Free Inquiry Blog #1: Why I Chose Journaling and Inquiry Questions

The first challenge of this free inquiry assignment was actually choosing the topic that I was going to run with. Because of the freedom and parameters of the assignment, this was a difficult task. When I began thinking about a topic, I knew I wanted to go in the direction of developing a skill that could help me not only right now, but also into the future and in my eventual teaching career. While teaching and working with the youth every day is incredibly rewarding, it also comes with a great deal of stress (much like the stress that comes with being a full-time student). Having a stress management tool to combat this would be incredibly useful. In addition, mental health and mindfulness are two passions of mine as you’ll read below. These ideas pushed me toward choosing journaling as my topic. 

I’ve actually always wanted to journal, but have never fully committed to it, despite having ample opportunities to do so throughout my life. When I was in high-school and in my teen years, I suffered with a bout of mental health challenges for a couple of years that took the shape of anxiety and panic attacks. One of the greatest decisions of my life to date was to go talk to a therapist about the struggles that I was facing as it began the process of overcoming those challenges and increasing quality of life for me. The therapist was able to do a lot for me in just allowing me to talk about what I was feeling and to help me rationalize the thoughts I was having. During my time attending these sessions, the therapist gave me homework that I was to do on my own time when I was feeling anxious. Among other things, this homework took the shape of keeping a journal of my thoughts and feelings when I started to feel anxious or felt a panic attack coming on to pinpoint what exactly might be causing them to recognize patterns, and to make lifestyle adjustments to avoid things that might be making me anxious. They also told me to keep a gratitude journal where I was to start writing things down that I was grateful for during the day to try and shift my mindset away from the negative things that were happening to me. Unfortunately, I was a stubborn, “too cool for school” teen that didn’t really see the value of keeping a journal, and so I rarely did. Since then, I’ve always wondered, would I have overcome my struggles sooner if I had of done the journal like the therapist told me to. I’ve tried my hand at journaling on multiple occasions since, but just haven’t been able to do it consistently. Obstacles always got in the way like being unsure what to write or having so many other things like school assignments on my plate, which caused the journaling to take a back seat.

Since these challenging times, I have fully overcome my struggles and have been living basically anxiety and depression free for almost 7 years. This does not mean to say that I don’t feel situational anxiety or stress from time to time as I definitely still do (especially at the start of a new semester like we are at now). It just means that I can better control it. Since my struggles, mindfulness and mental health are two passions of mine, and I’m constantly looking at strategies to manage it that not only I can use, but strategies that I can pass down to my future students. After all, stress and mental health struggles are on the rise in youth. I’ve always read and have been told by experts that journaling could support mental health and personal insight. I decided that it was time to return to journaling and attempt to do it consistently to see if there would be any noticeable results. This free inquiry project gives me the platform to give this another attempt and to actually be committed to it. 

A couple of my guiding inquiry questions for this assignment: 

• Can consistent journaling support self-awareness, emotional regulation or positive mental health over time? 
• What obstacles interfere with consistent journaling, and how can adaptation to these obstacles support perseverance?

By choosing journaling, I am positioning myself as both the learner and the subject for this free inquiry project. While most free inquiry projects likely measure learning through external outcomes, I will be paying attention to internal markers like emotions and patterns in my thinking. For examples, when my stress dials up or what caused it . I will also be looking out for potential obstacles that might hinder my journaling, and what I can do to overcome those obstacles. In addition, obviously my end result isn’t going to be as visible as other inquiry topics, such as mastering the art of shooting a basketball free-throw or building a website. With that being said, I am also challenging the notion that learning must always be visible for it to be meaningful. My hope is that the potential results that I see are enough to encourage others to pick up a pen and keep a journal as well. 

Photo Credits: Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash