FROM PAIN TO PAPER: Unleashing the Healing Power of Journaling

Journaling – an anchor in the everyday storm

For many of us living with chronic pain, negative emotions can linger like unwelcome guests, leaving us feeling overwhelmed, anxious, stuck, or even depressed. For two decades, I have tried a host of therapeutic tools to help me navigate these emotional storms and find a path toward healing, self-discovery, and successful pain management of my pain. Some of them have worked better than others, but throughout my journey there has been one tool that I return to time and again, the one tool I consider my anchor – journaling.

These days, I do a lot of voice journaling, but for many years I kept a written journal – in the most illegible handwriting, I might add! Any time I would go back and look at one of my journals, nine times out of ten, I could not read it!

A lot of the journaling that I do is stream of consciousness journaling – I just put pen to paper (or press play on my phone) and write (speak) whatever comes to mind, without stopping – it’s a great way to clear out the cobwebs that are in my head, things that I might be brooding about, or worrying about, or even just thoughts that are bopping around in there that I wasn’t even aware of. For me, it is all about a clearing process.

When I was at the Mayo Clinic, we were encouraged to journal, which I did, but I don’t tend to look back over those journals; they bring up difficult emotions. I like to think that they served a purpose at that time of my life, they helped me to deal with what I was going through in those moments, they were the emotional catharsis I needed at that stage in my rehab, not necessarily thoughts and reflections that I need to revisit years later. In a similar vein, the journals I kept during what were very tough years growing up have remained unopened.

I sometimes feel saddened that I am unable to go back to my journals, that the majority of my journaling is the release of negative emotion, that my journals are my vessels for my worries and problems, my physical, mental and emotional pain, my anxiety. But being able to release my inner voice is what I love about journaling, the fact that my journal hears things that no one else does. It is one of my coping mechanisms for the dark times, the times when I shut down, when I can speak to no one, just my journal.

I live with chronic pain, I get anxious and I know that I am a work in progress, but I am not a complete misery! I am filled with gratitude for my loving and supportive family and friends, and we spend many happy hours together. I have a good sense of humor; I love to joke and laugh. I enjoy being sarcastic and ironic, and there is a passive-aggressive side to my humor as well. I have recently come to believe that journaling should reflect your whole being, not just the dark, sad or challenging parts, so I have started to inject some more amusing content into my journal. Not forced, not fake, just a few lighter, brighter moments.

If you have never kept a journal, or have fallen off the journaling wagon, let’s look at why you might want to reach for a pen and paper (or the device of your choice), and run through a few ways to get started. You may just find it’s the therapeutic sounding board you need, whether it’s to manage stress, release pent-up emotions and thoughts that no longer serve you.

Journaling does NOT have to be a lengthy or a labor-intensive process. Some of us enjoy writing. Some of us do not. There is no right or wrong way to journal just like there is no right or wrong way to deal with your chronic pain. It doesn’t require anything fancy other than some kind of notebook and your writing instrument of choice. If writing by hand is not possible for you, use a laptop or tablet.

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