By Tamika Greene, NAMI Connections Leader
In my 11th grade year of high school, I was introduced to journaling in a creative writing class. It opened up a whole new world in the form of intimate, living, and vivid personal communication for me. The experience was transformational, providing me with a new dimension of dynamic awareness. I felt like I landed on a different planet, but with a special kind of safety and comfort. Upon completing my creative writing essays for class, I felt like I could conquer the world.
After the class ended, I knew that I wanted to write as a profession. Some of life’s blows have discouraged me from pursuing this passion, but I am determined to persistently follow my heart’s deepest desires. I have at least 30 completed journals that I use to express my deep seated emotions. I have used journal writing to express emotions that feel like my heart’s blood shot red tears. I have communicated my life’s highest summits on the sun of triumph. When I feel comfortable enough, I even document my most silent secrets in a black abyss. My best times of journaling come when I am able to express times of exuberant joys that come from a waterfall flowing from a river of gratitude. Continue reading →
