I haven't had much success with journalling but am thinking to try again. One thing I noticed when trying before is my writing cannot keep with with my thoughts and I end up mostly just scrawling lines and loops in the general length of a word with no legibility or even real letter shapes. I wonder if this is as effective and if the act of scratching at the paper is therapeautic at all if I am not putting down recognizable words and sentences. Is the pen just a conduit to DO SOMETHING as the thoughts come out? Or does the word need to be written for recognition and some processing?
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Does journalling need to be legible?
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bagofwater
Peer Supporter
I do this too. It also negates the need to destroy the document, as some practitioners recommend you do. I've wondered if it's as effective as if I took more time to make it legible. I'm not a practitioner, but my instinct tells me it's fine to it this way. It's feels much more fluid and still organizes my thoughts in a useful way if I just go, and not worry about legibility
zclesa
Well known member
@had No need to worry about that at all. It's much more important that you just write what you feel and don't self-censor. It's about letting it out. I actually half-close my eyes to free-write as it's easier not to intellectualise and self-censor doing that. I can't read my own writing at the best of times, so I certainly can't read my journals! It doesn't matter. Research shows that writing out difficult evens made volunteers feel happier and less stressed after doing it. The study participants didn't read their writing back afterwards. It's about purging and processing the emotion, but not ruminating on it, which can be counter-productive.