Skip to main content

Journaling

Photo by: Tim Bindner
10.16.11 – 3.11.22

After the advice of my Psychologists on March 4th visit, I tried something I have never really done in order to advance my mental health. Journaling.

March 5th I began my daily journal. As a person who asks tons of questions and wants to understand the rules of whatever I am doing or need to do, I asked Dr. Erin about journaling.

I asked, what do I write? How much do I write? How often do I write? Her response “there are no rules. Just write what you want, when you want.” I continued with what style do I write in? What kind of notebook do I need? She responded, “Tim, there are no rules. It is your journal. Write what you want.

With the uneasiness of a blank sheet of paper staring back at me, I wrote. I worried not about grammar, or spelling, but tried to let the random thoughts flow onto the paper. I have made a point of writing at least something daily.

One problem I have is my mind is so much faster than my handwriting or typing. Journaling and blogging when I re-read what I wrote and see I have missed words, or repeated words as I am trying to process, and write with an active brain. Those of you who say I am a talented writer. Thank God for spell check. You read and edited version of my thoughts.

I recently created a custom journal on a website called BLURB. The 6×9 inch notebook, which I customized with Kota’s picture above, on the cover and random symbols, sketches, and drawings I found online within the journal. I randomly added the drawings on every other page to provide a sense structure and not just blank pages.

The journal arrived yesterday and I spend part of today transferring my daily journal from its original notebook to the new one. Reliving the emotions I felt prior to, during and after Kota’s death was heart wrenching.

I believe this has helped me mentally, but because I am still struggling with Kota’s death and also am at the end of a 5 day stomach bug, I cannot give it a fair assessment. I enjoyed creating a custom journal, and as it was cheaper than buying a blank one, I will probably continue this process going forward.

There is no proper plan for these journals other than to easy my mind. I will not share these with anyone other than maybe Erin or Marcie if they want to read them. I am not sure if my writing within these journals would even make sense to anyone but me. As I mentioned, I write based on my feelings and thoughts for today, with no actual structure or purpose other than to get it out of my head.

For those with active minds like mine. Please consider doing a daily journal yourself. I use bullet points and my longest has been about 6 points, with some only being 3. If you start, remember NO RULES, just write what you feel. I have only set one rule for myself. To write daily.

Until next time,

Tim (Kilmer)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mentor

  When my photography journey rekindled back in 2015 with a trip to Maine, I never knew how far I would come and how important pushing a button on a camera would be. I have come a long way, but still have so much more to learn. A mentor is described as an experienced and trusted adviser (noun) . Also, as someone who will advise or train (someone, especially a younger  colleague ) (verb). Wikipedia also states mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person.  Since I have gotten more serious about my photography, I have been looking for a mentor that fits these categories listed above. Seeking guidance, I reached out to a handful of “professional” photographers to inquire about mentorship. I received no response from one person, another person casually mentioned that they rarely mentor, and a third person kindly explained that they ...

Nobody's Listening

  I recently had conversations with two people I know that had experienced a sudden rash of acute anxiety. One was medication related, the other was situational. Both stated that they now had a better understanding of what I have been dealing with. With the recent changes to my medication, Although I still feel anxiety, it no longer takes control of my emotions like it did in the past. However, I know acutely that it still lurks on the fringes, patiently awaiting its chance to pounce on me. During my recent visit to Dr. Erin, she assigned me an exercise where I had to jot down three things each day that I felt I excelled at. This is proving to be difficult for me. The parameters are straightforward and easy to understand. “Anything I do well that day,” she said. As I continued with this exercise, I began thinking of a song by Linkin Par called Nobody’s Listening. I got a heart full of pain, head full of stress Handful of anger held in my chest And everything left’s a wast...

Tested

  Life is a series of tests, pushing us to our limits and forcing us to grow. All blessings originate from a God, yet they manifest through different circumstances, encounters, and individuals. Throughout the past six weeks, I have encountered a myriad of these tests. This is part of the reason I have not written in a while - the constant distractions that have consumed my time and focus. Balancing my mental state and warding off anxiety has consumed my attention, leaving no room to articulate my thoughts through writing. My journey began recently when, with the advice of a medical professional, I began taking Trintellix at its lowest dose of 5mg per day. Gradually I increased to 10mg a day and now am at 20mg a day. During this time, my anxiety has lessened quite a bit, but recent events have put this medication to the test. Our initial challenge was to carefully research vans, searching for ones that would be ideal for safely transporting our furry companions. The cramped spac...