Journaling is the practice of recording one's thoughts, feelings, experiences and observations into an external medium. It can be a form of expressive writing that serves as a window into one's inner world and mental landscape.
Although it often refers to routinely putting words on paper or in digital form to capture and process thoughts and emotions, there are no strict rules. One could draw, record themselves talking in video or audio to express what they are thinking, feeling or experiencing.
What are the benefits of journaling?
While expressive writing can provide long-term benefits through the constructive processing of emotions and experiences, it's important to note that distress may increase immediately after writing sessions, particularly when writing about traumatic events.
If your distress becomes overwhelming or persists, it's advisable to seek support from a mental health professional.
Here are some philosophical and psychological benefits of journaling:
Facilitates self-examination and reflection
By consistently reflecting on our thoughts, beliefs, and actions through writing, we gain self-knowledge and can consciously shape our character and behaviour. As Socrates conveys this succinctly, "the unexamined life is not worth living."
Just like the Stoics, reflecting on philosophical concepts and perspectives in our journaling practice allows us to consciously cultivate virtues and achieve greater equanimity. It is a practical tool for living out our philosophical principles and values.
Find meaning in our lives
Journaling not only helps us construct a coherent narrative of our experiences, but also discover meaning in our lives, which existentialist philosophers have emphasised as crucial for living authentically.
The act of writing our story, rather than passively living it, empowers us to be the authors of our lives and to discern purpose and significance in our experiences.
This is because journaling enhances cognitive processing and mental clarity which is key to better psychological well-being.
How to incorporate philosophy into journaling?
Live the questions
Pose philosophical questions to yourself and explore them in your journal. You don't have to respond to them right away if you don't have an "answer".
The key here is to live the questions. Save these burning questions in your journal and you can revisit them several months or even years later. As the poet Rainer Maria Rilke frames this nicely:
"Perhaps someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."
Reflect on concepts, principles and axioms
There are several ways of doing this.
Write a personal manifesto containing principles and guidelines that you aspire to live by. Our manifesto is a worthy example!
Explain in your own words about the concepts you've learned by taking notes.
Engage in self-dialogue. Have a voice-recorded conversation with yourself, questioning your beliefs and assumptions from different angles, just like what Socrates did.
Choose a quote from a philosopher you admire and write about how you can manifest that wisdom in your own life.
Examining your day philosophically by responding to questions like
"Did I live up to my principles and values? What could I have done better?"
Work on philosophical exercises
Philosophical exercises from the Stoic tradition are very applicable to journaling. Here's a few:
Negative visualisation
When dealing with anxiety, imagine what is the worst thing that could happen. Write it down including details of the scenario and note any emotions that arise.
Then reflect on these questions:
If this misfortune really happened, what would I do? How would I cope and move forward? What inner strengths and external resources could I draw upon?
How does this imagined loss reveals what you value and appreciate about your life now. What do you feel grateful for in this moment, knowing it won't last forever?
Although this is a possibility, is it likely going to happen? What can you do right now that is within your control to make sure that it is less likely to happen?
Locus of control
Begin by reflecting on the Stoic concept of the dichotomy of control - that some things are within our control (our thoughts, opinions, values, goals, and actions) while other things are not (external events, other people's behaviors and opinions, forces of nature, etc.). Write down this distinction in your journal.
Think about a recent challenging situation or source of stress in your life. Describe the situation objectively in your journal.
Now, divide the situation into two categories in your journal:
a) Aspects that were within your control
b) Aspects that were outside your control
For the things that were within your control, reflect on how you responded. Did you focus your thoughts and efforts productively? Did you act in alignment with your values? Write down what you did well and what you could have handled better.
For the things outside your control, acknowledge that no amount of worrying or ruminating will change them. Practice acceptance by writing down a statement releasing your emotional attachment to those uncontrollable aspects. For example, "I accept that I cannot control how my spouse thinks about me." You can also complement this with a RAIN mindfulness practice.
Set an intention for how you want to focus your energy and attention moving forward. What's one thing within your control that you can work on or improve, even in a small way? It could be your attitude, a goal to work towards, or a relationship to nurture. Write down your intention.
Contemplate on thought experiments
Like how thought experiments can be used as prompts for discussion, they can be also used as journaling prompts.
Reflecting on thought experiments opens up new pathways of reasoning especially when you're understanding them for the first time. And this can bring up new insights in your journaling practice.
The philosophical approach to discovering those identities would be to incorporate virtues like courage, justice, compassion, etc. For instance, if you want to be taken seriously at work, you may work towards becoming the identity of a courageous colleague.
Based on this identity, you may set smaller achievable goals like scheduling a 1:1 meeting with a trusted coworker every two weeks to give each other hard, honest feedback that you wouldn't share in larger work settings.