The Caregiver Cup Podcast

Writing Your Way to Positive Caregiving: Journaling Made Easy

• Cathy VandenHeuvel • Episode 240

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Hello, my friend! Caregiving can feel overwhelming, and finding ways to reflect, release, and recharge is essential to showing up as your best self. In this episode, we’re diving into a practice that has been my personal lifesaver since my caregiving journey began—journaling.

But before you think, “I don’t have time for that,” let me assure you: journaling doesn’t have to be a daunting task or take hours of your day. Whether it’s jotting down a few gratitudes, reflecting on your emotions, or capturing a special memory, there’s a journaling style that fits you.

Join me as I share the transformative benefits of journaling, from reducing stress and boosting gratitude to reconnecting with yourself beyond caregiving. Plus, I’ll give you practical tips for making journaling easy and even enjoyable—whether it’s with pen and paper, on your phone, or even by voice!

By the end of this episode, you’ll see how journaling can become a simple yet powerful tool for self-care, clarity, and joy in your caregiving journey. You’ll also learn why this isn’t one-size-fits-all and how to find a journaling style that works for your unique season of life.

Let’s get started on writing your way to a more positive caregiving experience—one small step at a time.

P.S. Don’t miss the special FREE resource I have for you! Visit cathylvan.com/resources to grab your journaling prompts and tips to kickstart your journey today!

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Speaker 1:

Well, hello, my friend, and welcome to another episode of the Caregiver Cup podcast. It's Kathy here. You know I was thinking about it. We're smack dab in the middle of November right now, a little bit maybe on the tipping side, but I wanted to check in to see how you are doing. I know that it can get kind of gloomy in the United States this time of the year. Especially for us northerners, the weather gets a little bit different, whether you like the chill in the air or sweater season or the pumpkin taste of coffee and warm drinks, whatever it is. How are you doing?

Speaker 1:

I just got home from Dennis's labs an oncology appointment. This was his one week follow up from his chemotherapy. He's going to get two cycles of chemotherapy and then, most likely, our plan is going to go into a donor stem cell for his Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. So the good news is that his labs looked really, really good. The bad news is he is extremely drained and nauseous and I'm not going to get into all of the details, but he's just not feeling good. He lost five pounds in six days and so we're working on getting more protein and like boost or protein shakes and malts and all that kind of stuff into his diet to try to keep it up and working on his immune system and so on. But if all goes well, he'll have another cycle of chemotherapy the first week in December and we just kind of keep fighting the battle.

Speaker 1:

This caregiver season is a bit hard than all of the rest. I don't know why, but it's more manageable for me from a self-care perspective. I'm taking better care of myself and I just think that it's just all of the lessons learned that you've had in the past and me talking about it more. I think the biggest piece that I feel like I'm doing best is the grace, the self-grace that I'm giving myself and allowing myself to be okay and sit in my emotions and not sweep them underneath the rug, doing the actions that I need to do and the things that I need to do to just get by and not overdoing and over committing myself. It just feels like a little bit different of a season for me and I'm so grateful and proud of myself. It just feels like a little bit different of a season for me and I'm so grateful and proud of myself and I hope that you find that for yourself. Now, if I found myself in a different spot. I would just take a step back. I've learned over the years and through the seven plus years. Now this is going into year eight and I learned so much over the years and now I can finally be okay with not doing it all, not holding myself to these high expectations that I had in the past.

Speaker 1:

If something doesn't get done, it's completely okay. If I feel like crying, I let it out. If I feel stressed, I incorporate some of my go-to practices, Like I'll take a break and I'll say okay, it's time for some deep chest breathing. It's time to sit with myself and just be quiet. It's time to take a walk Some of my go-to pieces. Be quiet. It's time to take a walk Some of my go-to pieces. Most importantly, I'm really really aware of my central nervous system, because that tips when things are stressful or overwhelmed, and I'm trying to figure out what I need to keep that central nervous system in place and trying to go ahead and be okay with things being a little bit unknown, but trying to be calm at the same time.

Speaker 1:

With that being said, I want to spend time today and talk about one of my practices, one of the practices that I really incorporated and started back in 2017. It was just about a month into my caregiving journey when my dad and my husband, dennis, were both diagnosed two weeks apart with their cancers, and I kept hearing this. I always picture two imaginary figures on my shoulder, and one is trying to go ahead and tell me all the bad things, and then one is the beautiful good witch telling me that, oh, everything's going to be fine and positive. And so I have one competing with each other and I had to go ahead and focus in on what was going well, and I really wanted to not get into that gloom and doom and that negative brain. And so I started journaling gratitude each and every day, and so I want to share that. But my journaling has evolved over time and I'm going to share that today. And I also want to share the benefits of journaling, the different ways and the different styles and, most importantly, how. You have your own choice to go ahead and do that. But I want you to listen. Even if you're thinking I don't like to journal, I want you to listen because I want you to go ahead and hear that it doesn't have to be this big chore, as I think about its impacts on me.

Speaker 1:

Let me first tell you that I remember getting up each morning and grabbing my bowl of cereal, my bowl, and pouring my cereal into a bowl. Or as a teenager I loved grape jelly toast and I remember seeing my dad sitting at the table before he went to his job. He was a parts and shipping manager and he would get his coffee in the morning sitting in his kind of his blue collar uniform. But he would sit and journal and write in his journal and it was only like four little lines. It wasn't a lot of space, but he'd always have to highlight what the highs and the lows were for the weather and he loved to go ahead and put what the day was going to be like, if it would be sunny or cloudy or whatever, and then he would highlight what the day was like before and he would sometimes write in a quote or a funny story. Sometimes he would get bored with it and he would clip a comic strip from the newspaper and tape it in his journal so I could tell those are the days that he just didn't feel like it. But when he wrote he had this style of writing. He liked to print, he didn't like to write in cursive and he printed all caps and it was like almost perfect, like a typewriter, perfect.

Speaker 1:

Well, when he passed away in 2018, we discovered that he saved all of his journals from 1971 to 2018. And he pretty much wrote in there every single day. And he pretty much wrote in there every single day and he had this habit of having his cup of coffee with it or sitting outside on his porch and doing it as he aged, you know, he would just do that, and so it brought me kind of full circle back in 2017, thinking about my dad. But when I started in 2017, I felt at first, when I was starting to think about it, I felt like and I know you feel this way a blank piece of paper or a blank page in a nice little journal and a pen, how daunting and overwhelming it can feel. Can you relate? You probably feel the same way, and that's what I was trying to get at before I told the story. If you feel this way, like oh my gosh, it's just another task and I don't have time for it, or what will I do with that blank page? Remember, it's your journal, nobody else has to see it, you don't have to save it like my dad did, but it's kind of cool to go back and look at them.

Speaker 1:

So that's why I want to spend a few moments today about the impacts and, most importantly, the benefits you can gain from journaling, because it's not another task. You can gain from journaling because it's not another task. It's something that can help you with your mindset, your thoughts, your mental health, your overall well-being. It can help you. Journaling offers a transformative or many transformative benefits, especially for you, the caregiver, who face unique emotional, mental and physical challenges all the time. So let's break down the benefits of journaling as a whole Gratitude journaling and capturing thoughts and reflections in a caregiving contest. So let's talk about all the different ways and how they can benefit you, and so I'm just going to start out by, first of all, the overall benefits of journaling.

Speaker 1:

First, it's a way to release emotions and reduce stress. So, emotional release and stress reduction it provides you with a safe outlet to process your emotions, like frustrations, anger, sadness or even guilt. Sometimes you can't say these things out loud, but you can put those down on paper and it helps you go ahead and process those. It helps reduce anxiety by really turning overwhelming thoughts into manageable reflections Once you can put it down on paper, you can kind of see it and you can kind of process it. It gets it out of your head. It's almost like it gets it out of your head and you can release it. It also can improve clarity and help you with decisions, like making hard decisions. You could organize your thoughts. I don't know how many times I journaled and I just wrote a pros and a cons list because I was trying to figure out and make decisions. Or what do I have to do first, what is priority? Kind of like you could journal out what you all have to do today and you need to highlight the things that absolutely have to be done and then maybe you cross off the rest in saying you know this isn't necessary. It allows you to problem solve creatively without facing challenges.

Speaker 1:

It can help with self-connection and your identity. You can reconnect with yourself and you can reconnect outside of your caregiving role. You can write about maybe a year ago today I was doing this and how exciting it was. It can encourage self-discovery and personal growth. I had to just take a sip of water here. It can enhance your mental and emotional health. By writing out your feelings, you can lessen the intensity and it provides you with a perspective. It can help reduce isolation by validating your experiences on paper. It can help you track progress and your growth. Think about your journal as a record of lessons learned and victories. I can't tell you how many times I've wrote these are my wins. Today, if I was looking for a boost and I sometimes would change my season and write about my wins so you can go ahead and foster your resilience and hope, so you can go ahead and foster your resilience and hope Now.

Speaker 1:

There are benefits of gratitude journaling. Thinking about if you journal just gratitude and I started out back in 2017, just doing five things that I'm grateful for each day, because I had my mindset was not necessarily negative or pessimistic, it just needed a boost sometimes and I needed to go ahead and stop looking at the glass half empty all the time. It can shift your perspective. If you focus on what were the five things that you were grateful for, you're shifting your mind into a positive thing. It encourages you to appreciate those moments of connection, joy, progress. You got checked out at the register by a cashier and they said have a good day. Somebody took the time to tell you that. It can boost your mental well-being, because practicing gratitude increases feelings of happiness and it decreases the stress. It creates a sense of abundance even in challenging times. You can say these are the great things that happened to me today. You know you can, and it gets you to think about and look for good in each day. It can help you strengthen relationships because now that you're thinking of gratitude, you can go ahead and show your appreciation to others who are supporting you or helping you along the way, and it anchors you in the present.

Speaker 1:

As caregivers, we continue to think about oh my gosh, it's getting worse. It's getting worse, or I can't believe that continues to happen to me. Well, you can kind of foster your mindset by staying grounded in the here and the now and savoring the small joys, like sunny days and your loved one's smile. There are some benefits for capturing your thoughts and your reflections too, because sometimes we like to just capture our thoughts. Writing out your thoughts helps you process complex emotions when you're reflecting on something. It clears the mental clutter and makes it easier to focus on priorities.

Speaker 1:

Journaling helps bring insight to triggers or patterns. Do you get stressed when you're a day before an appointment or you know when your loved one is not feeling well, whatever it would be. It captures how you overcame a hard day and adapted to new challenges. It promotes self-compassion and grace for yourself and then you think about it too. Journals can document caregiving lessons and memories and life reflections and it records the moments of your growth and records moments of memories for your loved one and, like we talked about, it encourages problem solving and helps you through those. So, in a nutshell, some of the benefits of caregiving or of journaling as a caregiver. It reduces your. It can prevent and reduce your burnout because you have a mental space to go ahead and record that in. It helps you navigate your guilt. If you're feeling guilty and you're going ahead and trying to go ahead, you're going to put that down and you're almost like. The paper is your counselor in a way, and it helps you. Now that I wrote it down, do I feel differently? And it validates your experiences that you've had and the reality in your worthiness. It fosters creativity outside the box. Remember, this journal is yours If you want creativity. I bought myself colored gel pens that come in all different colors pink and purple and red and blue and green and all these colors and I can go ahead and foster my creativity. Maybe you like to draw and you put drawings in there as well.

Speaker 1:

Journaling before bed can help you release the day's emotions and helps you improve your sleep, and it can deepen emotional awareness. Writing about your caregiver experiences it helps you understand your feelings and needs and may even help you foster better communication and healthier communication and relationships. Journaling doesn't just serve as an outlet, though. It can become a tool for growth, a tool for healing and maintaining balance. For caregivers, it's like having a conversation with yourself, a moment to check in and reflect on you and find strength in your journey ahead.

Speaker 1:

So many times we don't take care of ourselves. We don't take care of ourselves. That little book, that little three-ring binder or spiral notebook, whatever you decide to do, that can help you, and that may be the only time you spend with yourself for the day. Now. You may not still be convinced, so that's why I want to share for you different ways that you can journal Each season. Think about it. Each season of your life, each season of caregiving feels different. You may only want to journal your gratitude on the hard days. There may be times where you want to work on your time and efforts and you choose to record your wins and you're focusing on trying to be more efficient or trying to get things done. Maybe it's a holiday season. There may be times when you need to work on your mental health and need to record your thoughts and feelings. Journaling may be a tool that, if you go to a therapist, they may recommend you do. Or there may be a time in your loved one's care where you're going to need to journal out the things that they need to be an advocate as well. So journaling can be so different for so many seasons.

Speaker 1:

I hope this makes sense to you and I was going to ask you does this make sense? But you can't answer over the ear pod that you're listening on or the phone. But I hope it makes sense because my saying is always not one size fits all. We could have all 10 of us could be sitting. There could be 10 of us sitting at the table talking about journaling. We all may have a different book that we journal in or a different way we journal. We all may be journaling differently of anything that we're wanting to journal about. Some of us may be creatively journaling. Some of us may be doing it on our phone. Not one size fits all. You may be a full sentence person or you may be a bullet person, so we all do things different. You may be typing out your journaling on your laptop. You may be putting a journal in your phone. You may be writing it the old school way you choose, and that's what's really cool about it you figure out what works best for you. So let me go through the different ways that I came up with for journaling.

Speaker 1:

First one we talked about already journaling gratitude. My suggestion is to journal three to five things each day that you're grateful for, not just the surface, not saying like family and friends and sunshine Now, sometimes sunshine is good, but you want to. Eventually, you're going to build that gratitude muscle and you're going to go ahead and journal things that you have experienced, like somebody let you in the line of cars today, or you got a wave from me. You got a wave from the bus driver this morning as I was walking my dogs. Whatever it would be, you want to go ahead and do those. Or the nurse saying the extra thing to your loved one, whatever it would be. Because, remember, when you journal gratitude, you're not only working on focusing on your mindset, but you're shifting your focus from challenges to blessings. You're improving your mental well-being and positivity. It helps you notice the small joys in your caregiving journey. That is I shouldn't say it's simple, but it's a fast start and you can really find. You can find success pretty fast and within a week you're going to start looking for things that you're grateful for.

Speaker 1:

Another one that I've done many, many times and sometimes I've combined journaling gratitudes and wins. Sometimes I've only done wins, whatever it would be, is you want to journal your wins? That's another way you can do it. Record daily or weekly accomplishments, no matter how minor they seem, for example, getting your loved one to smile, or organizing your chaotic day, or, for me right now, starting to put out my Christmas decorations. I wasn't going to do them because of the season I'm in, but it gave me a boost. But I'm being honest with you I hate pulling out the boxes and the beds and digging and trying to figure it out. So when I got up all the wreaths in my house and outside my house, I was like that's a win and that was it. By recording your wins, you're building your confidence and motivation. You're encouraging self-compassion by acknowledging what you've done well in your efforts. It helps you see progress in your caregiving journey and especially if you're behind on things or feeling overwhelmed.

Speaker 1:

Another way is freestyle journeying the stream of your conscious. Whatever your thoughts are. Let your thoughts just flow freely. Say that fast. Let your thoughts flow freely on the page without worrying about structure or grammar. Provide a safe space to vent your emotions. Reduces mental clutter or overwhelm.

Speaker 1:

I found myself sometimes when I had relationship issues during challenges, I had to go ahead and journal them out. It enhances clarity by putting thoughts into words and then you could, even as you're free flowing, then you could I find myself. Am I overreacting or is this normal, you know? And then I would, I would be talking to myself and it helps me process and think through things. And you know what? Some days I just couldn't find clarity at all or I couldn't find, couldn't you know? Figure it out, and I would open it up the next day, I'd reread it and then I could free flow again. After that, after I had a good night's sleep, after I had 24 hours to process it, that is Another way is emotionally releasing journaling or emotional release journ journey, using prompts or free writing to release pent up emotions like frustration, sadness or resentment.

Speaker 1:

They're kind of similar, but this one helps process and release difficult emotions. It reduces feelings of guilt or anger. For me, if I decided I have to go to bowling night, I may feel guilty for doing that, especially when I was taking care of my mom, or my mom would make me feel guilty and then I would get angry about it. But it creates a space for healing and understanding the triggers that I owned, the triggers that would set me off. But then I carried the guilt and the anger, the resentment, whatever. It was like a back heavy backpack and it would.

Speaker 1:

Another one is affirmation journaling. We talked a lot about affirmations, like daily affirmations. Well, why not write positive affirmations about yourself or your caregiving abilities, like I am doing my best and that's enough. That might be what you write about, but if you need a day where you need to go ahead and build your resilient mindset, maybe affirmations is it. It can help combat negative self-talk and it can strengthen your purpose and self-worth, especially on the days that you feel like you can't get anything done or you've made tons of mistakes. Whatever it would be, affirmation journaling helps you level set.

Speaker 1:

Another one is capturing memories, document special events this is fun or memories shared with your loved one, whether it's a funny story, a meaningful conversation or a breakthrough moment. Now, this was years and years and years ago. I'm trying to think back to it, but it had to be early 2000s and my husband lost his dad and we had. He was in hospice care but he was in the hospital, and so we put a notebook, a three ring like a why can't I? A spiral bound notebook, and we put it on the little hospital table and anybody there that was sitting with him, and we would rotate shifts. We allowed people to go ahead and write a special note, what was happening, what they did, and so some people wrote what they did. So some people wrote like a prayer. Some people said we had some people saying it is what it is and I'm sad, that kind of thing, or he squeezed my hand today or whatever, and we had that journal for the days that he was there. It preserves cherished memories, it offers a sense of connection and purpose, it provides a keepsake to look back at during those tough times, and that was just a kind of a fun thing to have, but also, you know, allowed people to go ahead and write if they wanted to.

Speaker 1:

Another one is prompt-based journaling, using specific prompts like what went well today or what do I need to let go of. You can have those. There are a lot of journals that you can buy that have pages in them where you can pick a page and journal about that. I got one of those two years ago for Christmas and how was that? And I would just kind of open the book up and then I would pick a page and I would journal about it and going ahead and doing this. It provides structure for those that are unsure how to start. It encourages self-reflection and personal growth. It tallers to your caregiving experiences and needs and so you could go ahead. If you like that type of structure, you can go ahead and use that as well. You can also journal for solutions. You can write about the challenge you're facing and then brainstorm possible solutions or steps forward.

Speaker 1:

A lot of times in my episodes that I train or I give you, I tell you to pull out your journal now and brainstorm. This helps you work through problems constructively, especially anger and resentment and guilt, and worry those ones. Why am I worried? Let's write them all out and then tell me which ones are true and which ones are not true. It promotes a sense of control and agency. It identifies action steps to manage caregiving stressors, because if you're worrying about something that you have no control over, or the future, what the future may hold then you want to say what am I going to do when I get to that step that I shouldn't be worrying about right now. Is there a statement I say to myself?

Speaker 1:

And the next one we kind of talked about it is artistic, creative journaling. You can combine words with drawings or doodle or make collages or word maps, express your feelings visually about writing, it could be just putting all down words on a piece of paper and using all different colors or highlighters. You want to encourage yourself to be creative and play, because this can reduce stress, and it really is. You could use this as art therapy and it allows for nonverbal emotional expressions. Maybe one day you just want to draw a flower and in each petal you're going to put a word in the petal. I've done that before. It feels so different and so good. You shake it up a little bit, mix it up a little bit and it just helps you.

Speaker 1:

Another one is future self or vision journaling. Write letters to your future self or visualize what you want in life, such as goals for caregiving, goals for your health, personal growth. It inspires hope and motivation. It clarifies long-term goals or acts as a guide to align daily goals with future aspirations. I did this with my podcast. I wanted to start a podcast and I started it in 2020, but I started journaling it late 2019, early 2020. And I wanted to take my caregiving experiences and somehow share those with others, and I didn't know what I wanted, but I kept journaling what that would look like.

Speaker 1:

Another one is your lessons learned. And when we make a mistake, what do we do? We beat ourselves up Instead of saying this is what I learned today. Now, going forward, I know this and I'm going to go ahead and look at it differently. You know, especially when you're advocating. You know, when you're going into a doctor and it's the first time meeting your doctor well, you're trying to understand his or her personality, the style, the way the flow of the appointments go, that kind of thing. We've gone through so many doctors when I've gone through so many doctors with my mom and my dad and dentists, that you kind of have to feel it out first and know what style and how you can ask questions or what you can do. This provides perspective and wisdom. It helps you track your personal growth and can be shared to inspire others or used as a resource for others.

Speaker 1:

For example, when I would take my mom to the doctor her doctor, her family doctor or her personal physician or general practitioner she would talk so fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast and always wanting to go ahead, and I'm going to do this for her, I'm going to do this for her and I'm going to do this for her and do this for her. And I couldn't get a question in. And so when we first, I had to learn. When she first came in the room, I said well, hello there. Hey, remind me at the end that I have some questions for you. If you don't answer them during the appointment, I want to ask those. And I had to learn the hard way how to get that in and I had to play with it. Well then, I pass that down to my brother and my brother would just put them on a piece of paper and saying hey, here's some questions we have at the end or during the appointment. But we had to learn how to adapt to the doctor style to go ahead and make sure we were being the best advocate we could be.

Speaker 1:

Another one is habit tracking and health journaling. You want to track your habits, your moods, your energy. You want to go ahead and make sure, like my central nervous system, or if I'm fatigued, I'm going to want to track that. Or maybe your loved one's health status. You want to identify patterns that impact well-being, encourage accountability for your self-care and really looking at how you can streamline your caregiving routines. Another one is night reflection journaling. Each day by reflecting on what you do well and recording that at night can improve your sleep. It can set a positive tone for the next day.

Speaker 1:

Another one is themed journaling. I haven't tried this one, but I so want to try it because it just sounds fun. You can dedicate your journal to a specific theme, like November could have been for me and I might do it in December, but it could have been caregiving gratitude, because really Thanksgiving and gratitude journaling. Maybe you dedicate that month to journaling gratitude and gratitude journaling. Maybe you dedicate that month to journaling gratitude. Or the first of the year you dedicate January as your health journaling. Or you could do daily emotions or moments of joy that helps people that maybe feel stuck and encourages mindfulness, helps people that maybe feel stuck and encourages mindfulness.

Speaker 1:

And then the last one I thought about is spiritual journaling. You dedicate your journaling to your spirituality. Maybe you write down a prayer or a note to God or your spiritual thinking, and you could do that because it allows you to reach deeper to your faith, gives you time to pray or find your spirituality. I've done this through quotes. I found a special quote. Each morning I pull out the quote and read it and then I journal about the quote. So it just gives you that piece to go ahead and journal about that. You can go ahead, and maybe you say a prayer in the morning and then you journal about the prayer. So let's pull this all together with my advice.

Speaker 1:

Imagine this journaling is an imaginary gift box. Now I want to put a bow on it for you. I know that's kind of cheesy, but your journaling has to fit you and be just what you need. So when you open up this box, it is ideal for you. It should help you through your challenges or give you self-care that you need, lift you up or keep you grounded, or all of the above. It should help you Some of the tips that I want you to think about is you want to start small.

Speaker 1:

It doesn't have to take a lot of time five minutes a day, and put the journal and the pen in a place where you're going to enjoy it. Maybe you like to have your cup of coffee and your journal at the same time. Well, wherever your cup of coffee is brewing, maybe your journal's in the drawer right there, or you walk down with your journal, fill your cup of coffee and you go. Choose a time that works best for you. And thinking about that, you need to also be flexible. You might have to combine multiple styles or switch them up based on your mood. There's going to be days where you only want to do one line. There's going to be days where you want to sit with that journal for a long time, and it doesn't have to cost you a lot of money. It can be a $2 spiral notebook. You could find an app on your phone that helps you journaling. It could be voice notes if you wanted to. Thinking about that, keep it judgment-free too.

Speaker 1:

This journal is for you. Only, don't worry about the grammar, the spelling. There's times where I scratch things out or I wrote really hard because I was frustrated, whatever it would be, and you're going to reflect periodically by looking back on the past entries to see how far you've come. These styles can give you the flexibility to choose what resonates most with you, providing both think about it as an emotional outlet and a path to greater self-awareness. So, before I have just a couple more things here, I want to ask, I want to hear from you, what ways or styles stand out for you. Which ones do you use If you're journaling? How do you journal? I want to hear that, and what is your special way or what is inspiring you now? What might you try now and try to journal?

Speaker 1:

Caregivers like you can make journaling work for you by embracing the flexibility of different methods and times and environment. You have to find a way that's going to work for your lifestyle and your preferences, and so there are many methods, but paper and pen is one. It's the tactical way and you have it with you and you can just pull it out. I heard so many people say that they use digital journaling. Now they have an app, or they use the Evernote or the journaling app on their phone their phone and it's because it's convenient. You have your phone already. You can have reminders on it, you can organize entries, you can add photos, you can add voice text, so you can enhance it even more. Now think about it too. Voice journaling might be perfect for you, especially if you're too tired to write or type. You can speak your thoughts into your phone with your voice recorder and you can try those while you're commuting or while you're preparing a meal. You can do that as well, and when you journal is your choice.

Speaker 1:

It could be in the morning with your cup of coffee. It create a calming ritual. Maybe you have a chair that faces the sun and the sun shines in. Maybe it's your evening, when you are really processing the day and reflecting on your wins and releasing the stress with a cozy blanket and soothing music. Maybe that's yours. Maybe it's middle of the day during a. You need a quick reset. You need to let go of frustration. You're eating your lunch. Maybe you're sitting outside breathing in some fresh air, or maybe you just take it on the go with you and you're journaling as you go and you're capturing your ideas and you keep that small notebook in your bag or your app present and think about where you do it. You can do it at home, you can do it outside. When it was beautiful outside, I would journal on my patio in the back with the sunshine and the fresh air.

Speaker 1:

You can go ahead. If you're in a coffee shop, you can do it. Maybe give yourself a little special treat and you know that you need to do that. Maybe it's in your bed, like we said, where you're jotting down things and you're preparing yourself for that last hour before you go to bed. It could be during self-care moments. Maybe you're having a bubble bath. Just don't drop whatever you're journaling into the water. It could be a quiet breakfast, or you could pair it with relaxation. Maybe you put a facial mask on or you're diffusing essential oils and you're journaling that way. You want to associate it with some joy or some calming or some peace or some quiet time.

Speaker 1:

So my last tips for finding your style is to keep experimenting. You're going to try things that work and you're going to try things that don't work, and you're going to find a season that you're going to not want to journal as much, but then you're going to find seasons where you want to Make it sacred. It is your sacred time. Find a favorite pen, a soft blanket, a calming music, something that associates it with. Like my dad, it was his cup of coffee with his Irish cream that he would put in it, or that little sweetener that he would put in his cup of coffee, and he would go ahead and do that, or maybe it's you're waiting in the car and you're waiting, and it can make a huge difference. Keep it flexible. Some days you're not going to be able to do it at the same time. You might have to put a quick note down, or you might have to skip a day, and that's okay. You know, by exploring these various styles and methods, you can create a journaling practice that feels less like a task and more like a personal sanctuary and making something that fits.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I want to end with one last thing for you. I want to end today by telling you Thursday is my birthday. I'm not a big celebrator. I'm not a big. Posting my birthday cake in my birthday. I'm not a big celebrator, I'm not a big, you know, posting my birthday cake in my presence. I like to just do a quiet, just a quiet, joyful day.

Speaker 1:

But I have two gifts for you coming and I want to give these to you all for free. The first one. I'm going to tell you about. The second one I'm just going to give you a cliffhanger on. The first one is I have a free resource, a journaling resource that you may find helpful. It covers the things that we went through today in the podcast, but I'm giving you more than that. I'm giving you prompts that may be helpful and different ideas that you can go ahead and tap into about journaling. It may be just the boost that you need to help you with your journaling, to help you with your self-care. So go to kathylvancom forward slash resources it will be the fourth one down so you can go ahead and take advantage of this free resource. You'll have to give your name and your email address and then the resource will be coming your way. Okay, the second one is the one I am even more excited about Coming up.

Speaker 1:

In the next week, I will be announcing a free workshop that I'm going to give to you. It's going to be a virtual live or a live online workshop. I want to share first with my email list. So if you're on my email list, you will get the first to know, and then I will also share it that same day on the podcast as a podcast ad, and so you'll hear that as well. Just know that I'm using the Zoom technology and so seats will be limited, and so if you want to attend this live online workshop, you're going to want to go ahead and register when you see the email or hear the podcast ad and go ahead and do that Now. The topic and registration information will be coming soon, so stay tuned for it.

Speaker 1:

What I can tell you, it is going to be the first week in December, so that's when I'm going to be putting on the workshops. It will be the week after Thanksgiving, but it's still a few weeks before the holidays. But this is it's going to be something that you're going to be able to use right away and it's going to be something that I think will impact you right away. So just keep watching for that. That will be coming soon. So, to end today, I hope you enjoyed today's episode on journaling, those tips and those benefits and those ideas. I so encourage you to find your style and, most importantly, find the benefits of journaling so you can fill your cup and show up with more joy and be your best self each and every day. So it's a goodbye for now, but as always, I am here every single week for you for another episode, and so until next time we talk. My friend, you have a good rest of the day and we'll talk to you real soon. Bye for now.