Here is a list of reasons why journaling/blogging is beneficial for seniors. (Even if you’re not a senior, many of these may apply to you.)
- Sense of Purpose – Writing out your unique memories will give you a very real sense of purpose. You’re not empty, you’re a source of information and details from decades ago that others will find interesting and useful. You’re important, you have duty to future generations who could learn from what you know.
- Therapy – As I’ve said here, not all memories are happy. When you write about those memories, you get them out of your brain onto paper, in a form that will help you reconsider the various situations that might be troubling you. Putting them into another form, other than just being thoughts in your head, allows you to rearrange everything, sort things out and process your emotions.
- Exercising Your Brain – Just as muscles need exercise, so does your brain. The act of writing out memories is exercise. It will stimulate various parts of your brain. As you continue to write, your memory will get better, you will feel more creative and structured.
- Enhance Your Memory – As I said above, recalling the details of incidents and experiences from the past can help strengthen your memory, keeping those memories and new ones from disappearing.
- At a Loss for Words? – Living alone obviously limits your interactions with others. Writing is like having a conversation. It forces you to use words, make sentences and perhaps, remember words from your past that aren’t in use now. Writing will gradually refine your use of words, grammar and punctuation. Keep in mind that those things don’t matter at the moment of writing. Save grammar and punctuation for the editing process. Get the memories out then arrange them into an acceptable form for reading.
- Feeling Good – Just as music and exercise can make you feel better and happier, there is a theory that writing might trigger the release of dopamine. Personally, I can vouch for this. Over the last few weeks, I’ve felt a lot more positive and confident since I’ve started writing again.
- Self-Medication – In line with the above, research among cancer patients has shown that writing before treatment allows them to feel better, both mentally and physically.
- Better Sleep – You probably know that exercising helps your sleep. So does writing. All that thinking can indeed make you tired plus you’ve given your brain something to think about while you’re asleep. Who knows? Maybe your dreams will be more entertaining!
Just so you know, these benefits are real. Before I started this journey, I didn’t realize that what I was doing ‘because I felt like it’ was also helping me in many ways. I’ve been writing all my life but now that I’m a senior, I’ve discovered that something as simple as putting words on paper can actually help me physically, emotionally and mentally.
Thanks for reading. If you have questions or comments, feel free to let me know.
Cheers!
Brian Mahoney
December 30th, 2024
P.S. Here’s a link for Scientific American’s post ‘Blogging –It’s Good for You’: The therapeutic value of blogging becomes a focus of study