Tips for Journaling from Mari McCarthy
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After she lost the feeling in the right side of her body due to Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Mari McCarthy turned to journaling when she learned about Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages through The Artist’s Way. By developing a daily journaling practice, Mari was able to regain feeling on her right side and currently needs zero medication to control her MS.
Mari knew she needed to share the amazing power of journaling and set to work writing Journaling Power: How to Create the Healthy, Happy Life You Want to Live which was published in 2016 and won the 2018 COVR Visionary Health and Healing Award and the 2019 Nonfiction Authors Association Silver Award. This year, Mari has released a follow-up book: Heal Yourself with Journaling Power.
I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Mari earlier this month. You can read the main takeaways or watch the interview below.
Get messages from the Universe through your journal.
Heal Yourself with Journaling Power shares Mari’s story as well as stories from members of her journaling community. Mari created her company, Create Write Now, Journaling for the Health of It, as a result of a message that came to her through her journal. She knew that journaling had amazing therapeutic benefits and through her community, she’s met many other people who have experienced the amazing benefits of journaling too.
Mari and the many people in her community have healed themselves from a whole gamut of things including addiction, illness, and grief and loss, all through the power of journaling.
The only right way to journal is YOUR way!
The most important thing when it comes to journaling is to just do it. It doesn’t matter how you do it, and the more you do it, the more you will discover your own unique way of journaling that works best for you. Nobody is going to see your journal except for you, so there’s no reason to feel self-conscious about it.
It’s freeing to think about writing whatever you want!
It starts with a question.
One of the great tips Mari shared during our interview is to write a question at the top of the page and then write a response to it. Whatever is in your heart or mind in response to the question will help you answer it.
Mari followed her own advice by writing about wanting to sing and soon discovered there was a nearby town offering singing lessons that were a perfect fit for her!
Make time for yourself.
One of the toughest things for us to do, is to make time for things that are important to us. For whatever reason, we let people we care about or past experiences dictate what we should be doing. It’s time to let go of that old way of thinking and realize that taking time for yourself is important.
By journaling every day, you are giving yourself and the Universe the message that you are number one in your life and what you want is important.
Release the issues in your tissues!
Our physical health is affected by our mental health. Stress can cause a full arsenal of problems, creating issues in our tissues that can show up as everything from aches and pains to full blown terminal illnesses. By writing in a journal, you can begin to release built-up stress because, in your journal, you can say the things you didn’t say to your coworkers, your friends, your family, or whoever.
Often the biggest issue when it comes to journaling is getting over the fear of writing about our issues. Remember, nobody is going to see your journal. If you’re worried about someone discovering your journal, take measures to protect it, or destroy the pages when you’re done writing. Even if you destroy it afterwards, you are still releasing those negative thoughts.
Mari shares so many amazing stories about people who have changed their lives by journaling in her book. Most emphatically, the most important advice Mari shares is to take a page out of Nike’s book and just do it!
Thank you for taking the time to chat with me, Mari!
View Mari’s Amazon author page and all her books and workbooks here and learn more about Mari’s community over at Create Write Now. I know Mari would be happy to answer any questions you have about journaling.
Read my review of Heal Yourself with Journaling Power here.
