I have been intermittently journaling for several years now. Stick with me, it will become clear how this relates to the Sensory Awareness task for day 5. I used the word intermittent deliberately as I journal for several days and then not bother again for several weeks. I mostly throw away what I write, although on occasions I do keep it. I know it is time to write when I’m feeling out of balance in some way. For me, this manifests as not knowing how I am feeling or not acknowledging it. What I can do about it (if anything) and what I want to happen. My journaling has the following format:
Right now, I feel… I then write until I have run out of things to say. Sometimes its 20 minutes or more. Other times it’s very short indeed. Followed by;
Right now, I can… Then;
Right now, I want…
This has been transformational for me (and now I think about it, it should be a full blog at some point). The first thing I learned was that my vocabulary for expressing my emotions was severely lacking.
In early journals, I focussed on my senses i.e. what I could see, hear, feel physically… much like in today’s task. Here is an old journal (please try to withhold your judgement) I have anonymised it.
“Right now, I feel warm. It is going to be a hot, sunny day today! I feel better than I expected to, having drunk almost a whole bottle of wine last night. Drinking makes my sleep restless; I was up and awake at 4am. My mind gets chaotic searching for things I “should” do or “should have” already done. At least I am becoming aware of this. My meditation seems to be helping in this way. I feel happy that XXX has lost YYY. I am excited to see my Mum tomorrow when I take her home. I am feeling annoyed with XXX, it is not reasonable to ask me to do that.”
How do you feel today? Did you manage to complete the task?
Be happy, healthy and helpful
Paul
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