Live Journaling #1

Live Journaling #1

I’m doing something different today. It may become something I do every so often. I get a lot of messages from people asking how to begin journaling. There are no wrong ways to do it, but it can be daunting to start. So today I’m gonna do a live journal to give you an idea of how my process looks.

I spent today outside and away from my phone, I went for a swim. I dozed in the sun in Fota House gardens. It was a good way to spend the bank holiday. Usually I’d make myself feel bad for taking time away from the work. But today I switched off and didn’t guilt-trip myself over it. This is growth. This is nice.

I was also very hungover today. The sea helped to minimise it. but it didn’t stop the anxious spirals from swirling. Hangovers amplify anxiety’s voice for me. It can be tough at times but lately I’ve been telling myself that the way I’m feeling isn’t real. It’s being caused by the alcohol. Knowing and accepting this makes it easier to ignore the anxiety. But it’s been here all day. Which made today more challenging than it needed to be.

Over the last few months I’ve been playing around with the idea of giving up drinking. I will eventually. I just don’t know when that day will be. There’s a dependency on it for sure. not in the sense that I need to drink every day or every week. But more so that it makes socialising easier. It makes it doable. I wonder if I’ll be as social without the drink. Probably not. But I might be better off without it. Everything has a price. Being aware that there’ll be an end suggests that the end is coming sooner rather than later. So we’ll see what happens.

Apart from that, today was good. I had a really good weekend and there’s a lot to be grateful for. The usually anxiety and comparison to others is here. It always sort of is. I’m better at handling it depending on the day. Today has been fine. Spending time away from my phone helped that. I should probably make a bigger effort at doing that more often. Social media is a big part of my life but it doesn’t need to be. And I’d probably be better off if it took up less space.

I’m tired and I have a busy few weeks ahead so I’m going to continue staying away from the work today and re-focus tomorrow. Rest is important, and isn’t something I always prioritise, so today I will.

There are always things to stress over. So many things. But I’m beginning to learn that I don’t have to stress over them. I can just let them be as they are, and let myself be as I am.

Hopefully this helps people to understand the purpose of journaling. I use it to check in with myself and see where I’m at emotionally, mentally, and physically. Take a crack at it yourself and see how you feel afterwards. It can be cathartic to get everything off your chest and free up your mind!

I also have a Substack if you want to read words about things outside of mental health.