Sensuous Journaling 

In the beginning of the Pandemic,  I had been quarantining due to being diagnosed with covid-19, it was starting to become clear that this coronavirus thing wasn’t going away anytime soon.

​

As I often do in tough times, I turned to journaling. I decided I’d keep a record of my quarantine life through the months as I recover, a way to remember this crazy historical moment and process my feelings.

​

Now here we are another year and my daily journal continues. I’ve been in shows and attended events since I started journaling, so its contents are very exciting—tidbits of everyday life, news about social distancing rules and reopening stages, moments of worry and loneliness and cabin fever and gratitude.

​

I know I’m not the only one with a pandemic journal. In fact, hundreds of people have written journal entries on the Pandemic Project website, a resource created by psychology researchers that offers writing prompts to help people explore their experiences and emotions around COVID-19.

​

At a time when the days blend into each other, journaling is helping people separate one from the next and clear out the distressing thoughts invading our heads (and our dreams). Research also suggests it might be helping our health and immune systems, the very things many of us are worried about.

​

Although there are some pitfalls to journaling—ways of doing it that might backfire—it’s one of those rare and valuable mental health tools that doesn’t require you to leave your house or even see another human being.

​

Why do we avoid journaling?

For one, it isn’t always pleasant; I know that I sometimes have to force myself to sit down and do it. Cathartic is probably a better word. In fact, some research suggests that we can feel more anxious, sad, or guilty right after we write.

​

But in the long term, we can expect to cultivate a greater sense of meaning as well as better health. Various studies have found that people who do a bout of journaling have fewer doctor visits in the following half year, and reduced symptoms of chronic disease like asthma and arthritis.

​

​