Journal For Joy exists to inspire positive wellbeing through Uplifting creative journaling
Pic by Aoife Hyland
why journal for joy?
Journaling can take all sorts of forms; free-writing, bullet journaling and art journaling to name a few. There are no rules and everyone’s experience will be different – but as long as you’re jotting down your thoughts or feelings in some way, you’re journaling.
My journals and workshops focus on positive emotions like gratitude, awe, inspiration and, of course, joy. Journaling on positive emotions isn’t about ignoring the difficult ones or disregarding the rubbish things that might be happening in our lives. Rather, it’s about striving to create a more balanced mindset for ourselves, which can sometimes be just what we need.
The benefits of journaling
Putting pen-to-paper might seem like a pretty trivial thing, far too simple to have a transformative effect on your life! But amazingly it can provide so many wonderful benefits for our mental and physical wellbeing. Here are just a few of them:
It can reduce stress and anxiety
It can help you to get to know yourself better and understand your emotions
It can help you to learn, progress and achieve goals
It can spark creativity and improve brain function
It can help you to practise mindfulness, which has all kinds of benefits alone
It cultivates gratitude and boosts optimism
It can improve your immune system (bizarre, I know!)
So whether things are feeling a little less-than-joyful for you right now, or you’re simply looking to try something new that’ll positively impact your life and take you on a journey of self-discovery, journaling could be just the ticket.
My story
I was a creative child
Whether I was writing in my little lock-and-key journal, drawing magical scenes with felt tips, building dens in the garden, or just sitting and cutting up the Argos catalogue (it was the 90s, ok!)….I let my imagination run free everyday.
Chances are, you were like this too.
As we ‘grow up’ our sense of playful creativity and curiosity is often pushed aside to make way for the world of work and responsibilities. I know mine was…but it doesn’t have to be that way,
How Journal For Joy came about
In 2020, after spending over a decade amidst a blur of emails, sales targets, project management and quarterly reviews, I followed my heart to launch my creative journal Hometown, initially as a side project alongside my full time job.
The following year I became a freelance writer. Running my own business was a huge learning curve but it opened up so many more opportunities to focus on journaling — and once I started running creative workshops I had a few mini revelations.
Firstly, ‘Wow. I enjoy this a thousand times more than I’ve ever enjoyed anything I’ve done for work before’. It seemed to be a magical amalgamation of my strengths and interests: journaling and writing, connecting people, time in nature, appreciating the simple things and encouraging a positive mindset.
And secondly, I realised that having more space for journaling and playful creativity was something I’d been deeply missing in my life. It turned out that others felt the same — and that’s how Journal For Joy began!
Now, here we are
Since publishing my Hometown Journal and launching Journal For Joy, I’ve continued to learn more and more about the positive impact that this simple-but-powerful activity can have on our wellbeing. I’ve felt it for myself through my own expanding daily journaling practice. I’ve seen it happen before my eyes with participants in my workshops. And I’ve geeked out learning from books and podcasts on the subject!
Helping people to discover the impact that creative journaling can have on their lives and wellbeing gives me so much meaning and purpose. So if you’ve made it this far, thank you for being here!
I hope that this marks the start of your joyful journaling journey 🙂
LOOKING FOR A WRITER?
I split my time between journaling stuff and being a freelance copywriter and brand strategist, so if you need a hand with your messaging or marketing I could be your girl 🙌
