how keeping a journal will impact your life :: a simple giveaway with fox chapel publishing journals

I got my first diary when I was in first grade. It had big pink, purple, and yellow hearts on the cover. I remember writing about boys I liked from school and what we had for dinner. When I was in 6th grade, I received a beautiful journal with an impressionistic-style piano scene on the front. It sparked a very real and deep need to write that I can only express as something I know I am meant to do. Do you have that feeling about something in your life? That feeling of excitement and passion and yes!! – this is who I am?

Even if that inner resonance of purpose and meaning doesn’t fill your bones when you think about journaling your thoughts, the practice of writing down what’s on your mind can still be extremely meaningful. There are studies that have proven the effectiveness of journaling on an individual’s emotional, mental, and even physical health!

Journaling can help with a myriad of things in our lives. Everything from healing and growth to developing empathy for others as we build emotional intelligence and the ability to understand what other’s might be feeling. It can strengthen your self-discipline, spark creativity, and improve your communication skills. Not only is journaling an awesome activity to do for your own self-care, it’s extremely beneficial for children learning to express themselves well and gain ownership and self-control over their thoughts, feelings, and emotions. That step in a child’s development is crucial for building confidence, which will help them with assertiveness and conflict resolution down the road!

My kids all have their own journals. One has a definite ability to write stories and express their imagination through words. Another uses their journal right now much like I did as an early elementary school kiddo…boys, boys, boys. 😉 And my third little guy doesn’t know how to write his own name yet so he uses his journal to draw pictures!

Recently I had the opportunity to look through several theme-specific journals put out by Fox Chapel Publishing. I love the idea of a guided journal – especially for someone who may be new to writing down their thoughts and feelings or might not know exactly how to start! These journals are faith-based and range from family memory keeping to writing scripture to keeping track of prayers and well wishes. Fox Chapel Publishing also produces a variety of other journals, including some bullet journaling resources. If you haven’t heard of bullet journaling, it’s an awesome way to track your habits and goals while spurring major creativity. I’m new to the bu-jo scene and haven’t decided if it’s for me or not, but I’ve enjoyed the process of trying to bring more discipline and order into my sometimes ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ life!

If you would like to try your hand at journaling, just follow the link below and enter to win one of the journals from Fox Chapel Publishing 😉

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I’d love to hear from you…are you a ‘Dear Diary’ kind of person? How long have you been keeping your own journal or what other ways do you use to express yourself through written word?