Discover the power of journaling and how it can change your life
Wednesday 10th February 2021
Who is speaking?
Montegrappa is a family company established in 1912, nested in the Italian Dolomites are the creators of luxurious pens who have remained relentlessly curious about perfecting the deeply personal and often magical relationship between paper and the human mind. Their writing instruments express elegance, excellence and individual style.
Refined engineering and virtuoso finishing underscore the exclusivity of charismatic design. The brand now have their own influence in the United Kingdom with Montegrappa UK and has a unique selection of pens for everyone, their collection ranges from Harry Potter to Elma ambiente pens which are made of 100% recycled materials, with every little detail thought through.
“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” – Ernest Hemingway
Writing is part of our daily life, it can be writing a groceries list, our own book, a postcard, putting down some notes from a meeting, writing down a quote that we really like. The possibilities with writing are endless, when we are very young at school writing is already important, writing our name properly, learning the alphabet. Little did we know at that time that our calligraphy, our education and our writing skills will matter.
Nowadays we live in a world where time is the essence, everything we do we aspire to do it faster and every minute we can save from our day is precious. As Montegrappa concept shows, we can all progress with slowing time down, progress does not have to come at the price of values, meaning and truth. Montegrappa pens exist so that connoisseurs of thought and devotees of words may savour the luxury of slowing time down.
Why journaling is good for you?
This year has been far from a normal year, by being challenging it has also taught us how to recognise our strengths and weaknesses and how to work on them. When time slows down, your mind has the tendency to overthink, once we are not in activity and in our busy lives, we realise and observe ourselves much more. These observations could be the key to a massive improvement on our lives but they can also be confusing and frustrating sometimes. The most important way to stay sane is always movement, of your body, of your mind, of your emotions. Our thoughts are always in movement and to keep them clear, journaling has proven to be an amazing tool.
How to journal in 7 simple steps?
1. Writing by hand
Numerous studies have shown that when you write with a pen on paper, your mind is way more into it. Journaling by hand in a paper notebook moves a different part of your brain than typing does. Savour the moment, slow down and grab your favourite pen or a pen which you have an emotional connection to it and start writing.
2. Staying true to yourself
Journaling is not about writing a novel or becoming the writer of the year, journaling is about taking care of yourself. These thoughts are for you and for you only, the most important thing is to write what makes you feel a certain way, it is about expressing your emotions on paper. Do not get judgmental or demanding with your writing skills. Have your own style and let it happen..
3. Being in the right environment
We all think differently when we are not in our preferred environment, whatever your happy place is, be in it. Early birds may like to start once they are awake with a cup of tea, night owls might like writing just before sleeping. Find what is best for you, it might be on your way home on the bus, at lunch time or on a Sunday in a hot bath your own comfort is key.
4. Keep it private
This process is not easy, like meditation or yoga or any practice it will not come easily. To some people it might be within them, but writing can be overwhelming at first. What you writes is for you and nobody will see it, you have to keep in mind that keeping it private is what makes it therapeutic. It is a conversation with yourself.
5. Adopt a journaling routine
The beneficial effects of journaling only appear after a certain time and when the person is journaling frequently. Journaling is not a one time thing, otherwise it becomes an expression of stress, or release of anger. You have to create your own routine, if once a day is too much for your schedule keep it at two or three times a week, find what works for you. The beauty of frequent journaling is that it helps you grow as a person, to recognise patterns in your life, and to gain perspective and control over your environment.
6. Knowledge is key
For the process to work, you have to write what you know. Write about yourself and your life and your surroundings. Writing about something you don’t know is not going to be therapeutic for you it will be a totally different activity. It is important to keep it simple and a way of expressing yourself not others people feelings.
7. Quantity over quality
Can you believe it? For the first time in your life, what matters is the quantity of words over the quality of them. We are no Shakespeare or Hemingway, your focus should be on the amount of words, feelings and thoughts you are able to describe and express and not about how you put them in a sentence. Let it go and start writing..
We hope you are ready to start journaling! This beautiful process has proven numerous times that we can be aware of our thoughts and let them happen without being anxious, it is called mindfulness and we can guarantee that it will change your life forever.
If you decide to start, we wish you the best of luck in your next journaling adventure and most important of all, start with the right pen!
Find your perfect luxurious pen within Montegrappa’s collection and start writing your story.
https://www.montegrappa.com
