As you refelct on 2015, how has the year been for you?
Have you experienced a loss? Not necessarily a death – in many instances, loss can come from something that was there being there no longer. The death of a spouse, beloved family pet, a miscarriage, breakup of a business partnership or losing your company’s largest client – all of these are types of loss.
Are you currently grieving?
Do you journal?
Over the course of a 2 year period, I endured the deaths of 28 loved ones. One of the things that was very cathartic to me was to journal about my feelings, thoughts and experiences. For me, I knew that selecting the journal to write in would be something that I wanted to make special. I knew that I wanted to write about my feelings as they related to death, loss and grief. I wanted to select a journal that reflected that.
Some of the things that I found to be helpful during my journey include:
- “Just write.” Some days I felt like I was repeating myself. And that was ok.
- I gave myself permission to write when I felt like it and not write when I didn’t feel like it. As my grief changed, expanded, etc., some days I didn’t feel like writing. Other times, I felt like I could write for days.
- Talk to others about how I felt
- Take time to be in nature and ask myself questions (I tend to do this a lot when my husband and I are hiking)
- Take time to be in prayer / meditation
If you’d like to read more, I encourage you to check out the recent best-selling book (I contributed a chapter to this book!) called 365 Ways to Connect to Your Soul. So many beautiful souls came together and created such an amazing collaboration of content.
I would love to hear what is working for you as it relates to journaling. Please leave a comment below and let me know how I may be of support.