A simple summing up on a very cold and frosty Sunday morning here in Toronto. I still managed to walk 4 KM, get Wordle in 2 guesses and perfect on Connections and Quizl. Each of those games is linked so if you’re looking for a challenge, check them out. Your brain will thank you.
Let’s get started:
1. Journaling exercises your brain, specifically the left side. The left side of your brain controls the right side of your body, but that’s not as important as the other things it controls. These are speech, comprehension, mathematics and writing, all very important parts that you use every day. Also, as the left controls the right side of your body and you are right handed well, the benefits are enormous.
2. Writing helps you keep your thoughts organized. Seniors naturally have untold numbers of memories, so many that they get lost. They’re still there but sometimes you can’t find the ones you want. Journaling sorts them out, frequently bringing up other memories that are attached to them. Many of us ramble at bit when we are talking to others, I am guilty of that myself. When I’m writing, I force myself to go from A to B to C.
3. Instead of drifting through your daytime hours, journaling gives you a focus, something that will become a habit. Once something is a habit, it’s much easier and fun to do. Seniors like us have more spare time. Writing helps you fill that time with something that is very worthwhile.
4. Writing gives you sense of accomplishment. You did it! We may feel a bit lost, a bit like we’re floating through time, not lost but sort of aimlessly. Whether you’ve written a single paragraph or ten pages, you’re done something solid, something real that you can share with others or simply keep it to yourself, knowing that you really did it.
5. Many of us live alone. When I’m writing, I don’t feel lonely. It’s as if I’m communicating with someone, saying what’s in my heart and my head at that time. Maybe no one will read what I’ve written but I’ve thrown it out there like a fish hook. Someone might bite, you never know!
6. Besides focusing your thoughts, journaling helps you control them, preventing them from controlling you. Bad memories? Get them out on paper. Write the before and after parts, the things surrounding the event that hurts. Once it’s all out, these things may not seem as bad. When I think of this part of my writing, I see the ghostly things in the Harry Potter movies who drag thoughts out of people’s brains. Wiggle your magic wand around your head to get the nasty memories out and onto a piece of paper.
7. Journaling can help relieve stress. For all of the reasons above, writing about your thoughts and memories puts your focus back onto you, not those things that cause you stress. Sure, you can write about those things too, it might actually help you sort them out, but for the time you’re actually doing the writing, it’s all about you. There is a certain sense of importance from all of this. You’re honing your skills, using your own words to explain something that you lived through. Maybe you’re the only one who remembers that day or that event. That in itself makes you important as well as making that memory or event a one of a kind experience. You’re not just a senior, you’re an amateur historian. (That isn’t a joke, it’s absolutely true. Anyone who has reached your age has to be considered an important part of society. You have seen things that others can only imagine and now you’ve got a chance to share them.)
8. Coping: This goes with stress, of course. Writing a journal helps lower stress which allows you to carry on with your day in a more organized way. This organization will help you cope with unforeseen bumps in the road ahead. You’re a senior, you’ve lived through a lot. Whatever comes up next, you can handle it. A big part of coping with stress is confidence. For all sorts of reasons, once you start writing you’ll be more confident. Trust me.
9. Reflection: Getting things on paper is part of the process of writing. The other part is editing. Editing is when you go through your work and change this and that, obviously, but it’s also the time you can reflect on what you’ve written. The memory is now on paper in front of you. Reading about it is different from the experience you had writing it. You’re sort of blindfolded when writing, focused on the words with the memory clear in your head but not seeing much around you. When you’re reading, it’s the opposite. The words in front of you are creating the images you see. You get a chance to reflect on the words, the memory, that time of your life. Are there any insights to be gained? Would someone else be able to pick up something new from reading about your life?
10. Mood: I’ve said before that my current journal has changed my life. It has. I’m happier, I’m in control of my memories and I have a focus to my day. What I’ve tried to show you in this post is how journaling will help seniors. If you’re not a senior, share these thoughts with someone else who is, please and thank you.
That’s it. Much longer than what I originally planned. Comment below if you want to join the conversation. Thanks for reading.
Happy blogging!
Brian Mahoney
December 22, 2024.