The past is bad, isn’t it?
Memories I recall tend to be negative and sad events, and although I struggle to ignore them it’s an unhealthy way to live.
Recently I’ve become more aware that I’m losing good memories because I’m allowing the bad ones to be clearer. I can’t erase them, but I can make the positive events more memorable, can’t I?
As part of my research for my Creative Coping Strategies campaign, I’ve been on the hunt for simple projects anyone can undertake in order to make their lives more creative and less sad.
This time I’m looking at journalling. You don’t need any obscure or expensive equipment. Just a pad, a pen and maybe some sellotape. Simple.
Positive forgetfulness
Do you also let the good moments go and just lose them?
Think about it. There are brilliant things happening everyday that probably seem mundane, but why waste them? Actually, recording the past might seem like a sad, morose hobby, but it doesn’t have to be the bad stuff you recall. No, no. You can create a journal specifically to document the GOOD things that happen each day if you want. Take 10 minutes at the end of the evening to block out all the bad memories of the day and write down the wonderful ones.
For me, this is a hobby that’s incredibly helpful. Mental illness patients often find it difficult to see past stressful events. I think everyone does. The memory of upsetting moments is often more tangible than the memory of happier times – that’s one of the main reasons it’s good to journal positively on a daily basis – you’ll forget otherwise.
So what sort of thing can you record? EVERYTHING positive, however silly or pointless it might seem, like all of my CCS ideas. To help, I got together a little list of ideas so it’s clear how basic these positive moment memories can be…
- Feeling relaxed in your garden
- Listening to the birds when you woke up that morning
- Shopping for groceries and bumping in to an old friend
- Arranging a night out with mates
- Listening to your kid talk about their school day
- Revisiting old photo albums
- Eating the most incredible roast dinner
- Watching your favourite movie
- Having a day off
- Finding a new book / podcast / TV series you’re enjoying
As you can see, on the face of it these are the most boring memories you’ll probably record, but they are all POSITIVE. Your whole day wasn’t bad, even though there may have been a stressful event (or events) to navigate, so it’s worth recording the good stuff.
What’s the purpose? To be able to look back, remember and smile about things that would otherwise have ended up on your memory scrap-heap. This ‘journal’ is a place you can go when you feel unhappy, stressed or sad and be reminded that there is still goodness in the world.
I have a dedicated journal for exactly this purpose. It’s called ‘Steph’s fucking awesome, weird, surprising journal’ and in it I stick totems of the day (feathers and daisies my daughter delivered, stickers I’ve made, quotes from magazines) and I write all these little, insignificant memories that, as a whole, will help me see not everything in life is terrible.
Why don’t you try it?
The picture
It was hard to find a picture to represent journalling silly things, so I chose a happy landscape with some animals I’ve been practicing for my Instagram #dtiys challenges.
Don’t ask me why, but frogs and rabbits seems to be the animals I want to draw the most, and I created a similar image to this one for a challenge pretty recently. These lonely frogs could use a journal, couldn’t they?
Creative Steph 