Alternatives to Journaling?
Journaling is the perfect tool for both recording and processing.
Several weeks ago, I had the wonderful chance to share about my modern monastic journey to a group of people. One person in the group had a really good question: "Are there any alternatives to journaling?" I've been journaling for many years. I have stacks of notebooks to prove it. I personally enjoy journaling and use the practice to my advantage to grow my spiritual life further. But I understand that not everybody will have an inclination to journal. That's OK.
Are there any alternatives to journaling? I honestly can't think of any. There are alternatives to the form that journals can take (i.e. a notebook, saved on a computer, an audio recording, etc.). But I haven't come across alternatives to the practice of journaling itself.
It's important to begin with knowing what you want to accomplish, and then seeing if journaling fits into that. I've identified two things that I want to accomplish where the practice of journaling becomes a big help:
Recording – I want to record stuff so that I can remember them later. I'm pretty forgetful. It's nice to be able to go back and remember the things that I've learned and the things that I've committed to. It's also nice to see how I've grown over the years.
Processing – I want a way to process my thoughts. I have a lot of ideas running around my brain at any given time. Writing my thoughts down on paper helps me get organized and think more deeply about things.
If these two things are what I want to see happen, then journaling is exactly what I need to help me accomplish them. It's the perfect tool for both recording and processing. Remember, you don't want to do things just for the sake of doing things. You don't want to journal just for the sake of journaling. You want to see journaling as a practice that will aid you in accomplishing something greater in your life.
For those of you who aren't big fans of journaling, I'd encourage you to not give up on the practice too soon. My suggestion is to make the practice your own. Find ways to make journaling simple and fun for you.
For example, I don't enjoy longform writing when journaling (i.e. writing entire paragraphs). It's just not fun for me. I personally find it tedious to write in paragraphs in my journal. Instead, I tend to write just words, phrases, or statements. I also draw lots of diagrams. It's not unusual to see my journal riddled with arrows, boxes, circles, and bullet points. I've made the practice of journaling my own and with a style that works for me. I encourage you to be creative with how you journal and find ways for it to be fun and meaningful to you. You don't have to do it the way others do.
Although I can't think of any alternatives to the practice of journaling itself, I believe there are alternatives to how a person goes about journaling that will make it fun, useful, and meaningful to them. That's what you want to discover so that journaling can become a regular practice in your life and you can reap the benefits of this spiritual practice.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
