Hi everyone: Haven't been online in awhile, but still sober and going to AA meetings. I did add a new thing to my recovery. I just started keeping a journal recently and it seems to help MUCH more than I expected. I've never been one keen on having a journal or diary. I don't know if it makes my emotions more real by physically writing them down. Just wondering everyone elses thoughts on this.
my thought is that I wish I'd kept it up and made it habit. I pull it out an look at the titles and what I wrote... "Day 25" "Day 53"...of course my recollection was that I was so messed up I wasn't making sense, but I was just learning a lot really fast. One of the best things about a journal is it clearly defines your thinking over a period of time when you look back on it later as I did now approaching 500 days sober.
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It's something I've been thinking about for a while and since you have just shared that it has helped much more than you expected - am DEFINITELY going to do it !
Yes! no more procrastination Louisa....just do it! !
Bridget- I kept a diary/journal even before I acknowledged my drinking problem. I think I just decided to do it- oh yea I remember now- I thought since I was going to become a famous writer, it would be beneficial to the world if I wrote down my daily thoughts, as they were so profound and important (lol, you don't want to know how true that is...lol). I bemoaned a relationship and discovered my alcoholism during that year and a half of entries. Like Pinkchip said, it has given me a cross-section of my brain throughout the insanity and even periods of sobriety. I recommend starting a journal because, at least for me, it simply made me feel better. I could feel like killing myself, or whatever, and after I wrote it down felt like I had acknowledged those feelings, and they sort of lost their power. Once I spilled out my depression/joy/etc onto a page, it was ok to feel it....not sure if that makes ANY sense....
So often I'm told to 'get it out, write it down'. Sometimes as a reminder, sometimes to review later and see where I've been and where I am now, sometimes to put in the God box.
i think writing it down is great, I do write things down and that helps me organize my thoughts and sometimes when I've played with a problem long enough, i have to write it down and put it in teh God box (well actually, burn it and let the smoke take it away.)
i think a diary or journal can be a good discipline and would help me to stay focussed on the day and how i behaved, responded etc.
of course at work i use a diary, but this is for forward planning. I also spend the first 15 or so minutes of the working day organising myself with a purpose made tear out book headed things to do today. Then I prioritise them, then I see if it's achievable and cross out at least half the stuff. The first thing i write down is 'make a list.' then i will have at least one achievemnt each day
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It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you got. BB
Bridget, This sounds like a great idea. I'm glad your having success with it. I do a personal inventory- step 10 in the am, pm & before bed like its outline in the BB. Maybe writing some of this out would further my understanding and effectiveness.
I was sponsored into 'daily journalling' in my first year or two in recovery, and as with most things I let it lapse, until I got to just over 9 years sober and hit a mega rock-bottom in sobriety when I picked it up again.
I TRY to remember to do it still, and this is a gentle reminder to get out THIS YEARS diary and get on with it (thank you) I can recommend t to anyone, no matter how long around you are, if only for the belly laughs it will give you when you look back to wehat you wrote a few years previously!!!
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Serenity is Wanting what you have, not having what you want
Always remember non-alcoholic beers are for NON-ALCOHOLICS
I like keeping journals, too! I've been keeping them since around 1997, and have boxes full of them. I tend to cringe when I read my old journals, because they are so poorly written, but I do feel encouraged when I see how much my writing has improved over the last 5 years. IMO, everybody should journal as a tool for self growth. The world would be a better place if they did.
I started finding e-mail pen-pals a couple years ago, and recently I picked up a new one, who I write long e-mails to every day. She is my confidant. IMO, pen-palling is more rewarding than journaling if you can find a kindred spirit who can keep the correspondence going. Cherish that pen-pal, because in my experience, it's extremely rare to find someone like that. IMO, pen-palling is more interesting than journaling, because the whole instant gratification is there. i.e. you send an e-mail, and that night or the next day, you receive one back. Also, I find that my writing is better when I'm pen-palling, because I tend to be very sloppy in my journalling (this is because I don't care what people think of my writing, since nobody else reads my journals), but I really take my time when I'm writing to pen-pals, because I want them to enjoy my e-mails. I do a lot of other kinds of writing for fun: haikus, poetry, film shorts, lyrics, one-liners, comics, etc..., but my correspondences are what I'm the most proud of. There's nothing like opening up to another person and bearing your soul. (Sound familiar, anyone?).
Whether someone is journalling or pen-palling or doing creative writing or whatever, the important thing is that they are expressing themselves creatively. I think the world would be a much better place if people would just shut off their TV's and write, write, write. Time spent writing is time well spent.
Being sober is hard sometimes, but my writing is much better when I'm sober... BTW - This is the first time I ever posted on this message board... Thanks for all your help, guys :)
I have written periodically journal style for various reasons. I haven't dragged out my old writing, maybe I'm not ready to laugh about it yet. A lot of my motivation for writing was focused "on poor pitiful me, I'd better get this down before I die so the world will know how it failed this potentially brilliant person". In recovery I was encouraged to write it out when working on steps, especially in the beginning. I've since gone back and re-read what I wrote while working on step one. It was fantastic to look at it now, to see where I was and where I am now. Every word on the first step is there to look at if I ever start to forget where I came from. Memories evolve with time. Those honest straight forward lines take me right back.
So I can see that the effort to journal can always continue to be of help. Not motivated to write each day, other than here, which is a little like journaling too. Thank you for the thread.
Oh yes! I am definitely sold on this journal writing thing!
I love writing too! - not so much typing on the computer but handwriting. When I was drinking I used to tell myself....Hey! Louisa! .....most of the great writers and artists and creative people on the planet drink heavily............
Honestly! ! My mind would search out ANYTHING that rationalised my drinking.......like a heat seeking missile...........Oh yes! Louisa! OF COURSE! That's it ! ...you're an artist! ! ........yes..........a 'p*ss-artist' morelike!'
Oh dear! Sorry! That's not very ladylike but you get my drift folks!
Another thing my sponsor had me doing was daily affirmations. I had to look into the mirror and say, 'My but you are looking good today, you are a wonderful person and I do love you' or words to that effect.
Felt pretty damn stoopid to start with, but it's worth persevering with. There's also a great little sticker for mirrors which says, 'You are now looking at the problem'
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Serenity is Wanting what you have, not having what you want
Always remember non-alcoholic beers are for NON-ALCOHOLICS
I try to write daily. Basically, I am doing step 10 and 11 on paper. During the day I will write, especially if I having a "brainstorm". Sometimes it is just thanking God for my sobriety and the people he has put in my path. At night, I turn to page 86 and answer the questions and ask God for forgiveness and what I need to do to correct what needs to be corrected. It helps me stay in the day. Thanks for sharing. Keep Coming Back!
I started my journal yesterday, to deal with a resentment and anger, and it still works - I wasn't awake all night planning an assassination, I slept pretty good.
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Serenity is Wanting what you have, not having what you want
Always remember non-alcoholic beers are for NON-ALCOHOLICS
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