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It’s Time to Actually Use One of Those Journals You Bought

It’s Time to Actually Use One of Those Journals You Bought

It is the end of a long day. I find myself emotionally, physically and mentally spent.

I sit with my evening cup of coffee and feel my mind continue to spin a million miles an hour with thoughts, dreams, feelings and epiphanies that have yet to be shared with others.

And the only cure I can find to truly release and experience some sort of catharsis is writing.

I have been writing my entire life. Whether I was writing for school, a fictional story for my personal entertainment, processing through my teenage years on my Xanga/Myspace blog, or even in college in my English classes, I found myself feeling an overwhelming sense of urgency to spew every single occurrence, happening, decision, prayer and thought onto paper or onto a digital document. At the end of the day, it was the only way I could grab reality by the horns and “deal.”

Over the past few months, social media has erupted with noise. We hear and process thousands of noises every single day: loud noises, soft noises, shrieking noises, calm noises. There are soft and refreshing sounds we hear, which pull us into a sense of relief and truth. Then, there are harsh and draining sounds we hear, which push us to build walls and cling to offense.

Though I continue to write for my private journal, I have found myself experiencing a dry season. It seems as if the further we press into 2022, the further away I run from publishing anything online for the public eye. I ask myself: What type of sound am I projecting online? Am I a part of the harsh and draining explosion? Am I lifting others up and not tearing them down? Am I proclaiming God’s entire truth on this subject matter? Am I pouring all that I am into this piece to empower and stir others to shake off the dust of yesterday and bloom into what God has called them to become?

And the questions continue to race through my mind. The pressure rises. I question my work. And then, before I know it, I have starved my creativity and have stopped writing.

That’s a scary place to be.

But here’s why you and I must continue to write:

Your story matters.

Every person has a story that has the potential to change the world for good. The question is whether you’ve considered the importance of your story. Your story matters. Consider your obstacles, your successes, your failures and your experiences. There is so much we can gain from hearing and reading your story because there is, and always will be, only “one” of you. You are unique, you are different, and so is your story. And it matters.

Words contain power.

Whether you are a natural writer, a good writer, an OK writer or a struggling writer, I believe writing and words can help you in this world. In fact, the Bible states, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). There is something powerful in processing through our day, our struggles and our successes and failures through communication and writing. As Christians, we have the power to encourage others, and even nonbelievers, in our writing. The question is: Are we encouraging them to turn their eyes to God’s truth in love? The power lies in our words.

Your potential is continuously unlocked.

There is some sort of comforting feeling when you purchase a new and fresh journal. You may find yourself admiring the future thoughts and visions and dreams that you have yet to draft up on the pages. If you’re like me, you may jump with excitement at the realizations and learning moments that are bound to take place through writing over the next months. I find myself learning more and more about my emotions, my thoughts, my viewpoints and my deep heart-wrenched prayers through writing.

Several times, I have found myself thumbing through journals that I have flooded with my thoughts, experiences, desires and dreams. Each time, I realize that those desires and dreams I plainly wrote out months, or even years, previously come to pass. And each time, I am encouraged to continue to write and become better than I was yesterday by setting new goals, reflecting on new experiences and projecting new desires into motion through writing.

Writing has the potential to be your very best friend.

Have you ever wanted a “very” best friend? A friend you could be brutally honest with—totally, and completely the real you? You can tell them the real reason why you ended that relationship, and you can tell them the real story behind your epic failure. You can explain your deepest frustration and you can share your darkest thoughts. You can proclaim your greatest victory, and you can cheer for your biggest accomplishment. And they’ll listen.

If you’ve ever wanted this friend, God can help with that. He is that friend. In my walk with Him, I’ve found the need to write even more. Through my intimate relationship with Him, writing has become a best friend to me.

When you have the courage to sit down and just write, you open yourself up to the endless blank pages in your journal or on your screen that are screaming to be filled with your thoughts, beliefs, realizations and joys.

Amongst the pages of my journal and on my screen, there is no judgment and there is no rejection. And through it all, God hears my cries, He reads my prayers, and He cheers me on in this race as I continue to write.

If you’re like me, and have found yourself second-guessing your call to write and add to the noise, remember this: We must continue to write and proclaim truth. We must continue to utilize the gifts God has given us. And we must continue to mute the harsh and deafening noises in this world.

What type of noise will you make?

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