Taking time to journal my thoughts (as comics)

It does take a conscious effort. First thing in the mornings, there is a habit urge to check my phone for new messages. I've been practicing putting that off until I've journaled something from my life while my mind is still fresh. Oftentimes, I'd really glad I do that. It does help me organise my thoughts and priorities before the day gets noisy and I get busy. 

Journalling (in comics) is an art in itself. I often find myself weighing how much personal details to put down and also what is beneficial to put down. So far, I've decided it's OK to put down what I'm feeling emotionally. Naming the emotions help. (I feel anxious, sad, etc). That helps me un-jumble all the emotions I could be feeling at one time. When left unattended, I feel that jumble becomes a bigger jumble. But if I'm angry or annoyed at people for certain reasons, I won't put that down, because oftentimes those are based on assessments or stories I make up in my head about those people. And those are often wrong and can change, so I don't find it beneficial to focus on them. 

When I journal it makes me focus on the thought more. So I've been using it to my advantage. When my thoughts are filled with dark, I can use journalling to focus on thoughts that are bright. And whatever I focus on becomes bigger in my mind. With comics, I'm putting words but also images. And it helps have happier images in my head. 

So below, I focus on "things I'm grateful for" and "things that make me smile". Yes, I could also focus on "things that make me annoyed" or "things that make me sad". Maybe I could try that some time? But I think that will just make those things bigger in my head and I don't want more of that, presently. There is plenty of that in the news already. For now, I could use more images in my head that are good and bright.