Journaling
I recently came across something called a “Transfer Journal”. It’s a space where you write your thoughts down in a way that helps you think about how you can apply specific concepts that you learn into your own life, thus making it your own. It’s like writing a thesis or a dissertation, where you do your research about something and then add a little bit of yourself to the mix — and it becomes your brainchild. It helps me immensely, considering that I grasp complex concepts in a jiffy, but have a hard time recollecting stuff. Transfer journaling helps me retain information better, as a result.
Writing down your thoughts and feelings daily can help you navigate the whirlwind of the endless possibilities that the human mind is capable of creating. While the mind is powerful, our consciousness is always under our control. We have the authority to pick and choose which thoughts to process and which ones to discard at any point in time. This is a superpower that lies dormant for most of us. Writing can help here. Your intuition or what I’d like to call the ‘Vigyanmaya Kosha’ (the wisdom sheath, as described in the Upanishads) awakens and becomes alive.
Cultivating the habit of writing makes days easier. You will notice that you start to make decisions independently— you don’t need the internet to guide you with ‘5 ways to deal with anxiety’, or ‘10 powerful ways to master self-discipline’. The virtue of self-awareness becomes heightened and you’ll know precisely what your soul, mind, and body needs.
In Daniel Goleman’s enlightening book “Focus”, he discusses meditative thinking as the very essence of our humanity. When we journal, we immerse ourselves into a state of flow — a mental state where we’re so focused on one thing and thoughts become so aligned that you know exactly what you want to say next.
You don’t really have to write only ‘important’ thoughts. Any thought counts. And any emotion counts. Even a picture can speak a thousand words. How you want to express yourself is all you. Journaling is a physical manifestation of building a relationship with yourself — the only one that truly matters.
