Journaling and Therapy (or Counseling): Journaling through life's challenges

Most counselors would be put out of business if people journaled--or journaled more.

Just a thought.

Why do I say this? 

If we journaled through our emotion so we could reach rational thinking, we wouldn't explode at people in rage, say something stupid,  do something we regret, or break down. Journaling gives us a safe avenue to get out our emotions. Then, when we work through our emotion, we can see things clearer and with a fresh perspective. We then have insight as to how to overcome our challenge and can then see the light shine through the clouds. 

Journaling through a problem is the best way to live--and it will help us avoid some of our problems and tough times. 

But, in those instances, when the tough times come, and we cannot do anything to stop those times, journaling helps us get to the other side so we can live again and move on--stronger than before. 

We may find at the time that journaling does not help. Inf act, it can make things worse for a bit. But, it will help. We are just in the rawness of the experience. We are hurting and cannot see clearly yet. In hours, days, or weeks, we will--and we will see that journaling helped us through in a way nothing else has or can.

I guarantee this. EVERY time I have had a rough time in my life, journaling has helped. EVERY time. Without fail. 

Look at this week for me. The shooting at Sandy Hook reminded me of how my cousin was shot and murdered. I have come through it--thanks to my journaling and working through my yuck so my yuck doesn't work on me later. (In other words, I dealt with the issue, so it didn't deal with me later.) I headed the yuck straight on. I didn't have to go anywhere else for the answers. Most often, the answer is time and a new/fresh perspective. Do I still hurt? You bet. But, I can approach the pain differently. I have a clear head because I dealt with emotion and found the logic. My pain is now a companion and not an enemy. 

Since I journaled, I was able to work through, and deal with what I was feeling, a great deal quicker than I would have otherwise. 

That being said  there are times it is essential to talk with the professionals. If there are ever feelings of suicide or homicide, it's critical to seek advice from the professionals immediately. This is also true when we cannot see our way through the yuck on our own. Another point-of-view can help. 

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper & Author

The Remembering Your Present Journal Keeping Series

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Storykeeper 2121

Sinan My Writing Helper

Note where my mouse is. When I went to move it, I got pawed by my helper. 

I do not know if my writing was terrible and he was saving me from myself. Or, if he wanted to get my attention. Then again, maybe he was just being cat. Enough said? Lol.

THE END OF THE WORLD: A JOURNALING EXERCISE AND PROMPT

Some say the end of the world is right around the corner, on 21 December 2012. That's else than two days away. So, what a perfect time to do this journaling exercise and prompt.

Let me say that I do not believe the world will end in two days (see Mark 13:21.). However, let's be real. 14 December taught us something very real and true. Life changes on a dime. We could very well die in two days. Aren't we supposed to live every day as if it was our last anyway? 

JOURNALING EXERCISE

It does not matter if you believe this to be true or not. Let's say that it is true--or we are told we have only two days to live. Answer these questions with that frame of mind:

* What would you do to prepare for the end of the world?

* What would you want to tell your loved ones?

* What would you want to do?

* What would you want to journal--in case there were any survivors? 

* What were your most powerful memories? Describe each of them. 

* Give a summary of your life. 

* How does this change how your live today, regardless? 

* Journal anything else that comes to mind.

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online.) 

My Storykeeper Odyssey in 2013 Journal: Background Information

I am going to start to share my personal journal entries with you. It's part of my 2013 storykeeping odyssey. This is the first entry and this is how I begin all of my journal entries, by the way:

2012-12-19 08:28:45 (19 December 2012, Wednesday)

Home: At Writing Desk

This additional is something I want to do everyday, all day long, but don't always have the time:

Journaling in Penzu

Theme of the Day: Preparing for "My Storykeeper Odyssey in 2013" and getting all of my life on the page

Plans of the Day: Take a couple of friends to the airport and journal; write on journaling communities and read them; drink more coffee

Don't Forget: Airport run.

How should I start off my story? 

Hmm. Thinking. I guess I shall start at the very beginning, as the song goes in THE SOUND OF MUSIC. 

My name is Stacy Duplease.

I am a Christian, wife, journalkeeper, storykeeper, and writer/author. 

I am in my later-30's.

I've journaled for about 30 years and journal every single day--preferably all day long. On the weekends, I cannot necessarily write all day long, but still journal at some point each day. 

I am addicted to coffee, I workout most days, read every day, and am in the process of getting rid of thousands of books and getting them on my Amazon Kindle Fire HD 4G 8.9-inch device.

I've been trying to get rid of books and put them on my Kindle for four years now and have made quite the dent. As a matter of fact, between now and July, I should have 10 bookshelves down to 3. I think the 3 is what I will always have  They are books I cannot bare to part with at this point. Now, let me tell you. I had 10 bookcases that were jammed into multiple layers. They filled the shelves to the max. Hence, this has been quite the undertaking. What can I say, my husband and I both went to seminary and are into psychology; consequently, it meant we had a lot of books. Never mind how I am a book nut and read at least one book a week.

With my husband's job, and how we move every two to three years, the saving of storage is key. (It can be a back-breaker ) That's why we've been getting rid of books and why I journal online now. 

I am married to my best friend and we live in Virginia--near Jamestown and Yorktown. I am a third generation Colorado native. When my husband retires, we want to make Wyoming home. All my family (most anyway) is in Colorado. 

We want a kid someday. As of now, we have four 4-legged critters Zack beagle, Sinan Orange Maine Coon Cat, Shelly RES turtle, and Harry RES turtle. 

FAITH

I am a Christian. I have been ever since I could remember, thanks to my Granny and Pa. I remember praying at the age of three and comprehending Jesus Christ. 

MY FAMILY TREE 

I recently discovered how I've had family here in the USA since 1607. As a matter-of-fact, I had three family members who were in Jamestown at that time. And, by 1640, I had over 35 family members at Jamestown. I also learned that I am a descendant of some of the Plantagenets and the Tudors. Never mind how I had at least 40 family members executed in the Tower of London over time (yikes). 

However  it is the American heritage I am most proud of. My family is as American as we can be and have always been faithful to our Christian faith and patriotic. I had multiple family members fight in the Revolutionary War (including a father and his 12 sons). We've also had a family member fight in every war the USA has seen. 

Keep in mind, my family had NO IDEA whatsoever about anything I just stated--until recently. It makes it even more appropriate that I just so happen to live in Virginia at this time. 

PATRIOTISM

I have always been patriotic and a 100%, firm supporter of our military. I also pay attention to politics. I re-read the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution every year so I can keep them in the forefront of my mind. I vote every election and know the people and issues involved in every election. 

And, that was before I learned about my family tree on 14 June 2012. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease) 

My Storykeeper Odyssey in 2013

GENERALS TO SPECIFICS

This blog has been focused on journaling in a general sense for the last month. It has been an Introduction to Journaling.

Now, we are going to switch to different types of journaling. We will still cover the basics and generals of journaling, but we will also look at more specifics.

WHAT IS A STORYKEEPER AND WHAT IS STORYKEEPING? 

I am sure you have wondered what I meant by storykeeping and being a storykeeper for a while now. I am still trying to work on a good definition, I must confess. But, 2013 will be the year I learn everything it means and will share my odyssey with you.

This much I do know, though. A storykeeper is someone who takes journaling one-step further and goes deeper with their journaling. A storykeeper acknowledges that their story intertwines with all the other stories that they come in contact with in daily living. Each story impacts one another's story. Hence, when a storykeeper journals, they make sure to write the other stories as well--and shares how it's impacted their own life. 

A storykeeper also makes sure to get their entire life on the page. They, after all, are keepers of story. 

A storykeeper knows that all stories are sacred. They are spiritual, a thing of the heart, and part of the spirit. Stories are meant to impact a life and transform it. 

GET IT ALL DOWN ON THE PAGE 

I think Sandy Hook has taught me something that I want to remember even more in 2013. Life changes on a dime. I could die tomorrow. Or worse... My loved ones could die tomorrow. So... I want to tell then everything I would want them to know before any of us actually do die.

Starting tomorrow I am going to get all of the stories I would want told down on the page... my stories and theirs.

2013 will be the year I get my stories down on the page. I will pledge at least 20 hours a week of this alone.

I have no idea about all the writing projects I ahd planned. We shall see. This si the one that Sandy Hook taught me matters most to me. It's time to get serious and get my full story on the page--past, present, and future (plans). 

MY STORYKEEPER ODYSSEY IN 2013

This is the title of my 2013 project. 

Care to join me on my odyssey? As I journal, I will add journaling exercises or prompts to help you write your story and embark on your own journey. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease) 

Monthly Newsletter

If you are interested in receiving a FREE and monthly journaling newsletter, please send me an email to this email address:

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

Stacy Duplease

Journalkeeper & Author

Journaling for spiritual growth

It's possible that when you journal, you grow spiritually every time you pick you the pen (or type on the keyboard). 

JOURNALING EXERCISE:

How is journaling a means to grow spiritually in your own life? How can it bring you closer to God? How can journaling get you to interact with the mystery of life? 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease)

Journaling for spiritual growth

It's possible that when you journal, you grow spiritually every time you pick you the pen (or type on the keyboard). 

JOURNALING EXERCISE:

How is journaling a means to grow spiritually in your own life? How can it bring you closer to God? How can journaling get you to interact with the mystery of life? 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease)

Journaling as a Sacred, Spiritual Act: A journaling Exercise or Prompt

JOURNALING EXERCISE:
How is journaling a sacred, spiritual act in your opinion? What makes journaling sacred? How does it connect you with God? How does it fulfill a spiritual need?

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease.)

Journaling Quote

Journaling daily: A lesson learned the hard way

A lesson learned long ago, and the hard way, about journaling was to journal immediately when I go through a rough patch in my life. Journaling helps me get through the difficult or dark time. There have been times in my life when the pain is so acute because of a situation that I have not journaled--and I regretted it deeply later. I've had to pay for it, as a matter of fact. I seem to have the God-given talent for making things far more difficult on myself than they need to be in the first place. Hence, when I journal through these times, I am able to gain a clearer, fresh perspective, where I can think more with logic ad lean less on emotion. 

Therefore, I've learned to journal through the tough stuff--as well as through the sunny days.

During the sunny days, the happier ones, I tend to get so focused on them that I put off journaling and then only journal when I can fit it into my schedule. This bites me as well because I am only journaling part of the time and missing a lot of journaling material in my life. 

Journaling, for me, is a daily MUST do--and I journal all day long as I do whatever it is I am doing. It makes life simpler, more focused, and I leave my legacy in the meanwhile. 

JOURNALING EXERCISE:

How about you? How often do you journal and what happens when you don't journal? 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease) 

Thank You

First, I wanted to say welcome to Shawnee McKee for following this blog.

Next, I want to say thank you to everyone who reads this blog.

Your stopping by and support mean a great deal.

Have a blessed, journaling day!

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online.)

Returning to the Basics: A Journaling Exercise

I do not know about you, but sometimes, I need to return to the basics. I need to simplify things again in my life and get down to the bare-bones of what really matters in my life--my priorities and everything that surrounds them. 

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting, I find the basics are what I need to remember first and foremost. It's times like this that cuts out all of the superfluousness fillers in my life--and the stuff that does not really matter. This is also true as we close out 2012 and start the new year of 2013. 

WHAT ARE THE BASICS?

* The basics are your life's priorities.

* It's when you keep things simple.

* It's when you cut out all of the filler in your life.

* It's getting back on track. 

* It's doing what you are supposed to be doing. 

* It's not being so darn busy. It's cutting stuff out of your schedule, permanently  to allow room to breathe and for spontaneity. 

* It's focusing on what really matters in your life--and only living for those priorities. 

THE PERFECT TIME OF YEAR

This is the perfect time of year to revisit your priorities and see how you lived them over the last year--and how you did not. It's also perfect to plan for the next year and how to live your priorities. 

WHEN DEALING WITH THE TOUGH STUFF OF LIFE

When you are going through hard times in life, it's also really important to get back to the basics. 

PRIORITIES

In previous blog posts, we have looked at these, but we had a different frame of mind than we do after Sandy Hook. So, take some time to do this again. I guarantee what you find important today will be different than what you thought the last time you thought of your priorities  Tragedy like Sandy Hook tends to bring a whole new perspective in our lives. That's why it is so important for us to re-evaluate our priorities and what really matters in our lives today. Things have changed. (Boy, have they!)

How do we see the world now because of it? 

JOURNALING EXERCISE

* Do a Steam of Conscious (SOC) journaling entry for at least 10 minutes about what really matters in your life today.

* Make a list of all the priorities, and what really matters  in your life: People, events, things, actions, sports, etc.

* Number your priorities and put them in sequential order.

* Do a SOC about each item listed on your priority list. Why is it, or are they, on this list? What does it, or do they, mean to you?

* What do you need to eliminate in your life so you can keep to these basics in your life--and keep always in mind what really matters to you?

* Journal any thoughts you have--or anything else you want to journal. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease) 

What have you mourned in your life?: A Journaling Exercise

Journaling isn't just something we do when we want to think with the good parts of our life. Life is full of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the indifferent. It's always fluid. Life changes on a dime. Hence, our journals are meant to encapsulate all of these dimensions. 

If we only journal about just the good parts of life, and the easy parts of life, we miss most of our lives. We then live in a fantasy world at that point and have a very minimal, unrealistic, point-of-view. 

Journaling about the good, the bad, the ugly, and the indifferent makes you more well-rounded and helps bring you perspective--and later new perspective and point-of-view. 

This includes times of mourning.

JOURNALING EXERCISE:

* What have you mourned in your life? Who have you mourned in your life?

* How has this shaped who you are today?

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper & Author

The Remembering Your Present Journal Keeping Series

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Storykeeper 2121

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease. 2010.)

Journaling Communities and Resources

If you want your information added to this list, let me know. Or, if you have any corrections to what I have here, please let me know. Send me an email or attach a comment at the end of any blog post.

I will constantly add to this list and have added a page at the top of my blog for these communities and resources. 

Journaling Communities:

Journaling and Storykeeping: 

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/113054405863121223338

Journal Writers:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/104010431754411881704

Journaling Resources:

Create Write Now

http://www.createwritenow.com/

Journal for You

http://journalforyou.com/

Journal for You and Scoop It

http://www.scoop.it/t/journal-for-you 

Keeping a 5-Year Journal

http://debbiehodge.com/2012/01/5-year-journal-01/

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper & Author

The Remembering Your Present Journal Keeping Series

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Storykeeper 2121

Another community to check out: Journal Writer

Also, check out this journaling community. This is a delightful one that should help all of us with our journaling:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/104010431754411881704

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper & Author

Join a Journaling and Storykeeping community

Check out the community I started about journaling and join in the discussion:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/113054405863121223338

Stacy Duplease
Journalkeeper & Author

The Remembering Your Present Journal Keeping Series

Email: storykeeper2121@gmail.com

Bookstore: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hisfiction

dba Remembering Your Present, LLC & Storykeeper 2121

Journaling through the tough stuff of life: A Journaling Exercise

I do not know about you, but I've been in a funk ever since I heard about the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. I've been in mourning and grieving for family I do not know. I count them as family because we live in the same country, the USA. (We are supposed to be united, after all.) 

You also might have noticed how I have received pinpointed point-of-view--where I have analyzed my life, along with that of our nation. (That will be talked more about on a later day.) But, I also haven't talked much about journaling. Sure. I took some time off to do nothing but pray and journal. But, I haven't talked much about how to journal or how to journal through, most importantly, hard and unfathomable times like this. 

What do you do when something so awful and nightmarish happened that you do not have the words, let alone the comprehension of the situation? How do you handle when the unspeakable happens? How do you handle when real-life is worse than the stuff in nightmares?

How do you handle the tough stuff of life? 

The answer is simple: You journal.

I am sure you noticed that was my first inclination after I received the news about Sandy Hook. I immediately went to my blog and said I was shutting down to pray and journal for the day.

That is precisely what I did. 

And that is what I did all day and night Friday. 

The weekend was full of stuff to do. But, the radio was on all the time, playing in the background. I was in a funk all weekend, needless to say. And it carried through yesterday as well. Yesterday was another day for me to journal and try to process what happened, my reaction to it, and what it meant in my life. 

Yesterday, I kept flashing back to Shar's shooting when she was murdered. I also kept thinking of Columbine--and the students I knew who were there that day. I also cannot help but think of the Memorial Service of Columbine--and that of Shar's. Then, that reminds me of the Aurora Movie Theater Shooting. My husband and I spend two weeks back home in Colorado and were by that theater three times or more. I even knew a couple fo people who were going to go see the movie that night, but didn't go. 

Flashbacks. The sense of loss. Mourning. Praying. Trying to find my way.

Today, I am coming out of the funk. I am no longer just going through the motions. I am coming back to life. But, I still realize I have a lot of journaling to do. A lot, a lot, a lot. A lot. 

So, how do you journal through the tough stuff of life?

JOURNALING THROUGH THE TOUGH STUFF OF LIFE

When the unthinkable, unspeakable happens, first turn to God in prayer. Then, turn to God and pray in your journal, if you are a Christian. If you are not, turn to your journal anyway and do whatever spiritual thing that brings you comfort. 

How do you do this?

JOURNALING EXERCISE:

1 Grab your journal.

2 Write the time and date. 

3 Write what happened.

4 Throw-up on paper. Write everything, and I mean EVERY thing, that comes to mind. Put all the ugly stuff you have boiling up inside. Put it on the page so it doesn't have to spill forth on anything or anyone else. Get it out. Do this as long as it takes. Take minutes to hours to days to weeks or even months. Just make sure to get it all out and capture it on the page. 

How do you know when you get it all out? You don't feel like crying, smashing something, or yelling. You get to the point where you have a sense of peace--where you surely do not understand anything, but you can think clearly again. Keep throwing-up on paper until you get to this point. And, make sure to throw-up on paper again later if you feel like crying, smashing something, or yelling. 

5 When you come to the point that you feel a sense of peace and can think again, move to this step. Ask yourself what got to you so much? What caused the reaction in your? How did this impact you and why? Is there something you need to deal with? Did something from your past rise up and demand attention? Were you reminded of something? Spend a lot of time on this as wlel. Make sure to do lots of SOC (Stream of Consciousness) Journaling -where you write anything and everything that comes to mind. 

6 What emotions did you feel or are you feeling?

7 What keeps running through your mind?

8 What do you want to do in response? 

9 What should you do in response?

10 How has your life been changed because of this event?

11 What lessons have you learned?

12 What has God said to you through all of this?

13 What have you said to God? 

14 How can you help others through this--or a situation like this--now and/or later? 

15 What does this mean for your life in the future? How does this change things for you? 

16 Write a summary. 

17 Anything else you want to journal about regarding this situation. 

Do all of that and you will start to heal. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease.)

The Importance of Journaling with Healing

The fact is: 

We must work through, and deal with our stuff, or it will deal with us.

That is why journaling is so critical with healing. Journaling ensures we are not silent. It helps us deal with our stuff head on and not deny it. Journalkeeping forces us to look at what in our lives needs healing, after all. 

When we are silent, we stew. We brew. We bubble up inside and eventually we will explode--no matter how much we try to deny it. We are stymied and cannot move forward until we deal with our stuff--and whatever brings us pain.  Our lives will run on empty as we go through the motions. 

Journaling helps us not to do any of that. Journaling gives our stuff voice so that we can heal. 

JOURNALING EXERCISE:

So, what stuff are you dealing with today? Give it voice. Then, you can heal from it. 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online)

Journaling Quote

Silence Quote

Senselessness

I know firsthand what it is like to have your family become national news. I also know what it's like to make national news because a loved one was shot and killed by evil. I also know what it's like to experience this before Christmas. 09 December 1998 is a date I will never forget. Those three things happened to my family on 09 December 1998. 

So, you see, Sandy Hook is terrible as it is. But, when you can relate to what they are going through (while not exactly because they are different incidents and we all grieve differently), it makes it even more personal.

What happened at Sandy Hook is the nightmare of nightmares. It shows the depravity of mankind and the power of evil. 

I know what it's like to question why--and to realize the answers will never come in this life. One day, though, if we make it to eternity and heaven, things will make more sense then. But, not until then. 

All the other questions play with your mind and plague you. 

The stupid things people do and say. "Time heals all wounds " is my personal favorite (not!). Looking back at Shar's death 14 years later, after Sandy Hook, the pain is just as raw and fresh as it was then. I just know how to deal with it differently now. My coping mechanisms have improved since that terrible day. I guess you could say that the pain has become a companion and friend, not an enemy.

I no longer fight the pain. I know to acknowledge it, feel it, and consciously work through it now. It's a skill I've learned since then.

Christmas is difficult afterward such a senseless tragedy, I will not lie. But, it's become even more meaningful to me. I know what it's like to lose someone you care for before Christmas. Murder makes it more difficult. But, it sure makes you hold onto who you have, what you have, and where you are--once you sort through the pain for a bit. 

That is why I am spending this week in mourning. It's because I know, somewhat, what the friends, families, and victims of the Sandy Hook Shooting are going through. It, too, has stirred up my own stuff. I will walk with them through their pain--because I know. I really do. 

JOURNALING EXERCISE:

What has the Sandy Hook Shootings stirred up in your own life? (After all, you do not have to experience something personally to imagine the pain someone else goes through--and this can stir up stuff in your own life.) 

~ Stacy Duplease

(Image Credit: Microsoft Images Online.)