"How journaling works for me….

To celebrate and launch our new journal – Journaling for Self Care – we invited you to share tips on journaling.

Bonnie and Evelyn, thank you very much for sharing your experience on the value of journaling in caregiving, and for your ideas on how to journal.

“Journaling helps me be more present in my journey with my husband – it helps me to notice what’s going on in my life and what I want to process further. Then the process of writing helps me clarify the issue and to determine thoughtfully how I wish to move forward.”  Bonnie Thiessen (Winnipeg)

“I have been journaling since I was 15 (I’m almost 60 now) and have found it to be my release, meditation, inspiration, solace and comfort. I have been helping my mother take care of dad in his last months of life and journaling has been an every day relief to delve into grief, exhaustion, frustration, compassion – and love.

For me, it just takes sitting down with my – usually beautiful – journal and pen and start writing. Any thought, anything – as Pema Chodron would say: start where you are. Just keep at it, whatever comes to mind. Usually there is a moment when the subconscious (soul, spirit) kicks in and takes over – and the writing truly writes itself. Deep feelings and thoughts surface causing a release and bringing peace. It works for me.               Evelyn Kaltenbach (Marsh Lake, Yukon)