Gratitude Journaling - The endless silence…

Hello, my friends,

Welcome to another article from our Gratitude Journaling newsletter series.

The grey is back here in my home country, but it is getting a little bit warmer. My journaling has been alive, with thoughts on warmer weather slowly arriving.

I do hope we get a decent summer this year.

A reminder of the articles in our Gratitude Journaling Campaign.

1. Gratitude Journaling - A Journaling Routine

2. Gratitude Journaling - An Introduction and Our First Post

Last week, we spoke about forming a relationship with our journal. There is one catch to this relationship, though: it may feel one-sided because of …

The endless silence …

There is nothing worse than being ignored. It is most people’s kryptonite.

Starting a conversation and having someone stare blankly back at us starts an enormous wave of negative emotions. Exactly the same thing happens when we are interrupted. It’s another form of being ignored.

When we write in our journals, that same silence stares back at us, toying with us. And … that same flood of emotions starts tearing through us.

We are told that journaling is a place to pen down our thoughts, to get what is bothering us down onto the page, or to write down what we are grateful for.

Ok, but what happens after that?

We are hit with silence. We stare at the page … and nothing.

But something incredible does begin to happen …

Our journal has become our messenger. It sends our message to our subconscious and gives our subconscious permission to take these thoughts and begin to work on them.

And our subconscious never stops. It is a machine that constantly grinds away at solving problems for us.

Have you ever stood brushing your teeth, and an amazing thought popped into your head? An answer to a question you asked days ago. And … do you remember the lovely feeling that ran through you when that thought popped into your head? That is our subconscious coming up with an answer to an issue we thought of a while ago.

So what do we need to do?

Our job … is to be patient and to listen. Listening is upholding the end of the friendship we have with our journal.

And when our subconscious returns with an answer, we give thanks for the job our subconscious did for us.

We then give a grateful nod to our messenger, our journal.

Gratitude Gem

Conversation corner

‘Hey, Jill, have you ever noticed how journaling feels like sending messages to a part of ourselves we seldom hear from directly?’ Jack said, flipping through his journal.

‘You mean the silent feedback loop between our pens and our deeper selves?’

‘Exactly! It’s like every entry is a one-way conversation at first. You pour your thoughts and questions into the void, and then... silence,’ Jack said with a long sigh.

‘But isn’t that silence just the space we need? The pause before our subconscious, the universe, or whatever you believe in, starts talking back in its own way?’ Jill said, tapping her pen on her page.

‘That’s a beautiful way to put it,’ Jack said. ‘It’s like our journal entries are little messages we send out into the cosmos, waiting for a reply. And even though there’s no immediate answer, something shifts within us over time.’

‘Right, it’s not about the silence after writing; it’s about being open and patient, giving our inner selves the time to process and respond. Maybe not in words, but in insights, feelings, or sudden epiphanies,’ Jill said, smiling.

‘I love that idea. It turns journaling into more of a dialogue than a monologue. We’re not just talking to ourselves; we’re communicating with a deeper part of ourselves,’ Jack said.

‘And sometimes, the answers come in the most unexpected ways. A chance encounter, a dream, or a sudden solution to a problem that seemed insurmountable.’

‘Here’s to our silent conversations and the replies yet to come,’ Jack said, raising his journal slightly as if toasting.

‘And to the patience to hear them,’ Jill said, lifting hers in return.

Next week

We have gone through three really important articles over these three weeks.

• A journaling routine.

• Making friends with our journal and being a bit kinder to ourselves when we journal.

• This week, listening to responses we may receive from journaling.

Next week, we will examine language roadblocks and how inline self-editing may hinder our journaling progress.

Last week

We at Unbound Gratitude wish you the best and a grateful new week.