In all my years as a creative living coach and in the hundreds of interviews I’ve done as the host of the Creative Living with Jamie, the one practice that creatives tell me they return to again and again and again is journaling.

This simple practice of putting pen to page allows us to discover our truth, express our self and hear our own voice.

This simple practice can transform everything.

This simple practice is magic.

Here are 9 reasons for you to begin or refresh your commitment to a journal practice.

9 Reasons to Journal

Journal to Know

One of the greatest blessings that we can give ourselves is the gift self-knowledge. All of our decisions, our dreams, our creations come alive when imbued with the power of our true selves. A journal can help us discover, recover and remember exactly who we are.

Journal to Discover

One of the magical properties of journaling is that it reveals to us all sorts of things that we didn’t know we knew. As our hand glides across the page, we begin to hear our own truth expressed in brand new ways. We come face to face with intuitive insights, unexpected ideas and unexpressed dreams. As we discover what lies within, we are able to guide our lives by our inner compass.

Journal to Express

Your journal is a safe place for everything that is within you. It is a place where you are free to fully express the real you without inhibition or second-guessing, without judgment or fear. In your journal you can say, do and be exactly who you are.

Journal to Explore

Your journal is like your studio. It’s a place where you can explore options, play with possibilities and dance with ideas. You are free to imagine, envision and invent. Follow inspiration wherever it leads and you never know just where you’ll end up!

Journal to Create

Your journal can be a conduit for creation. Drawings, stories, poetry, songs, designs – all of these things and more can come to life on between the covers of your journal.

Journal to Think

Your journal is the perfect place to work things out, to wrestle with questions and to plot and to plan. Use your journal to think things through, to wonder and to question. It’s the perfect place for brainstorming, for mind-mapping and for all manner of lists. What seems a confusing jumble in our mind can often become clear on the page.

Journal to Remember

Your journal can be a place where you gather the moments of your day, where all the things you want to remember can be lovingly tended and kept. From your to-do list to all of your dreams, from your doodles to your gratitudes, your journal can be a snapshot of this moment in time.

Journal to Ground & Release

A regular practice of journaling allows us to release excess energy, emotional steam and burdens we might not even realize we’re carrying. It allows us to connect with ourselves and remember who we are, giving us ground to stand on and allowing us to release what no longer serves us.

Journal to Be

Your journal is your journal. You can be, say, do anything you want on your pages. There is room for all of you – the brilliant and the blasé, the moody and the motivated, the heartbroken and the enraptured, the grateful and the grandiose. Whoever you are in this very moment, however you are feeling, all you have to do is show up to your journal and be.

Here in the studio we are starting a Journal Club this Friday, April 1st. Join in and along with these 9 gifts experience the additional bonuses of creative community, encouraging support and insightful leadership from an experienced guide!Find out more and register for Journal Club here.