Welcome friend! Some years back, I read Opening Up by Writing It Down by James W. Pennebaker. It was an interesting read about the power of writing to deal with trauma and hardships and since then, I have seen many great thinkers recommend writing as a way to process life events. I love picking up books about journaling and writing and today I am going to tell you about the latest in this collection: Write Yourself Happy. I had been wanting to read it for some years and when I finally picked it up and it mentioned Opening Up by Writing It Down, I knew it was the right choice. Here is what this book is about:
Megan C. Hayes | Goodreads
The research confirms Writing heals.
Psychologists tell us that writing helps us cope with and recover from depression, anxiety, job loss and even heartbreak. Exciting new research shows that we can flourish further by actively choosing to write about positive emotions.
Journaling is a hot trend – for personal expression, creativity, self-actualisation and goalsetting. In Write Yourself Happy , author Megan Hayes shows us how, using positive journaling, we can journal more consciously, writing in a way that engages and promotes our most supportive and life-affirming emotions.
This practical, journal-style workbook demonstrates how to put eight of the most commonly experienced positive emotions – joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, awe and love – to work, helping us not simply to feel better, but to live better.
Based on groundbreaking research in positive psychology, and backed up by extensive scientific studies, the book includes practical exercises and case studies to inspire readers to shift their focus, use different words, see the world in a subtly different way – and discover how things go right when we write.
Write Yourself Happy: The Art of Positive Journalling – Review
If you enjoy journaling, Write Yourself Happy offers a beautiful reflection on why we practice, what brings us back to the pages of our journals, how we tend to use them generally and how we can truly enrich our practice further by tapping into positive emotions. It’s not an easy endeavour to write positive things. Our self-critical voice can take control of the page readily, going over all the things that happened where we felt inadequate or misunderstood or wanted to change something for a better outcome. In Write Yourself Happy, Megan shares about a study with common people like us who decided to write in their journals, but what was different was that they had a purpose. They were going to pick one of eight positive emotions and write about them.
Writing Positive Emotions
Write Yourself Happy lays the foundations for journaling, then positive journaling and finally how to approach writing each of these emotions and why. If you have never pondered joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, awe and love then this is a great place to start. The book has a chapter on each of the emotions, going over what it is, how we generally think of it, how often we tend to engage with it, what it means to write this emotion, what people in the study thought about it and ten prompts to try it out for ourselves. I also recommend keeping Brene Brown’s Atlas of the Heart handy as it can help you dig into how these emotions feel in the body. It also goes over numerous other emotions that are similar or opposite sides of the coin.
I enjoyed reading Write Yourself Happy. I love journaling and though I don’t write positive emotions explicitly, it was great to see how I already capture them in my everyday life. I will often highlight the little random things that happened like a free drink at my favorite cafe, or a stranger complimenting my shoes (joy), things I am looking forward to doing (interest), a meteor shower (awe), one of my cats cuddling with me at night (love). Of the eight emotions that the book covers, there was insight into ones people struggle with the most. I personally found serenity the hardest one to engage in. On the other hand, it is not surprising that love is the easiest one to write. I wonder if it is one that comes naturally to all because of the meaning that life has thanks to love.
My Journey in Journalling
I am often asked how I am filling all these journals so fast? This is how. I am unbiased to the good and the bad. I write facts, fiction, emotions, lists, song names, things I did during the day… whatever comes to mind.
At the end of Write Yourself Happy, Megan talks about bullet journalling and how in recent years, journaling has become attached to productivity and beautiful aesthetics, calligraphy and getting things done. Are we slowly losing the long held function it has had of being a place to scribble our innermost thoughts without fear of judgement?
This showy approach to journalling is an understandable consequence of the incessant photo-snapping and sharing culture of the 21st century. Sharing our journals because they are beautiful is a great hobby, if we enjoy it, but we should also feel free to write without fearing the judgement of others. We should feel free to be messy – and to see the charm, beauty and plentiful potential in that mess.
Write Yourself Happy, pg 210
I was never much of a ‘dear diary’ person when I was younger. I discovered journaling in 2017 because of the bullet journal. It was such a creative way to organize my studies. But come 2019, education over, degrees received, I did not want my personal journals to become my work to-do list. Education and work have very different drives and emotional connections for me. It took some time. The freeflow kind of writing that I do is maybe 1.5 years old maximum. It is one of the best practices in my life. It is my go-to for everything. Ideas, encouragement, love, reminders, anything and everything I want.
Journalling
While Write Yourself Happy is a book about writing positive emotions, in the grand scheme of things, the aim of the book is to connect us with ourselves and pursue uncensored writing. To take refuge in the pages of journals and be free to explore, dream and share all that we need to. It is a reminder that we don’t have to bring just the hard things to our journal. There is a lot of value in writing the positive. To reach out to positive emotions, even if it’s for 5 minutes intentionally, has a lot of power. There is a memorable story that Megan shares from one of the people in the study:
“Re-reading this event of doing mundane stuff with my daughter has certainly brightened my day. I’m glad I chose that event to write about because of the incredible joy it gives me at this moment.”
Write Yourself Happy, pg 46
Rediscovering buried or otherwise overlooked moments of positivity is one of the ideas at the heart of positive journaling. I also love what journaling is about:
when you write, you are remembering your past self, acknowledging your present self and sending a signal to your future self to say, “Hey, you! This is what that felt like.” So writing in a journal is a way to keep a tab on any repetitive themes in your life. It is a way to give yourself advice, so that, when others give their advice, you can size it up against a more comprehensive picture of your life’s mission, mistakes and marvels.
Write Yourself Happy, pg 211
This year, I have started the practice of writing a review of my journals once I finish. It is hard work because I am not yet completely committed to what I want to capture. Broad themes I look at are:
- What all did I do?
- How did I cope in times of stress?
- Instances of Ups and Downs
- Things I repeatedly wrote in my journal
- Lessons learned
- Wishes for next journal
- Impactful books
While I have been capturing this for the last two journals, I haven’t quite figured out how to use this information for the next journal. I am curious about stress coping strategies that I can tell myself of and keep handy at the beginning of the journal. Great ideas need time to execute and I am yet to priorite it. But I am trying and in my messy way, I will get there when I get there.
I loved that Write Yourself Happy is an advocate for authenticity. These last words are a great mission to live by:
Yet – whenever and however you choose to write – commit to making your journal a positive force in your life (whatever this truly means to you). In this book I have suggested that a good way to begin is to be anchored by your innate, authentic, positive emotions. This is because when we write with positive emotions, a whole world of alternative perspectives opens up – perspectives that might be far more helpful and comforting than even the most time-honoured outlook we have held on life. When we write in this way, we do not just feel relieved – we feel a sense of progress in our writing. The page becomes a bridge to real change. When we write in this way, writing can make us happier.
Write Yourself Happy, pg 215
Do you journal? Or are you ready to give it a shot? Thanks for reading this review! If you are interested in this book, add it to your Goodreads.
Check out other Non-Fiction reviews on the blog here.
Very cool and sensible idea. Thanks for reviewing this book.