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Exploring Ourselves Through Journal Writing

© Cynthia Webber (Jausten)

Many people with fibromyalgia are misunderstood or not believed by others that they have a real condition. We are living with an invisible condition which is very real, and when others fail to see us as we really are, communication is blocked. This lack of communication can cause us to lose self-esteem, and also lose our sense of "self." We may block out the hurts from others, but this only creates thick walls around us. Eventually, we become so numb that we don't even know ourselves anymore.

One way in which to regain contact with our inner selves is by keeping a journal. Writing thoughts and organizing them can help us to sort through our feelings. If we continue to have negative thoughts which race around in our heads, we can become negative in the outlook of our lives. Writing down our negative thoughts helps us to create some distance between the negative ones and ourselves. Likewise, by writing down some positive thoughts can help us to learn to dwell more upon these instead of the negative ones.

A journal also provides a record of our daily life that can be useful when we want to review days and see if there is something that caused a flare. It is a good idea to reread journal entries every few months to see if there has been any positive change in how we view ourselves. By doing this, we are not wrapped up in our emotions at the time we wrote about them, and we can gain a new perspective that only time can give us.

I have kept journals throughout my life, but during the past year, I've written daily in an online journal. As I reread some of my earlier entries, I can see that not only have I become freer in expressing myself, but I am now writing for myself rather than for those who may read my journal. An online journal is different than a private one, and I've found myself thinking more about the words that I use to express myself within this type of journal writing.

My many private journals that I've kept through the years are not written as clearly as the one that I keep online, but the feelings and emotions are still present. I've written letters to people in my private journals, but have not sent them. I've written poems, and have even made lists of things I want to change about myself. I have burned some journals from my past, but I've kept all the ones that I've written during the past 20 years.

The copyright of the article Exploring Ourselves Through Journal Writing in Fibromyalgia is owned by Cynthia Webber (Jausten). Permission to republish Exploring Ourselves Through Journal Writing in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.