Tana Fletcher had strong opinions about journaling before she ever tried it. She pictured a cheesy “Dear Diary” ritual. “I remember from growing up and writing, Dear Diary, today Johnny looked at me,” she recalls. The reality was different. “I put my emotions on paper.” That shift turned a gimmick into something real.
For Lorraine Gordon, journaling became a safe place to dig into heavy stuff. She faced an alcoholic father and worked through her resentment on the page. She also used it to figure out big moves—earning her master’s degree and pivoting her career. “It changed my life,” she says.
That experience pushed her to found Journaling Concepts, running journaling workshops for women around Washington, D.C. Her advice is refreshingly loose:
“In the beginning, write about everything and anything. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling or penmanship. Write the way you speak and don’t be afraid of the truth.”
The Health Benefits of Journaling That Studies Actually Support
Writing it down isn’t just emotional homework. Research backs the physical side too. People who put traumatic experiences on paper tend to feel better and hit the doctor less often, with even stronger immune responses.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found writing exercises could ease symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
Real women put that to work. Lenore Walsh had just buried her father when she got news that a breast lump was malignant. “I cried and wrote in my journal constantly,” she says. She’s cured now and rereads those entries as proof of how far she’s come. “I’m not there anymore.”
Lynn Drake uses her journal to track both lows and wins. After years of writing, she started spotting patterns and developing empathy for herself. Sometimes she writes about the hard days. Sometimes the good ones. “With journaling, you can become your own best friend.”
How Women Keep Their Journals Private (and Some Who Don’t)
Most women guard their journals closely. Some lock them at home. Others stash them in a bank safety deposit box.
Karen Kullgren goes the opposite route. She unlocks her emotions by sharing entries with a few trusted friends. Her group meets monthly. “Through our journals, we’ve carried each other through deaths of children, deaths of parents, marital changes and more,” she says. “In writing alone we reflect and we express… In a group we do this too, but we also listen and we are heard.”
Which Journaling Style Works Best for You
There’s no single right tool. Karen carries a pen and notebook everywhere. “I bounce ideas off myself when I write,” she says. At home she reaches for a purple pen and a bound book. Her rule for picking one? Look for a pretty journal with a picture or photo that resonates with you. Though, she notes, “I know environmentalists who only write on the backs of paper.”
Your options span formats:
- Tana mixes bright-color drawings over blank pages in spiral-bound notebooks
- Some prefer typing on the computer
- Oprah’s website, www.oprah.com, even offers a place to journal online
The medium rarely matters. “Whether you write on a computer, a notebook or bound journal doesn’t matter,” Lorraine says. “What does matter is what you put in it. Use the power of the pen to find, hear and use your inner voice.”
At minimum, journaling hands you a quiet corner of your own day. “At the very least, journaling allows you to save a piece of the day for yourself.”
Where to Start: Fill-In Prompts for Your First Entry
If the blank page intimidates you, these sentence starters do the heavy lifting.
- I am eager to …
- I doubt myself when …
- I feel powerful when …
- I’m proud of myself because …
- My 10 favorite things are …
- I am most grateful for …
- I can simplify my life by living without …
- I feel my mission in life is to …
- In my wildest dreams, I …
- I believe in myself because …
Finish the ones that pull at you. Skip the rest. Then pick up the pen and see where it goes.
