – and maybe even your kids – will thank you.
