"Do you have five minutes a day to literally change your life? Studies show people who journal are twice as effective with adopting new healthy habits." -- Dr. Amen
Dr. Amen has an intriguing post about how the act of journaling actually changes the writer's brain, both by repetition and by making the journaler more aware of habits and activities. He veers pretty deep into brain training and self-help, so if that's not your thing, don't bother clicking through.
I think there are some important points buried in that seemingly simple statement.
1. Five minutes: The lesson here is that writing does not need to take an hour, or even half an hour. When you have something to say, when you have time between things, you can use it to write. I write while water boils, while I'm on the bus, or while I wait for my wife to get ready to go out for dinner (don't tell her I told you that :)
2. Adopting new habits: Writing itself is a habit, and one that you watch happen as you do it. It's tactile. And it leaves behind an ever-growing stack of paper, and if you look for them, there will be patterns in the words, no matter what it is you were trying to write about (or ended up writing about).
3. Healthy: The thing about writing is that it is coming out of your body and brain. It's flushing, cleansing, and purifying. You clean out your brain, work out issues, etc. It's different than drinking or watching tv or any other substance where you push those emotions or things down by putting something into your mouth or into your eyes. Writing gets things out, like water running through your body. It keeps you healthy, no matter what you're writing about.
Image source: fletcherjcm via flickr
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