No! keeping a diary/journal isn’t a sissy thing that only little girls do. It’s actually a highly effective and simple practice that you can implemented in your life that can help you raise your awareness on how a neurotic and crazy human you are, who is consumed by their programs while their mind keeps their attention in it’s fictitious stories.
Now that there are phones and you don’t need a feather, some ink, and an actual book to lug around, you have no excuses not to add this practice to your life. If you still love writing in a book though, then more power to you! I assume the ink and feather method isn’t so widely used by most people today. Forgive my ignorance if I am mistaken.
So how can this help me become more of a conscious person you might be asking yourself?
Well by journaling, you are going to be writing down your daily actions and through just the process of writing them down you will become more aware of what you are doing on a more frequent basis. Basically it’s like your recapping your day and as you are journaling, it gives you another chance on being able to spot how your automatic programs run your life while your mind keeps your attention.
Many people including you aren’t even aware of some of the things that they are doing, as that is what a program does, it sucks you in it while the mind grabs your attention in it’s various ways. Being in a program is like being in a trance, when you come out of it you don’t feel like you were in one. Journaling will allow you to finally notice these trance states and help you to become aware of them as they are happening, giving you the power to start to change them.
If you aren’t lazy then you might give this a go, and if you do then here are some things that you can focus on while journaling daily:
How aware of each moment was I today? (try to recap your main moments…during eating, doing work, hanging out with a friend, kids or bf or gf… in each of the moments were you there present or where you in your mind?)
How joyous was I for this day without needing something to happen? (At the end of your day no matter what it entailed where you satisfied with how you took it on?)
What are some things that I am grateful for today? (could be even the food that you had)
Are there patterns that I notice myself falling into? (eating things that you might not want to, doing things that don’t add value to you, acting in ways you aren’t particularly satisfied with)
If your just starting this practice, then the key is to keep it simple because if you don’t then chances are you wont continue. Make it an important part of how you end your day and even schedule it in your calendar if you are one of those people that needs order.