By Susan Borkin

I hate to begin an article with a food reference, but here it is. I really like chocolate. Yum! I really like peanut butter. Yum! Eating both together is Double Yum!

I don’t know about you, but that’s how I feel when I put together two of my passions—Double yum, double delicious. Enough about food.

I have been working in the field of journal writing for decades and in labyrinth facilitation for fewer years, but with no less passion. What has drawn me to these two seemingly disparate areas?

What do journaling and the labyrinth have in common and what makes them so delicious together?

Clarity and Healing.

We already know that journaling provides both clarity and healing. Daily or even frequent labyrinth walking provides clarity and healing as well.

Familiar Yet New.

We know that journal writing entries frequently feel familiar when we begin writing, but we also know that no two entries are ever the same. The same is true with the labyrinth. The walk may seem familiar at the beginning, but no two labyrinth walks are ever the same.

Off-Center to Balanced.

We know that not every single journal entry flows smoothly from our pens. It is highly likely that even feeling off-center at the beginning of an entry, can result in feeling balanced at the end. The same holds true for a labyrinth walk. Sometimes at the beginning of a walk you may feel confused, off-center, or even a little dizzy with the twists and turns of a labyrinth. But as you complete your walk, you are likely to feel more centered and balanced.

Get to Where You Need to Go.

While writing a journal entry, you will sometimes feel twists and turns in the process, but eventually you will undoubtedly get to where you need to go. In a labyrinth walk, you are never walking a straight line, rather you walk a line that curves and seems to backtrack. Yet eventually you will get to where you need to go.

Closer Than You Know.

Journaling can feel like just a jumble of words and unexpectedly it can begin to make sense. On the labyrinth, when you feel you are furthest away from the center, or at the end of your walk, you are closer than you think.

Chaos to Calm.

At the beginning of a journal entry, your thoughts and feelings may seem chaotic, but as you write you are likely to feel increasingly calm. At the beginning of a labyrinth walk, your thoughts and feelings may seem chaotic, but you are likely to feel increasingly calm.

Frequency.

Finally, the more frequently you journal, the more insight you are likely to have. Also true, the more frequently you walk the labyrinth, the more helpful it becomes.

Are you curious about how to combine journaling and the labyrinth together to map out a clear path for your best year ever in 2023?

Join our upcoming Journaling the Labyrinth virtual retreat >>

If you want to…

– feel inspired
– tap into your inner wisdom
– gain new insights
– get unstuck from creative procrastination
– try something fun and unique
– set a clear path for 2023

This Journaling the Labyrinth retreat is especially for you!

NEW Journaling the Labyrinth Virtual Retreat 

Saturday, January 14, 2023

9:00 am – 3:00 pm PST / 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST

Join from the comfort of your own home via Zoom.

Learn more and register here >>

Author: Susan Borkin, PhD.

Susan Borkin, PhD is a licensed psychotherapist and speaker based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since 1978 she has specialized in the therapeutic use of journaling. A true pioneer, she was working in the field of writing therapy, before such a field even existed, and long before the word “journaling” became an internet buzzword. Susan is the author of Writing from the Inside Out (1995), When Your Heart Speaks, Take Good Notes(2000), The Healing Power of Writing: A Therapist’s Guide to Using Journaling with Clients (W.W. Norton, 2014) and When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Journaling (2021).  Committed to helping creative people get unstuck with and through writing, she works with people interested in using writing as part of their healing, growth, and transformation. As an advanced facilitator and faculty member of Veriditas, the international training organization for labyrinth facilitator training, her newest work is the development of programs on “Journaling the Labyrinth.”

Susan’s work is informed by both the fields of positive psychology and everyday creativity. She continues to hold a global vision of a world in which journaling is available to all and the pen is truly mightier than the sword.