“[You] don’t have to write a lot, but you have to first of all just acknowledge it and put it into words. And that was really for me, the breakthrough.” -James Pennebaker
James Pennebaker birthed expressive writing after his research demonstrated the toxicity of secrets. Based on his research, even 2-minutes of writing can be beneficial for clarity and healing.
In [this podcast], James Pennebaker, PhD, of the University of Texas at Austin, talks about why expressive writing can be good for mental health and how to try it.
- He also discusses his research on language use, and how analyzing the words that people use in their daily lives can offer insights into their emotions, motivations, and personality.
- “And I’ve experimented with, and I’ve actually tested this with people in workshops, having people write, using finger writing—where you just with your finger write in the air about an upsetting experience.” -James Pennebaker
Braveheart, part of the challenge to being aware of what we need and want is that we simply do not know because we don’t allow even a few moments to reflect.
- In addition to improving our mental health, expression can help with 🙌 self-awareness: what we desire and want to live more of. 💓
“[Getting] people to actually sit down and confront it and to write it…you don’t have to write a lot, but you have to first of all just acknowledge it and put it into words.” -James Pennebaker
There is also the matter of the letting go of what is familiar (habits and relationships, and the parts of ourselves that have served us for such a long time). Letting go to make space for new insights about ourselves.
For example … ⬇️
✅ Right brain chronicles (jotted notes, 🌈 color vents, ✂️📐 collage and 🖊️ doodles of our 💭 ponderings and 🗓️ dated mental wanderings) are the data + a map of our living, serving as a tangible record of:
- questions and 🪄 wishes
- keywords and phrases 📝
- daydreams and nighttime dreams 💤💭💤
- what we feel and think 🙃😐😣😜
- what we want to experience ❤️
- what we need to foster our well-being ♻️
- what we want to discover and learn about 🧠🤓
- sky meditations + phases 🌙 (everything cycles)
✅ Right brain chronicles can become a sacred 📿 space for 🌀 processing what we need and desire—space where we 🔎 observe and process the data of Life; and to ♻️ empower us to make 📊 choices (and prioritize) what matters most to us. ❤️
Get started with your version of a right brain planner, and allow your journal to be your planner.
- When we journal we are in expression mode: [being] mode; flow, creation and personal liberty.
- Planning mode is often more about “shoulding” ourselves and ought-to’s, [doing] mode and committing ourselves to details before we determine what we truly desire.
Right brain planning is expressive writing: dated entries to express + process our living. It helps with self-awareness (knowing what we need and desire.)
“Life is the story you tell yourself. But how you tell that story—are you a hero, victim, lover, warrior, caretaker, believer—matters a great deal. How you adapt that story—how you revise, rethink, and rewrite your personal narrative as things change, lurch, or go wrong in your life—matters even more.” -Bruce Feiler
Thank you kindly for your presence here, Braveheart. 💗
I appreciate your interest and support.
~love & good wishes~
⭐️ I am an artist and curator; I am one who communicates with color, found words and collage, inky marks and doodles as I cycle like the moon (as my calendar), chronicling oracles and abiding with the sky as a meditation.
Artist’s Statement 😊🔮🔎📝🖌️🎨❤️📊
⭐️ I host creative communities, safe spaces for gathering and sharing. I choose love and creativity for coping with the ongoing challenges of this world and I go to work—not because everything is fine but because I believe art heals.
❤️ Braveheart, as the Creator/Artist of Right Brain Planner I am ever-grateful to have the opportunity to share my creative work online + support other creators! 🎉 For almost 20 years I have had the privilege of sharing my art and writing about right brain planning while also hosting kindred 👭🏽💞👭 communities. ✨ I consider it an absolute 🤸 delight to continue this portion of my creative 📝🖌️✂️🫧 work (even as I retire from full-time work).
- This is possible, in part, by {you} and your presence here. (Thank you!) 💗 But also because of the support of my Ko-fi patrons and the other member/subscriber communities I host (via their presence, input and paid subscriptions). 🫶
- 💁🏻♀️ Other ways to support my work: ❤️ continue to read this blog + follow me on Instagram. 📲
If you already have your own system of creative journal-planning, but are interested in financially supporting my creative work, you may do so by making a donation:
- Make a one-time contribution in any amount via [this link]. (Thank you!) ❤️