The activity of writing relies on that direct, conscious link between ideation and action. We’re talking about connecting with the data in our immediate environment. The word “journal’ comes from the Latin “diurnalis” for “day”. That’s where sense-making comes in. Through this process, we are generally sorting through data, rearranging it meaningfully and outputting it into various formats; that is to say, making sense of it. This is the unique benefit of journaling; you are in fact doing the synergistic actions of thinking and doing at the same time. This combination of skill and state-of-mind is in fact highly transferable once mastered.
Regular practice increases the mind’s capacity to power through mental inertia and focus on the operation of the creative process and the content being created by it at the same time. This “think-do” cognitive dynamic allows us to better focus on present actuality and notice, others and the surrounding environment. Journaling in this respect is one of the oldest sense-making tools available to us and nowadays is recognised for its many pseudo-therapeutic benefits to our mental and physical health.
