Treasure Yourself with a Treasure Journal

I have written before of the merits of journalling, and different types of journals, including written and art journals. Today I want to write about a specific type of journalling, one that can be especially helpful for increasing self esteem. Living with chronic pain and/or illness can be very difficult, and self esteem can easily get eroded. It is too easy to dwell on the negative, on what you have lost (or will never gain), on what you can no longer do or no longer expect from life. The positives are there, but at times may be hard to find. A 'treasure journal' is where you can collect your positives, or treasures, together in one place. Build your treasure journal, and your self esteem will build, as you realize just how much you still have going for you.

I first got this idea from the book Pain Relief Without Drugs, by Jan Sadler. I liked her ideas, and gave it some tweaks. A treasure journal has a variety of headings for separate sections, for different positive aspects of your life. Here are the headings I used: COPING STRATEGIES THAT HELP ME; MY ACHIEVEMENTS AND SUCCESSES; POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS; WHAT I AM GRATEFUL FOR; WHAT I LIKE ABOUT ME, with sub headings MY QUALITIES and HOW I USE MY QUALITIES; and GOLDEN NUGGETS paired with HOW I FELT.

A great way to set up your treasure journal is to use a loose-leaf notebook. Put the title TREASURE JOURNAL on the cover or first page, then put each of the other titles on the top of a separate page. The beauty of using a loose-leaf notebook is the freedom to add pages to the sections, as many as you need, depending on how much you put in each section. The last four headings are paired together, with the first forming a left hand column and the second forming a right hand column. For example, under MY QUALITIES on the left side of the page I might put 'I am artistic'. Under HOW I USE MY QUALITIES on the right side of the page I could put 'I like to draw', 'I am proficient in a variety of media', and so on. On the left side of another page,GOLDEN NUGGETS is where you can list anything good that comes your way, such as 'I saw a double rainbow today', or 'Amy complimented me on my hair today'. HOW I FELT in that situation, goes on the right side of the page, which would be 'awed and inspired', and 'pleased and happy', respectfully.

I call mine a 'treasure journal', but you can call yours whatever you like. You can copy my headings, or edit them any way you wish to make it your own. Each time you write in your journal, pick a section to focus on. You can pick randomly, by your mood that day, do the sections in a specific order, focus on a different section each week (though I suggest using the golden nuggets section every day, identifying at least three golden nuggets a day). You can revisit each section as many times as you wish, reading your entries and rereading them, adding to them at any time. Some of the sections encourage you to think over your past, as well as your present, such as identifying your achievements and successes. All of the sections require you to pay attention and notice the positives, the good things about you and your life.

If you are having trouble finding positives, ask other people in your life to help you. Hopefully, once they have suggested some, you will think of others. Enjoy your treasure journal, and always treasure yourself.

Journaling Can Ease Your Pain

I wrote awhile back about using art journals to cope, but I never wrote about journaling in general.  I had been thinking that this would be a good topic when I got an email from the How to Cope With Pain Blog.  It was a request from one of his readers.  Here is an excerpt from that blog:
I’m a chronic pain patient myself who is learning to overcome my pain by writing.  I’ve learned that by rediscovering this passion, I’ve been able to lower my pain level.  Consequently, I’m putting together an inspirational e-book filled with stories BY chronic pain patients FOR chronic pain patients.  If you want to contribute to his book, email him ASAP at drew_bufalini@yahoo.com.  He wants the submissions by Dec. 1, 2010.  
I'd call that a testimonial of writing helping someone get control over his pain.  Journaling has so many benefits.  For many people, journaling is a way to put down their thoughts and feelings so they don’t have to carry them around all the time. It can help organize thoughts, discover trends in thinking or behavior, and record progress or changes. You can record the highlights of your day, or you can write down your thoughts, feelings, fears or dreams.  The only rule of journaling is that the journal owner makes the rules, and can break or change them at any time. In order to develop a habit of journaling, it is important to do it regularly.
There are countless types of journals.  Journals can be like diaries, recording activities, thoughts and feelings.  They can be like scrapbooks, with words, pictures and mementos.  They can be a place to keep track of specific information, random thoughts, or anything you want to put in them. They can be written, drawn, painted, collaged, and every other means of expression that comes to mind. Traditionally, journals were on paper, a looseleaf notebook, spiral bound, hard cover or paperback, and any size you like. 
In a healing journal, writing about your illness, your problems, your fears can get them out of your mind.  Just the act of writing it down can be healing, as though someone has listened with a sympathetic ear. You can explore options of treatment, and how you feel about them. Write down your questions, then look for the answers. Give yourself encouragement by reminding yourself that you have made it this far. You are more than just your pain and illness.

If you have a chronic or long term illness, it can be helpful to keep a symptoms journal, to keep track of how you feel.  One benefit of this is to share the information with your doctor.  Over time, you may notice that whenever you eat a certain food, take a certain medication, or participate in a certain activity, your symptoms flare up. You can then eliminate that food from your diet, talk to your doctor about changing the medication, or stop or alter the activity.  Symptoms journals can be structured in a variety of ways.  The simplest would be to just list your symptoms each day.  This may not give a good picture of what is going on. More information would help.  You can set up a grid with your common symptoms, dividing each into mild, moderate and severe, and a column for “other” across one axis, and dates, which can be subdivided into morning, afternoon and evening along the other axis.  In the “other” column, you can write in any other symptoms, comments, or other info that may be relevant, such as only getting 3 hours of sleep the night before. Another helpful way of keeping track of symptoms is to draw them.  Draw a basic outline of a body and make copies of it.   Using colored pencils, markers or crayons, add colors, shapes and lines to the image, to show how you feel.   

There are many other types of journals.  One of my favorites is a gratitude journal, which focuses on things for which you are grateful.  This can help you to refocus your thinking if you tend to dwell on your pain and suffering.  A gratitude journal is an ongoing list of good things in life, big and small.  It can include smelling a flower, talking to an old friend, five minutes of quiet after the kids went to bed, even the basics, like food, shelter, love.  Try to write down at least 3-5 things you are grateful for each day.  Since starting my gratitude journal, I am more aware of the blessings in my life, and focus less on the pain.  When feeling down, just looking at the list brings me back up.          

 

Art Journals for Coping and Healing

Yesterday I wrote about the attitude of gratitude and suggested keeping a gratitude journal.  Another kind of journal that is fun and can be beneficial is an art journal.  One of the things that needs to be emphasised here is that you don't have to be an artist to enjoy and benefit from art journalling. In fact, sometimes being an artist can be a drawback, because you are more likely to critique your work as not being 'how it should be'.

There are a couple of different types of art journals, with very different purposes. One is a journal in which you use art (drawing, painting, collage, etc.) to express and explore your inner feelings, much like art therapy. The pages can be done spontaneously, just allowing the image to develop on the page. Keeping your mind open as it develops, you may perceive things about yourself or your issues, such as the red scribble represents your anger at your spouse, and the small blob in the corner is you, afraid of your anger.

Another way to do this kind of journaling is to begin with a question or thought in your mind, such as how you feel today, or what are you afraid of, and see what image appears. Either of these journaling techniques usually begins with a few minutes of meditation or relaxation to clear the mind, and ends with jotting down the thoughts that come to mind as you do the image and look at it afterward.

The other type of art journal is more of an exploration of art media and techniques than of the inner self. It is often a combination of different media, sometimes with a quote or other words mingled with the art. I have seen art journals with interesting found objects, such as buttons, jewelry, and lace, scraps of newsprint, photos, and pressed flowers. This type of art journal is created for its own sake, not for the message that the creator may glean from creating it.

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I looked online for info on art and healing, and found Kay Porterfield's website, which has alot of good resources on creative journaling, but not necessarily about healing. Catherine Whipple has a wonderful site on healing arts with lots of projects, coloring pages, etc..One interesting website is the pain exhibit, an exhibit of art created by people with chronic pain..  Like any subject, there are lots of books on the subject of art journalling.  Here are some of my favorites:  Art and Healing, Using Expressive Art of Heal Your Body, Mind and Spirit,  by Barbara Ganim; Illness and the Art of Creative Self-Expression  by John Graham-Pole, M. D.; and The Picture of Health Healing Your Life Through Art, by Lucia Capacchione.  Art Journals and Creative Healing: Restoring the Spirit Through Self Expression, by Sharon Soneff looks like another good one, though I have not read it yet.  These books all have info about art and healing, as well as exercises to do. 




 One of my favorite types of journals has lines on the bottom of the pages, no lines on the top half. I like to draw on the top half, and then write my thoughts down below the drawing. You can use pens or pencils for writing, colored pencils, crayons, or pastels for drawing, watercolor or acrylic paints, collages of found objects and cuttings from magazines.  If you plan to paint or collage, you might want heavier paper. Size is up to you, whether you feel expansive, and want large paper, or if you plan to carry it with you, you might want smaller.  Check out some of the books and online sources I suggested, or just grab your supplies and jump in.  I have added a widget on the right side of my page that will give prompts for expressive journaling, if you need an idea to get you started.