When you’re struggling with your mental health, you won’t often think to put pen to paper and write your thoughts down. But it has been found that journaling can be incredibly therapeutic.
If you don’t know where to start, we’ve got you covered. From helpful journaling prompts to pens, notebooks and creative embellishments to fuel your creative fire.
First of all, you’ll need a notebook to write in:
This journal from Arden Creative Studio is ideal. Its small size means it’s not daunting when you get to a large blank page you feel you have to fill, and it can fit into any bag to carry around with you. The inside pages are 300gsm so you could be more creative in your journal and paint or stick embellishments onto the pages.
Or if you’d like a more colourful notebook, this Art by Marlene journal is gorgeous.
You are also going to need a good pen. We love the idea of having a nice pen that you only use in your journal but feels a dream to write with. Like these fine liner pens.
If you’re a lover of colour, you might also want to take a look at these bullet journal stickers from Art by Marlene.
And we love the transfers and stickers from the Been There collection by Arden Creative Studio, for the travel lovers out there.
Now that you have the bits to get you started, we’d recommend setting yourself a routine and some quiet time to dedicate to your journal. A great method from Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, is to free write 3 pages every morning. Simply writing anything down, with no pressure of thinking anyone will read it will bring more out of you than you would expect. The trick is to just start and see where it will take you, and remember that you can be open and honest as no one else is going to read it.
But if you are struggling to get started writing and work better with prompts, here are some helpful journal prompts to help with self-reflection and guide you when you’re stuck for where to start journaling:
- What were 5 things you loved about today?
- What was challenging about your day and why?
- How do you feel in this exact moment? Physically and emotionally.
- Write about a moment or activity that brought you joy.
- Reflect on a difficult time – what are you grateful for about how you got through it?
- Write a letter to your younger self – what do you want them to know?
- What do you need right now?
- What are 3 things you like about yourself and why?
Happy journaling!