August 25, 2025 • 23 mins
Hello, beautiful listeners! Thank you for tuning in to this week’s episode of Chiquis and Chill. Today, we’re talking all about journaling. I’ve been journaling for years and it’s really been a form of therapy for me – and in many ways, it’s saved my life.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello, Hello, my beautiful people. Welcome to this episode of
Cheeky's and Chill. So what do mean Albert Einstein, Frieda, Gailo,
and Michelle Obama have in common?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Any guesses? Okay, I'll tell you.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
We all journal and that's exactly what we're going to
be talking about today. I've been doing it for years
and it's been such an outlet for me and I
want to share with you guys. So let's get started.
So what is journaling? Let me explain real quick what
journaling is. Journaling is an intentional practice of writing down
(00:40):
your thoughts, emotions, your prayers, your dreams and reflections. There
is no one way to do it, and it's not
all about perfect grammar or fancy notebooks. It is about
truth and expression.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Journaling is also a way of integration, of integrating. What
does that mean? Basically reflecting? I have been doing it
a lot, especially since I went through like this spiritual
d talks or retreat whatever it is that we want
to call it, because there's a word for it, and
I can't remember right now, but one thing my spiritual
(01:15):
teacher told me was integrate, and I was like, okay, wait,
what do you mean, she's like, make sure that you
write down, which is journaling, write down what visions, what
feelings you had, because you're going to forget. And it's
crazy because I'll look back on my journals from years ago.
And I'm not telling you I journal every day, because
(01:36):
I'd be lying if I did.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
And I'm not going to.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Tell you that for the wow, fifteen plus years I've
been doing it.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Actually more, oh my gosh, more.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
I'm not going to tell you that I have all
my journals or that I did it continuously, because again,
i'd be lying. I write here and there for like months,
and then I just fall off. I feel like it's normal.
But I will tell you that journaling has really, in
some ways saved my life. It is a form of therapy,
(02:08):
and it's nice to look back, kind of like my
spiritual teacher said, you're going to forget, so make sure
you write things down. It's nice to look back and
read some of the things.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
I just did this. The other day.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I came across a journal that I had put away,
and I wish I would have brought it so I
could read it to you guys. Maybe I'll share it
on Sincerely Jane, But AnyWho, I was so relieved when
I read it, and I'm like, thank God, I'm not
in that place anymore. And I think writing it down,
there's a power in writing things down, especially with a
(02:43):
pencil on a piece of paper, that helps you just
release things, like you're releasing emotions that we suppress or
that we can't tell anyone. And right now, when I
was thinking, I was like, how long have I been journaling?
Is because I used to have a diary, So that's
also journaling.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
We need to go back to diaries, which is why
I like doing Deer Cheeky's and I like doing sincere
religion a because it's a way of now. It's where
this is the new age, you know, and everything is technology.
So it's just basically releasing and in a way surrendering.
And it felt so nice to just say, Wow, I'm
(03:29):
not there anymore and I'm glad. And even with prayer,
people think, oh my gosh, with prayer, like I don't
know how to talk to God, and it does have
to sound all pretty the way they do it at church,
and no, it's the same thing with journaling, guys, like
it does. You don't have to have perfect grammar. Your
penmanship doesn't have to be perfect. If you want to
use the notes in your phone, that's fine. I've done it,
(03:51):
I do it. But for me just having that time
of no phone, because you will be distracted with your phone,
I will. So that's why I'm like, I'd rather just
do it in a notebook with a pencil. I want
to practice writing, but it doesn't have to be pretty.
I don't have the best penmanship, guys, I really don't.
I forgot how to write cursive. They don't even teach
(04:14):
it in school anymore apparently, So it's not pretty. It's
not meant to be pretty. This is for you, and
it's for you to be honest, for you to be raw.
It is a form of therapy. And that's why even
if it's just something short today I'm not feeling good,
or today I'm really happy. I'm having a really good day.
And of course writing down the date. I even like
(04:37):
writing down the time and sometimes even describing where I am. Okay,
I'm at home today, I'm on my bed, just to
take me back to that moment. When I'm rereading it,
there are some entries that I won't ever read again.
It just all depends, but anyway, I like doing the time,
the date, and sometimes it's elaborate. Sometimes I'm like, I
(04:59):
go off on a tan and I'm just like and
sometimes it doesn't even make sense, but I'm just writing
what's coming and it's just coming out, and it's just
helping me release and surrender it on that piece of
paper so that I could just feel better. And sometimes
it's just a happy one and that's good too.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
You need those.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
And a lot of people have asked me, like, how
do I even start. I would probably tell you start with.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
What are you grateful for?
Speaker 1 (05:22):
And I know you guys have heard this before, because
I do feel like people are talking about it a
lot more on social media, like journaling and writing down
three things that you're grateful for. I'm sure you can
find three things. And there's no again, no right or
wrong way to do it, is just doing it and
taking the time for yourself. It's part of self love.
(05:45):
I like to do it in the morning. I like
to do it reallyier in the morning, even sometimes before
the sun comes out before I meditate usually, and then
I meditate because I like to meditate on what I
wrote down, whatever it could be. It could be something
about me, just in a way, complaining about something that
happened or about someone. And I've tried it at night,
(06:08):
but usually at night I like to unwind. Maybe you're
the type of person that wants to do it at night,
and that's totally fine. Whatever works best for you. What
I like to do at night Instead of like writing
something down, I like to ask myself, Okay, how is today?
Is there anything I could have done differently? Do I
have to apologize to someone tomorrow for I don't know,
maybe I snapped or whatever. I just like to kind
(06:29):
of replay quickly in my mind. But maybe you can
do it journaling, whatever it is that works for you.
I personally, like I said, I like to just start
my day off that way. Some days I do it,
some days I don't. Sometimes I go weeks without journaling
and then I miss it and I'm like, oh my gosh, wait, because.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
It helps you release.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And the reason I keep saying release, guys, is because
I just talked about it on Instagram about releasing about
us carrying around a backpack full of rocks or bricks,
whatever you want to call it, and each is resentment, anger,
could be happiness, but usually if it's heavy, they're negative emotions.
(07:09):
And we have this backpack on and we're trying to
just live our life and we have to learn to
surrender and we have to learn to release. And I'm
reading a book on it, and I'm going to share.
It's called Letting Go the Pathway of Surrender, Okay, and
it's by David Hawkins, just in case you guys want
to look it up. But he's giving me a visual.
(07:31):
I've always known the importance of releasing and surrendering. I've
always like, I know that, but now it's something more
tangible in a way, I guess more visual because it's
not tangible. But anyway, back to the backpack. We're carrying
this backpack. We're going around the world trying to smile
and as we are carrying all of this, trying to
work out, trying to just live.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
But we have this.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Damn backpack on our back and it's heavy, and what
we have to do is take it off and set
it down and release it. And journaling is a way
of doing that. You're leaving it on that piece of paper.
Usually for me, when I'm journaling, I'm talking about like
just reflecting, reflecting on the day, reflecting on what I want,
(08:16):
writing down my manifestations. A lot of the time is
me writing down my negative emotions and how I'm feeling.
And I'm like, I'm gonna leave it here. I'm gonna
leave it on this piece of paper. I'm going to
release it. I'm gonna surrender it to the universe, to God.
I'm gonna walk away, close my journal and leave it
and go on with my day. And just by thinking
(08:38):
and verbalizing that and doing that action, it has helped me.
It's been a part of helping me survive, helping me
just keep my head above water when I feel like
the world is going to swallow me.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And I know we've all had those moments.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
So that's why I wanted to talk about journaling, because
a lot of people ask and they don't know, how
do I start?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
How do I even?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
And it's again whatever, however, your phone a notebook in the.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Morning, at night, one.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Sentence, a whole page full of just words. If you
want to talk about happy things, if you want to
talk about sad things, if you want to say I
am so pissed today, write that down. We need to
kind of like get used to documenting our feelings because
(09:30):
they come and go so quickly, we tend to forget
certain things that having that piece of paper, that notepad,
our notes to go back to in our phone to
help us remember certain things. Like I started writing down
when I was in a really bad relationship. I would
write down a lot of the mean things that he
(09:50):
would do to me. And I know this sounds weird,
but it got to the point where it was just
really bad and so toxic for me because I started realizing,
I'm forget. I'm forgetting some of the really shitty things
this person has done to me. And I keep going
back and I keep forgiving, and some of these things
are really not cool, and I could forgive, but I
(10:12):
shouldn't forget. So I would go back and I would
write them down. Dude, I had so many things that
when I went back and I thought I want to
get back with him or I miss him, I read
these things and I was like, Okay, Jenna, yeah, absolutely not,
We're not going back because I was just in survival
mode and I'm like, I need to get through this day.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
So I would forget.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
And they say that people that have gone through a
lot of trauma tend to forget are very forgetful. Now
it makes sense. I'm like, oh shit, I'm like, I
forget a lot of things, you know, and I have
to jot everything down. I'm a note taker. I love
post it notes, I love writing things down. So I
had to do that with this relationship, and it helped
me let go of this person. Another suggestion in your journal,
(10:56):
if you're dating someone that you're not sure of, make
a line. Write the person's name down. Write the good things,
all the pros, and then the cons, and then you
check to see what weighs more. The good things are
the bad things, and that'll help you make a decision
and keep going back. And if you have it written down,
it will remind you. There's something powerful about just seeing it.
(11:19):
As you're writing. You're not realizing, but then you stop
and you look at the piece of paper and you're like,
oh my gosh. And be brutally honest, guys. It is
so important to be honest with yourself. Again, no one
should be reading this, anyone that's around you, even if
it's a partner. If they are looking into yourself without
your permission, especially your journal slash diary, that's a red flag.
(11:41):
Just saying you should be able to have your journal
and know that whoever's around and lives in your home,
they're not going to touch it without you even having
to say it, just you know, letting you know that.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
But if you need to hide it, hide it.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
I used to hide my diary for my mother and
she found it and it got me in a lot
of trouble. That's a whole other episode. But if you
need to hide it, hide it. But this is for you,
and the point is you being completely, one hundred percent
honest with yourself, especially if right now therapy doesn't fit
(12:13):
in the budget journal journal. It will help you read
a freaking book, read this book that I'm reading, or
The Higher Self, which is another book that I'm also
reading that I told you guys about. Anyway, this is
a great way of therapy. So that also helped me,
and the person that taught me to do that was
my mother. My mom was also like a note taker,
(12:37):
a doodler, Like when she was on the phone, she
would doodle a lot, a lot. I think it would
just help her process things. And one time I was
in her office and I saw a piece of paper
and she wrote down the pros and the cons of
her relationship at the time, and then at the end
she said, now that I'm looking at this, at this
piece of paper, now that I have something tangible to
(13:01):
look at, I know that this relationship is not for me.
I was trying to trick my mind and my heart
into being with this person. But now that it's written down,
I see clearly. And that's when she left him and
got married and the whole thing. But there's something about
having something on a piece of paper that's tangible. Because
(13:24):
thoughts and feelings they come and go and they're just
you can't see them and you just feel them. But
if you have them written down, you almost feel like, oh,
I get to see it. I get to feel this
piece of paper, I get to fill my phone, I
see it. Like it just changes things, guys. So that's
why I'm a huge advocate for journaling. And what if
you have just all kinds of happy days, that's awesome,
(13:45):
and you're just so grateful and you're so optimistic and
everything is going great in your life, that's awesome. But
also do it and I mainly do it when I'm
not feeling that great. But these are also other types
of journaling. Daily reflections, gratitude journaling, faith or prayer journaling.
I did that one for years. Faith in prayer journaling.
I had a long list of people and things that
(14:07):
I wanted to pray for. I did that for years, guys.
So faith in prayer journaling is awesome. Letters to your
inner child, I've done that. I just did that recently.
I made one also for my future baby super healing guys.
Dream journaling, manifestation journaling as well. What are your aspirations?
If you don't want to do a whole vision board,
(14:29):
you could, you know, write it down on a piece
of paper. And this is a way of manifesting it,
you know. So dream and manifestation journaling amazing. And like
I said earlier, be brutally honest with yourself. You can
cry without judgment because there are times and this was
years ago, I think when I wrote down these things
in my notes about this particular person, I cried and
(14:51):
I was like, oh my gosh. I was kind of
in a way being judgmental with myself because I was like,
how did you.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Put up with this for so long? Now?
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I know when they say love is blind, that's what
they mean, you know. I thought, I love this person
very much, and I just was excusing things. The thing is,
I also was not loving myself enough, so I cried,
but cry without judgment, guys. And it's a good way
of hearing your own voice again. Sometimes we don't hear
ourselves because there's so much We're so busy.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
We're out in the world.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Just working and studying and whatever. It is that we
get so busy that we forget to listen to our
inner voice, to listen to God's voice, to listen to ourself.
It's crazy, Like when you think about it that way,
you're like, this is me. I'm writing this down. It's
my mean time. It's my self love time and reflection time.
(15:44):
And it's a way of listening to yourself, of giving
yourself that space that time. When I started saying journaling
that way where I'm like, this is for me, I'm
giving that little girl, my inner child, that teenager, the
adult woman like the time the way I give my
(16:04):
time to other people. I deserve that time, you know.
So there's something really special about that about hearing your
own voice again. Is also a way to talk to God.
It could be Dear God. It could even be that
you know, like this is I want to write a
letter to God or I'm in a journal and I
just need to address it to someone. So I'm going
to to God, to my inner child, to my future self.
(16:26):
That's also very powerful. And this is also a way
of also letting go of things that you're not ready
to say out loud, that you don't want to tell anyone.
And I never showed anyone that list of just things
of this person or that you know, I probably wouldn't
even share it with anyone. It's to me, it's like
a little embarrassing, you know, But now I guess I
(16:48):
probably could because I'm like, well, I healed it. I
just wouldn't want to do that to him because you know,
some of you might know who I'm talking about. I've
had a couple ex boyfriends. But anyway, it's the way
of letting go of things that, yeah, you're not ready
to tell anyone or to say out loud, and this
is a way of just expressing it. And I always
(17:12):
say let go, let God. For me, this is a
way of letting go and letting God and just putting
it on that piece of paper and surrendering it. We
all go through things, we all have even feelings that
come out of nowhere. I mean, I could be having
an amazing day, and I'm such an impath that I
feel other people's sadness or their mood, and I'm trying
and I'm learning to navigate through that and not make
(17:36):
other people's feelings my own, because sometimes I'm hit and
I'm like, I'm having such a good day, and then
my heart feels sad. And I'll do this now out
loud thanks to this book, where I'm like, I release
this sadness that I feel in my chest. I release it.
I release it, I release it, I shake it off,
and I'm like, oh, I'm just gonna god. I surrendered
(17:56):
to you. And if I have time, I'll write a
quick note and I'm like, oh, feeling sad. I don't
know what it's about, but maybe later we'll figure it
out together, and I just leave it there. And then
sometimes I find out and sometimes I don't. Most of
the time I do. Now I'm like I backtrack and
I'm like, okay, wait, where did I get this? Where
did I pick this up? Is it my own sadness?
Is it someone else's sadness? But writing it down helps me.
(18:19):
It's kind of like, okay, I'm writing it down, I'm
leaving it here. And speaking of letting go, guys, I
have burned letters to myself to other people. Like for instance,
I won't say names, but there was a person in
(18:39):
my family extended family that I'd be willing to talk to,
but they don't want to talk to me, which is fine.
And what I did was I wrote it on a
piece of paper what I wanted to tell this person,
and I addressed it to them. This is also journaling, guys. Again,
it could be a letter to someone, it could be
a letter to yourself. So I wrote this letter to
(19:00):
the person and it was something that was bothering me,
and I apologize for my doing and I also forgave
this person without them having to ask me.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
And I burned it.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I said, okay, I believe in this. Like you fold
the page away from you two to three times and
then you can either bury it, you can burn it,
you can flush it down the toilet, whatever way you
feel of like releasing and letting go.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
And I did that. I just burned it.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
I have like this little bowl, this special bowl that
I bought it a spiritual store, and I just I
burned it, and I felt better. I felt just like, Okay,
it's gone. I spoke to this person and it's in
the universe, and hopefully one day they want to talk
to me. If they don't, I'm fine with it. So
I have done that. I have done that with some
(19:48):
of my journals, journals from I think it was one
that I found a couple of years ago. It was
like my two thousand and eight journal, crazy right, because
it was in my storage and I kind of looked
and skin through it. I was like, ooh, yeah, I've
grown so much. I was like, oh, okay, we're not
there anymore.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
It's been a decade, like almost a decade. We could
just I burned it. I was like, I don't want
anyone to find it. I don't want to like shred
It's like, I'm just gonna burn it. I like to
burn my stuff. Be very safe, guys, Okay, very safe. Please,
but you know, just for future reference if you decide
to do that or not, or you can keep them forever,
whatever you decide to do. Now that I think about it,
(20:26):
probably could have made a like pretty cool book of
all my entries.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Maybe I will do that. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Oh or maybe I can start writing like a journal
for my baby. Wow, maybe I could do that and
then show it to the baby when it's born. Oh
my gosh, I just thought about that right now. Anyway,
I think you guys get the point, and I think
it's a very important and beautiful thing to do as
part of your self care routine. And just to conclude everything,
(20:54):
we're going to recap here. We talked a lot about
this already, but these are the benefits of journaling.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Emotional release you stop bottling things up, Okay, stop suppressing, repressing, Okay.
Self awareness. You begin to understand your triggers and patterns. Hmm,
that's what I was happening with you know that guy,
triggers some patterns yep. Healing you create space to process
pain and give it a voice.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Oh girl.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Growth tracking You get to see how far.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
You have come.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
I just did that the other day by reading you
know one of my entries for last year creative clarity.
You unlock new ideas and solutions, especially for like my
writing camp and my poems. It's just been so great
with journaling, Oh my goodness. Goal setting writing down what
you want makes it feel more real that is so
(21:48):
big for me. That is part of my manifestation. Writing
things down. It helps me get things done. It's just
things that I'm like, Oh, they seem unreachable.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
No.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Not. When you write it down and you really set
the attention you know what I mean, spiritual connection. You
start hearing God more clearly. I start feeling God in
my heart. I start it's like my inner voice. Guys.
It's it's true freedom to be real. No one is watching,
just you and the page. And I think that's it.
The eight yep and I chose eight because it's my
(22:20):
favorite number. So those are eight.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
So that's it, guys.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I hope that you enjoyed this episode and thank you
for listening. I love you and I appreciate you, and
I'll catch you here on the next episode of Cheeky's
and Chill Okay, I love you. This is a production
of iHeartRadio and the Micael Gourda podcast Network. Follow us
(22:43):
on Instagram at Michael Gourda Podcasts, then follow me Cheeky's
That's c h I q U I s. For more
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wherever you listen to your favorite podcast
Hello, Hello, my beautiful people. Welcome to this episode of
Cheeky's and Chill. So what do mean Albert Einstein, Frieda, Gailo,
and Michelle Obama have in common?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Any guesses? Okay, I'll tell you.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
We all journal and that's exactly what we're going to
be talking about today. I've been doing it for years
and it's been such an outlet for me and I
want to share with you guys. So let's get started.
So what is journaling? Let me explain real quick what
journaling is. Journaling is an intentional practice of writing down
(00:40):
your thoughts, emotions, your prayers, your dreams and reflections. There
is no one way to do it, and it's not
all about perfect grammar or fancy notebooks. It is about
truth and expression.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Journaling is also a way of integration, of integrating. What
does that mean? Basically reflecting? I have been doing it
a lot, especially since I went through like this spiritual
d talks or retreat whatever it is that we want
to call it, because there's a word for it, and
I can't remember right now, but one thing my spiritual
(01:15):
teacher told me was integrate, and I was like, okay, wait,
what do you mean, she's like, make sure that you
write down, which is journaling, write down what visions, what
feelings you had, because you're going to forget. And it's
crazy because I'll look back on my journals from years ago.
And I'm not telling you I journal every day, because
(01:36):
I'd be lying if I did.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
And I'm not going to.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Tell you that for the wow, fifteen plus years I've
been doing it.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Actually more, oh my gosh, more.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
I'm not going to tell you that I have all
my journals or that I did it continuously, because again,
i'd be lying. I write here and there for like months,
and then I just fall off. I feel like it's normal.
But I will tell you that journaling has really, in
some ways saved my life. It is a form of therapy,
(02:08):
and it's nice to look back, kind of like my
spiritual teacher said, you're going to forget, so make sure
you write things down. It's nice to look back and
read some of the things.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
I just did this. The other day.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I came across a journal that I had put away,
and I wish I would have brought it so I
could read it to you guys. Maybe I'll share it
on Sincerely Jane, But AnyWho, I was so relieved when
I read it, and I'm like, thank God, I'm not
in that place anymore. And I think writing it down,
there's a power in writing things down, especially with a
(02:43):
pencil on a piece of paper, that helps you just
release things, like you're releasing emotions that we suppress or
that we can't tell anyone. And right now, when I
was thinking, I was like, how long have I been journaling?
Is because I used to have a diary, So that's
also journaling.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
We need to go back to diaries, which is why
I like doing Deer Cheeky's and I like doing sincere
religion a because it's a way of now. It's where
this is the new age, you know, and everything is technology.
So it's just basically releasing and in a way surrendering.
And it felt so nice to just say, Wow, I'm
(03:29):
not there anymore and I'm glad. And even with prayer,
people think, oh my gosh, with prayer, like I don't
know how to talk to God, and it does have
to sound all pretty the way they do it at church,
and no, it's the same thing with journaling, guys, like
it does. You don't have to have perfect grammar. Your
penmanship doesn't have to be perfect. If you want to
use the notes in your phone, that's fine. I've done it,
(03:51):
I do it. But for me just having that time
of no phone, because you will be distracted with your phone,
I will. So that's why I'm like, I'd rather just
do it in a notebook with a pencil. I want
to practice writing, but it doesn't have to be pretty.
I don't have the best penmanship, guys, I really don't.
I forgot how to write cursive. They don't even teach
(04:14):
it in school anymore apparently, So it's not pretty. It's
not meant to be pretty. This is for you, and
it's for you to be honest, for you to be raw.
It is a form of therapy. And that's why even
if it's just something short today I'm not feeling good,
or today I'm really happy. I'm having a really good day.
And of course writing down the date. I even like
(04:37):
writing down the time and sometimes even describing where I am. Okay,
I'm at home today, I'm on my bed, just to
take me back to that moment. When I'm rereading it,
there are some entries that I won't ever read again.
It just all depends, but anyway, I like doing the time,
the date, and sometimes it's elaborate. Sometimes I'm like, I
(04:59):
go off on a tan and I'm just like and
sometimes it doesn't even make sense, but I'm just writing
what's coming and it's just coming out, and it's just
helping me release and surrender it on that piece of
paper so that I could just feel better. And sometimes
it's just a happy one and that's good too.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
You need those.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
And a lot of people have asked me, like, how
do I even start. I would probably tell you start with.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
What are you grateful for?
Speaker 1 (05:22):
And I know you guys have heard this before, because
I do feel like people are talking about it a
lot more on social media, like journaling and writing down
three things that you're grateful for. I'm sure you can
find three things. And there's no again, no right or
wrong way to do it, is just doing it and
taking the time for yourself. It's part of self love.
(05:45):
I like to do it in the morning. I like
to do it reallyier in the morning, even sometimes before
the sun comes out before I meditate usually, and then
I meditate because I like to meditate on what I
wrote down, whatever it could be. It could be something
about me, just in a way, complaining about something that
happened or about someone. And I've tried it at night,
(06:08):
but usually at night I like to unwind. Maybe you're
the type of person that wants to do it at night,
and that's totally fine. Whatever works best for you. What
I like to do at night Instead of like writing
something down, I like to ask myself, Okay, how is today?
Is there anything I could have done differently? Do I
have to apologize to someone tomorrow for I don't know,
maybe I snapped or whatever. I just like to kind
(06:29):
of replay quickly in my mind. But maybe you can
do it journaling, whatever it is that works for you.
I personally, like I said, I like to just start
my day off that way. Some days I do it,
some days I don't. Sometimes I go weeks without journaling
and then I miss it and I'm like, oh my gosh, wait, because.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
It helps you release.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And the reason I keep saying release, guys, is because
I just talked about it on Instagram about releasing about
us carrying around a backpack full of rocks or bricks,
whatever you want to call it, and each is resentment, anger,
could be happiness, but usually if it's heavy, they're negative emotions.
(07:09):
And we have this backpack on and we're trying to
just live our life and we have to learn to
surrender and we have to learn to release. And I'm
reading a book on it, and I'm going to share.
It's called Letting Go the Pathway of Surrender, Okay, and
it's by David Hawkins, just in case you guys want
to look it up. But he's giving me a visual.
(07:31):
I've always known the importance of releasing and surrendering. I've
always like, I know that, but now it's something more
tangible in a way, I guess more visual because it's
not tangible. But anyway, back to the backpack. We're carrying
this backpack. We're going around the world trying to smile
and as we are carrying all of this, trying to
work out, trying to just live.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
But we have this.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Damn backpack on our back and it's heavy, and what
we have to do is take it off and set
it down and release it. And journaling is a way
of doing that. You're leaving it on that piece of paper.
Usually for me, when I'm journaling, I'm talking about like
just reflecting, reflecting on the day, reflecting on what I want,
(08:16):
writing down my manifestations. A lot of the time is
me writing down my negative emotions and how I'm feeling.
And I'm like, I'm gonna leave it here. I'm gonna
leave it on this piece of paper. I'm going to
release it. I'm gonna surrender it to the universe, to God.
I'm gonna walk away, close my journal and leave it
and go on with my day. And just by thinking
(08:38):
and verbalizing that and doing that action, it has helped me.
It's been a part of helping me survive, helping me
just keep my head above water when I feel like
the world is going to swallow me.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
And I know we've all had those moments.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
So that's why I wanted to talk about journaling, because
a lot of people ask and they don't know, how
do I start?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
How do I even?
Speaker 1 (09:00):
And it's again whatever, however, your phone a notebook in the.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Morning, at night, one.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Sentence, a whole page full of just words. If you
want to talk about happy things, if you want to
talk about sad things, if you want to say I
am so pissed today, write that down. We need to
kind of like get used to documenting our feelings because
(09:30):
they come and go so quickly, we tend to forget
certain things that having that piece of paper, that notepad,
our notes to go back to in our phone to
help us remember certain things. Like I started writing down
when I was in a really bad relationship. I would
write down a lot of the mean things that he
(09:50):
would do to me. And I know this sounds weird,
but it got to the point where it was just
really bad and so toxic for me because I started realizing,
I'm forget. I'm forgetting some of the really shitty things
this person has done to me. And I keep going
back and I keep forgiving, and some of these things
are really not cool, and I could forgive, but I
(10:12):
shouldn't forget. So I would go back and I would
write them down. Dude, I had so many things that
when I went back and I thought I want to
get back with him or I miss him, I read
these things and I was like, Okay, Jenna, yeah, absolutely not,
We're not going back because I was just in survival
mode and I'm like, I need to get through this day.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
So I would forget.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
And they say that people that have gone through a
lot of trauma tend to forget are very forgetful. Now
it makes sense. I'm like, oh shit, I'm like, I
forget a lot of things, you know, and I have
to jot everything down. I'm a note taker. I love
post it notes, I love writing things down. So I
had to do that with this relationship, and it helped
me let go of this person. Another suggestion in your journal,
(10:56):
if you're dating someone that you're not sure of, make
a line. Write the person's name down. Write the good things,
all the pros, and then the cons, and then you
check to see what weighs more. The good things are
the bad things, and that'll help you make a decision
and keep going back. And if you have it written down,
it will remind you. There's something powerful about just seeing it.
(11:19):
As you're writing. You're not realizing, but then you stop
and you look at the piece of paper and you're like,
oh my gosh. And be brutally honest, guys. It is
so important to be honest with yourself. Again, no one
should be reading this, anyone that's around you, even if
it's a partner. If they are looking into yourself without
your permission, especially your journal slash diary, that's a red flag.
(11:41):
Just saying you should be able to have your journal
and know that whoever's around and lives in your home,
they're not going to touch it without you even having
to say it, just you know, letting you know that.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
But if you need to hide it, hide it.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
I used to hide my diary for my mother and
she found it and it got me in a lot
of trouble. That's a whole other episode. But if you
need to hide it, hide it. But this is for you,
and the point is you being completely, one hundred percent
honest with yourself, especially if right now therapy doesn't fit
(12:13):
in the budget journal journal. It will help you read
a freaking book, read this book that I'm reading, or
The Higher Self, which is another book that I'm also
reading that I told you guys about. Anyway, this is
a great way of therapy. So that also helped me,
and the person that taught me to do that was
my mother. My mom was also like a note taker,
(12:37):
a doodler, Like when she was on the phone, she
would doodle a lot, a lot. I think it would
just help her process things. And one time I was
in her office and I saw a piece of paper
and she wrote down the pros and the cons of
her relationship at the time, and then at the end
she said, now that I'm looking at this, at this
piece of paper, now that I have something tangible to
(13:01):
look at, I know that this relationship is not for me.
I was trying to trick my mind and my heart
into being with this person. But now that it's written down,
I see clearly. And that's when she left him and
got married and the whole thing. But there's something about
having something on a piece of paper that's tangible. Because
(13:24):
thoughts and feelings they come and go and they're just
you can't see them and you just feel them. But
if you have them written down, you almost feel like, oh,
I get to see it. I get to feel this
piece of paper, I get to fill my phone, I
see it. Like it just changes things, guys. So that's
why I'm a huge advocate for journaling. And what if
you have just all kinds of happy days, that's awesome,
(13:45):
and you're just so grateful and you're so optimistic and
everything is going great in your life, that's awesome. But
also do it and I mainly do it when I'm
not feeling that great. But these are also other types
of journaling. Daily reflections, gratitude journaling, faith or prayer journaling.
I did that one for years. Faith in prayer journaling.
I had a long list of people and things that
(14:07):
I wanted to pray for. I did that for years, guys.
So faith in prayer journaling is awesome. Letters to your
inner child, I've done that. I just did that recently.
I made one also for my future baby super healing guys.
Dream journaling, manifestation journaling as well. What are your aspirations?
If you don't want to do a whole vision board,
(14:29):
you could, you know, write it down on a piece
of paper. And this is a way of manifesting it,
you know. So dream and manifestation journaling amazing. And like
I said earlier, be brutally honest with yourself. You can
cry without judgment because there are times and this was
years ago, I think when I wrote down these things
in my notes about this particular person, I cried and
(14:51):
I was like, oh my gosh. I was kind of
in a way being judgmental with myself because I was like,
how did you.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Put up with this for so long? Now?
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I know when they say love is blind, that's what
they mean, you know. I thought, I love this person
very much, and I just was excusing things. The thing is,
I also was not loving myself enough, so I cried,
but cry without judgment, guys. And it's a good way
of hearing your own voice again. Sometimes we don't hear
ourselves because there's so much We're so busy.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
We're out in the world.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Just working and studying and whatever. It is that we
get so busy that we forget to listen to our
inner voice, to listen to God's voice, to listen to ourself.
It's crazy, Like when you think about it that way,
you're like, this is me. I'm writing this down. It's
my mean time. It's my self love time and reflection time.
(15:44):
And it's a way of listening to yourself, of giving
yourself that space that time. When I started saying journaling
that way where I'm like, this is for me, I'm
giving that little girl, my inner child, that teenager, the
adult woman like the time the way I give my
(16:04):
time to other people. I deserve that time, you know.
So there's something really special about that about hearing your
own voice again. Is also a way to talk to God.
It could be Dear God. It could even be that
you know, like this is I want to write a
letter to God or I'm in a journal and I
just need to address it to someone. So I'm going
to to God, to my inner child, to my future self.
(16:26):
That's also very powerful. And this is also a way
of also letting go of things that you're not ready
to say out loud, that you don't want to tell anyone.
And I never showed anyone that list of just things
of this person or that you know, I probably wouldn't
even share it with anyone. It's to me, it's like
a little embarrassing, you know, But now I guess I
(16:48):
probably could because I'm like, well, I healed it. I
just wouldn't want to do that to him because you know,
some of you might know who I'm talking about. I've
had a couple ex boyfriends. But anyway, it's the way
of letting go of things that, yeah, you're not ready
to tell anyone or to say out loud, and this
is a way of just expressing it. And I always
(17:12):
say let go, let God. For me, this is a
way of letting go and letting God and just putting
it on that piece of paper and surrendering it. We
all go through things, we all have even feelings that
come out of nowhere. I mean, I could be having
an amazing day, and I'm such an impath that I
feel other people's sadness or their mood, and I'm trying
and I'm learning to navigate through that and not make
(17:36):
other people's feelings my own, because sometimes I'm hit and
I'm like, I'm having such a good day, and then
my heart feels sad. And I'll do this now out
loud thanks to this book, where I'm like, I release
this sadness that I feel in my chest. I release it.
I release it, I release it, I shake it off,
and I'm like, oh, I'm just gonna god. I surrendered
(17:56):
to you. And if I have time, I'll write a
quick note and I'm like, oh, feeling sad. I don't
know what it's about, but maybe later we'll figure it
out together, and I just leave it there. And then
sometimes I find out and sometimes I don't. Most of
the time I do. Now I'm like I backtrack and
I'm like, okay, wait, where did I get this? Where
did I pick this up? Is it my own sadness?
Is it someone else's sadness? But writing it down helps me.
(18:19):
It's kind of like, okay, I'm writing it down, I'm
leaving it here. And speaking of letting go, guys, I
have burned letters to myself to other people. Like for instance,
I won't say names, but there was a person in
(18:39):
my family extended family that I'd be willing to talk to,
but they don't want to talk to me, which is fine.
And what I did was I wrote it on a
piece of paper what I wanted to tell this person,
and I addressed it to them. This is also journaling, guys. Again,
it could be a letter to someone, it could be
a letter to yourself. So I wrote this letter to
(19:00):
the person and it was something that was bothering me,
and I apologize for my doing and I also forgave
this person without them having to ask me.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
And I burned it.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I said, okay, I believe in this. Like you fold
the page away from you two to three times and
then you can either bury it, you can burn it,
you can flush it down the toilet, whatever way you
feel of like releasing and letting go.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
And I did that. I just burned it.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
I have like this little bowl, this special bowl that
I bought it a spiritual store, and I just I
burned it, and I felt better. I felt just like, Okay,
it's gone. I spoke to this person and it's in
the universe, and hopefully one day they want to talk
to me. If they don't, I'm fine with it. So
I have done that. I have done that with some
(19:48):
of my journals, journals from I think it was one
that I found a couple of years ago. It was
like my two thousand and eight journal, crazy right, because
it was in my storage and I kind of looked
and skin through it. I was like, ooh, yeah, I've
grown so much. I was like, oh, okay, we're not
there anymore.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
It's been a decade, like almost a decade. We could
just I burned it. I was like, I don't want
anyone to find it. I don't want to like shred
It's like, I'm just gonna burn it. I like to
burn my stuff. Be very safe, guys, Okay, very safe. Please,
but you know, just for future reference if you decide
to do that or not, or you can keep them forever,
whatever you decide to do. Now that I think about it,
(20:26):
probably could have made a like pretty cool book of
all my entries.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Maybe I will do that. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Oh or maybe I can start writing like a journal
for my baby. Wow, maybe I could do that and
then show it to the baby when it's born. Oh
my gosh, I just thought about that right now. Anyway,
I think you guys get the point, and I think
it's a very important and beautiful thing to do as
part of your self care routine. And just to conclude everything,
(20:54):
we're going to recap here. We talked a lot about
this already, but these are the benefits of journaling.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Emotional release you stop bottling things up, Okay, stop suppressing, repressing, Okay.
Self awareness. You begin to understand your triggers and patterns. Hmm,
that's what I was happening with you know that guy,
triggers some patterns yep. Healing you create space to process
pain and give it a voice.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Oh girl.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Growth tracking You get to see how far.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
You have come.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
I just did that the other day by reading you
know one of my entries for last year creative clarity.
You unlock new ideas and solutions, especially for like my
writing camp and my poems. It's just been so great
with journaling, Oh my goodness. Goal setting writing down what
you want makes it feel more real that is so
(21:48):
big for me. That is part of my manifestation. Writing
things down. It helps me get things done. It's just
things that I'm like, Oh, they seem unreachable.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
No.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Not. When you write it down and you really set
the attention you know what I mean, spiritual connection. You
start hearing God more clearly. I start feeling God in
my heart. I start it's like my inner voice. Guys.
It's it's true freedom to be real. No one is watching,
just you and the page. And I think that's it.
The eight yep and I chose eight because it's my
(22:20):
favorite number. So those are eight.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
So that's it, guys.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
I hope that you enjoyed this episode and thank you
for listening. I love you and I appreciate you, and
I'll catch you here on the next episode of Cheeky's
and Chill Okay, I love you. This is a production
of iHeartRadio and the Micael Gourda podcast Network. Follow us
(22:43):
on Instagram at Michael Gourda Podcasts, then follow me Cheeky's
That's c h I q U I s. For more
podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite podcast
Host
Chiquis
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