Uncovering Your Joy: Using a Personal Journal to Discover a Life Filled with Happiness

Author Tristine Rainer wrote "Happiness within a diary has less to do with the events you encounter in life than with the way you experience the process of living." Because a diary mirrors how you perceive and deal with events, it can be used for developing the capacity to more fully experience joy.

Do you use your journal only for problem-solving, dark days, sorrowful feelings, or depressive thoughts? If so, why not start recording the happiness's as well. In fact, why not keep a special Joy Journal? That way, when you're having a bad day, just pull out your Joy Journal and re-experience the small happiness's.

Will keeping a journal actually bring you joy? No. However, many diarists have used their journals to alter their perceptions and in the process achieve a joy filled life. For example, Rainer cites one woman's first attempt at writing positive emotions, after years of negative entries:

"As we walked to the fruit stand at twilight, I was overcome with ecstasy. Each house had a new charm and a story to tell. Colors seemed to have been applied with a brush. At the stand each orange demanded a caress. . . "

Do you see how an everyday walk to the store became a sensory delight? All because the writer began to alter her perception of the experience.

To begin your Joy Journal, we suggest a Rainer-inspired technique called a List of Joys. Use this technique to collect the joyful moments of your life. You can list things that make you happy on a routine basis (like watching a sunset), or extraordinary events that put a smile on your face. Your list might look something like this:

1. I really, really, really felt the grass between my toes and it made me feel like one living creature (me) was intimately communicating with another (the grass).

2. Listening to of Lorena McKinnett's Dante's Prayer filled my body with an intense rush of love. How could anyone write something so unearthly beautiful?

3. I rode my bicycle today and the feeling of the breeze rushing through my hair made me feel like I was 10 years old. What joy!

Help balance those serious, difficult days by re-reading your Joy Journal, and remembering that life IS filled with moments of pure happiness.

Copyright 2004 Patti Testerman

Journal Genie, The Website That Talks Back
http://www.journalgenie.com

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included and the resource box is left unchanged. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

About The Author

Patti Testerman is content manager at JournalGenie.com, the only online site that analyzes your writing and then gives you instant feedback. Discover self-defeating patterns, find better ways to communicate in relationships. Contact her at mailto:patti@journalgenie.com

---

Happiness - A Matter of Focus

Imagine for a moment you have been given a task.... Read More

Simplify - and Be Happy

People's lives today are jam-packed with great projects, ideas, to-do... Read More

You...Your Emotions...Your Relations...Your Happiness and Your Life...

We are living in an era, where relations' management is... Read More

You Need To Start To Like Yourself

If you have a very low self esteem or a... Read More

Quick Steps On Being Happier

Want to be happier?Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker, author and... Read More

7 Things Happy People Know How To Do

Ever notice how some people just seem to be able... Read More

5 Keys to Understanding Why Your Life (probably) Sucks # 4

We are in constant competitionIf we take evolution seriously, then... Read More

If You Can Dream It you Can Do It!

Confuscious, the Chinese Philospher is quoted as saying : "I... Read More

What is Happiness and How to Achieve It?

True happiness is such a rare commodity that the whole... Read More

There is a Cure for the Summertime Blues

I have never lived anywhere else where when you walk... Read More

A Bad Hairdresser Day

"Hey everybody!" Hairdresser Lady called out. "It's The Happy Guy.""Don't... Read More

Love Yourself First ? Im Happy. Youre Happy. Were All Happy!

As a teenager growing up reading 'Blue Jeans' and 'Jackie',... Read More

A Shortcut to Happiness -- Vote with Live 8

Did you see any of the Live 8 performances in... Read More

Emotional Baggage

We all have them. It has many faces. We carry... Read More

A Model of Happiness

Everyone I've ever met considers happiness to be desirable. There... Read More

In Pursuit of Happiness

In pursuit of happiness, what will we do as women?... Read More

5 Keys to Understanding Why Your Life (probably) Sucks! #3

The outcome of Reason # 2 is that you become... Read More

Can You Really Let Go Of Your Huge Internal Struggle?

When I was in graduate school for psychology, we had... Read More

Sweeten Up Your Life

Sometimes life experiences can be like a lemon-flavored Tootsie Roll... Read More

Free Tips To Improve Self Confidence

1. DRUNK!At the age of sixteen I was invited out... Read More

Happiness

Without getting into the core basics of philosophy, I will... Read More

Happiness Is In Our Own Hands

Other people can bring tremendous happiness to our lives but... Read More

Its All About Me: Why Its Good to Be Selfish

I started thinking about this topic during a discussion of... Read More

Acts of Kindness Benefit Everyone

Do you really want to be happy? Everyone says yes,... Read More

Define Me

We've all had a vision or a great idea and... Read More

Can Existential Therapy Give You a Sense of Wellbeing?

My journey to becoming a therapist began with a desire... Read More

The Voiceless

WE count the broken lyres that rest Where the sweet... Read More

Keys to Happiness

"Happiness is the whole aim and end of human... Read More

10 Steps to Happily Ever After

Do you know what all happy and healthy marriages have... Read More

What The Bleep Are You So Happy About?

Could you stand to have a lot more happiness in... Read More

King Solomons Mind

"Don't you understand, everything in this life is meaningless," cautioned... Read More

Seven Strategies You Need to Know About Strengthening Your Self-Esteem

Did you know that your life's success in all areas... Read More

Develop a Guiding Philosophy for Happiness

Groundedness is one of the most important components of a... Read More