Lola’s POV: The Magic of Journaling to Process Emotions

The day to day is hectic – you missed your alarm, you cut your leg while trying to achieve silky smooth legs, your power went out, your big date got cancelled. Your day is set up to be total s#!tshow. So, now what? We all have our different ways of coping with the unexpected, and that’s something I find fascinating. The way we handle things is quite reflective of our character. Some people decide to cry, some choose to scream, while others prefer to eat or drink. In my case, I write.

[article_ad]

As I sit down on my bed and let nostalgia, rage, or happiness spill onto my red leather notebook, I feel like I have the opportunity to let the world know how I feel – without actually letting the world know how I feel (because that would be terrifying). When I write, I feel like I can say anything I need to say in order to make me feel like myself again. The words I can’t scream out, I write down. Since I realized there’s no running away from my feelings, I’ve become a big believer in not bottling them up and letting them out one way or another – whichever way works best for you.

As my pencil glides on my notebook, I feel the weight of the world being lifted from my shoulders. Imagine transferring all your negative, or positive energy to a piece of paper through your pen or pencil, as if that pencil carries your energy and lets it out on a page. Then, you close the notebook and lay your feelings to rest.  But suddenly, as if it were magic, when you decide to look back and open your journal on that page, you will remember exactly how you felt that day, because the energy is there. You can choose to relive it, but the release of energy that can only come out of letting those feelings flow, allows you to look at it more objectively, in a different light. It sounds really far fetched but it works for me to know that my thoughts aren’t homeless, and they have somewhere to go, ya’ know?

I remember telling my mom ever since I was in 7th or 8th grade – “I’m not truly in love with someone until I write a poem about them.” And I’ve sworn by it. Why Lola? That makes no sense. But it does. When you just can’t contain the feelings anymore and you just HAVE to pour your heart out it’s the best feeling in the universe, because when your heart is full, that overflow of emotion just has to go somewhere. (Especially when everybody else is exhausted from hearing you talk about how insanely amazing he is).  I write, because at the end of the day, my notebook will never judge me.

Bottom line is, find “your escape”, whether it’s singing it out loud or writing it down BIG! Everybody needs that little space of “me” where you can look back and say “Damn, I remember that day.” You are the one holding the pen and paper. Don’t let anyone else write your life story.  

So, how about you, how will you express how awesome you feel today?