FeedJournaling with Teens Guest Post by Mari L. McCarthy (Book Giveaway)
September 5, 2011 in Book Club Possibility, Helping Girls and Women Around the World, High School Teachers, Journal Writing, Journal Writing, Middle School Teachers Tags: high school teachers, high school writing, journal activities, journal writing, journal writing for teens, WOW! blog tour
Mari McCarthy, guest poster
Journaling and Creativity
by Mari L. McCarthy
When you’re a teen, life can be challenging and scary. At any given time, you’re very likely to have at least one problem or another that concerns you and won’t let you be totally carefree.
Young people might be burdened by any of a range of issues:
changing bodies
demanding friendships
family tensions
unsympathetic adults
bullies
pressure to conform
pressure not to conform
academic, athletic, or other kinds of competition
feelings of inadequacy
and the list goes on and on.
From a mature adult’s point of view, being a teenager looks terrifying.
For these reasons, cultivating creativity is very important at the adolescent level. When involved in creative activities, the individual’s personal response is key. Creativity allows young people to freely express. Since there are so few places in a teen’s life where total free expression is encouraged, creative workouts can relieve a great deal of tension.
There are endless ways to be creative, of course. You can draw, build, write, play, travel, and do any number of other things while involving your creativity. Whatever medium carries your muse, your journal serves well as the first and fundamental tool.
Journals are for dreaming and scheming, for describing your ideals. Then they are for making your lists and plans down to the last detail. Then they are for documenting your creative adventures, day by day, serving as the reflection that gives your creative work perspective and depth. And finally, your journal is your record of progress, your memoir for a quiet day in another, future time.
Maybe the best word to describe your journal is to call it your companion. When you’re a teen, it can be hard to know who to trust. But you can always trust your journal.
You can journal about anything at all. Some people keep several different journals going, each focused on a particular topic. You might journal about your creative projects, or your romances, or your school experiences, or your skateboarding adventures or anything else. You might journal whatever you feel like journaling today.
Shakespeare said actors on a stage “…hold as ’twere the mirror up to nature;” and I think journals do that, too. When you journal, you get a new dimension added to your experiences, as if you gained a new sense, a new way of seeing.
Your journal is where you know you are accepted and loved. It’s where the world can begin to make sense, and your place in it might even start to feel comfortable!
Mari L. McCarthy is The Journaling Therapy Specialist, founder of Journaling for the Health of It™. Please visit Mari’s blog at http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog/. On her blog, you can find her books and more under JJ’s store: Who Are You? How to Use Journaling Therapy to Know and Grow Your Life, where Mari presents a gentle process for self-discovery through journaling; Your Money Matters! Use Journal Writing Therapy to Get Financially Fit Now; and 53 Weekly Writing Retreats.
Don’t forget to leave a comment to win her latest e-book!
September 5th, 2011 at 10:11 am
Hi, Mari and Margo!
Journal writing at any age is a great tool for self-discovery, but for teenagers, it can be a real place of sanctuary.
During the turbulent teen years of my long ago past, I journaled and wrote poetry. Now, in my old age, I see that this is what kept me from going crazy with all the dysfunction in my life.
Hope parents encourage journal writing with their teens. As a teacher, I do all the time.
Peace, Linda
September 5th, 2011 at 10:37 am
Journaling – I do it now for sanity, I started as a kid with a fictional friend to whom I addressed daily entries of what I did, what I saw, and what I imagined. I did it as a teen, sporadically (because my mom found one and beat me for what I had written (teen angst). Now, a couple of decades later I do it for my sanity and drafting prose and verse that I go back to for stories and verse. Is that a second childhood? I hope to win your book for guidance.
Write On!!
Kate
September 5th, 2011 at 10:57 am
A wonderful concept and a great way for teens to express themselves in a creative way. I’d love to see this book.
September 5th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
I’m sure I could only scratch the surface of how valuable journaling can be. I love my daughter so much and the idea that journaling could help her through tough times and help her figure out who she is, is very appealing.
I know I’m her father and not her mother but she is so much like me in so many ways, in physical ways and mental make up as well. She has some mild ADD but is doing very well in school. She continues to try different athletic activities and seems to get better little by little while always having fun.
She did experience some significant bullying by a number of other girls a couple of years ago. She was so strong during the time when no one knew as well as when it was brought to light.
I wonder if she would allow me to put little occasional reminders of all of the positive things she does and how I’m proud of her in her journal?
She’s only 11 and has so much to give, so much to learn and so many challenges ahead of her.
September 5th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
I’ve heard journaling is a great way to work through issues. Haven’t really gotten into it yet, but am really interested in it!
September 5th, 2011 at 8:15 pm
Thanks to all of you who took out time on this busy holiday (and beautiful weather in the Midwest) to comment on Mari’s post.
@linda: I think so many of us did that as teens. I wish I could get some of that spirit back–but not dysfunction.
@Kate–I love the fictional friend idea.
@Steve–Thank you so much for your heartfelt comment. I think your ideas for your daughter are wonderful, and she is very lucky to have such an encouraging father.
@Marybeth and @Krysten: Thank you for your comments!
September 5th, 2011 at 8:31 pm
Given my inability to retain memories, I’ve always thought I should start journaling. I never seem to stick with it. My life is not that exciting and I feel silly writing about mundane things every day. Maybe I just don’t know what I’m doing?! Who knew there was a book about journaling?!
September 6th, 2011 at 5:18 am
I have a friend who wrote his first novel using the journals that he wrote as a teenager. His book was named an ALA Best Book for teens (one of many accolades). The book: WRESTLING STURBRIDGE The author: Rich Wallace
September 6th, 2011 at 5:34 am
Writing about personal issues is crucial for teens because it helps them work out conflicts that they find difficult to resolve because they are surrounded by influences, trends, voices pulling them in productive and destructive directions. Journaling gives them the opportunity to tune out every distraction and focus on being in touch with themselves, not in a narcissistic way but in a meditative way. Journaling connects the various soul parts. Sounds like a read to put on my list/blog.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
Kate,
You are the winner! I will be contacting you through e-mail.
Margo