The Art & Science of Journal Writing

We all muddle through at times. In fact muddling is an inescapable place to be when you are finding your way in a new environment.  When you are working on a new job, learning new subject matter, or starting a new role in life, the way to begin is often just to jump in and muddle through until you can make sense of the new situation. Every one of us, creators of our individual lives, have to be comfortable with some degree of muddling through in order to move on to higher levels of clarity.

Journal writing is a salve for muddling through.  Writing about the experience is soothing after a stressful day of muddling.  You can feel better by simply expressing the frustration and cloud of confusion that surrounds you.

But, wait!  There’s an added benefit to expressing through the written word. You can learn from your writing.  Writing slows you down a bit, so that you can more clearly think through the issues that you are encountering.  You can solve some of the problems by writing about them, because you are explicitly and maybe even rationally focusing on them.

And, if you keep your writing in one searchable place (enter, ta-da, LifeJournal!), you can go back and read what you’ve written to see what you’ve learned incrementally during your muddling-through period.  And with a measure of analytical thinking thrown in while reviewing, you’ll probably be able to learn even more, synthesizing your experiences.

Don’t muddle through life any longer. Or rather: Muddle through life less and feel more comfortable while muddling. Start keeping a journal.