Processing the Seasons of Life by Steph Beth Nickel

 

Fountain Pen Note Notebook - Free photo on Pixabay

It's my guess that you're facing challenges of one description or another, no matter what season of life you're in.

You may be a young person wondering what the 2025/2026 schoolyear holds in store.

A 20-something just getting started with your adult life. So many decisions to make!

Maybe you're in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, deep in the weeds of "adulting." (I wasn't sure about that word when I first heard it either, but it's grown on me.)

And then, there are those of us in our 60s and 70s and beyond, facing the fall and winter seasons of life.

Whatever our age or our situation, there is one thing that will help us all process our thoughts and feelings.

And that's...

Writing.

Of course you may be writing for "the public." Books. Articles. Blog posts.

But there are several types of writing we can do that others will never see, not if we don't want them to.

Julia Cameron developed the idea of "morning pages," three pages of uncensored, unedited streams of consciousness put to paper before we officially begin our day. Because there is a psychological difference between writing by hand and writing on the computer, she encourages readers to use pen and paper. I did so for awhile and found it super helpful. I may have to return to the practice.

I'm currently making a brief entry in my journal at the end of most days. I first heard about line-a-day diaries from podcaster and author Kendra Adachi. This is perfect for recording 1-4 sentences that sum up each day. No matter how tired we are or how unmotivated we feel, most of us can bring ourselves to complete this exercise.

And then there's what I call "rambling until we stumble upon truth." I haven't done this type of journaling in several years, but I found it a great way to process my thoughts and feelings while encouraging my inner editor to take a break. Sometimes, I was surprised at what ended up on the paper.

These are only a handful of the ways we can process where we're at in our particular season of life.

I made a number of false starts to this post because I'm currently processing my way through imminent changes and those that I anticipate will occur within the next year or so. How much should I share? Would I just be filling the page? Would it actually benefit readers? 

I decided to save those rambling thoughts for my personal journal. 

You may find it helpful to work through the challenges you're facing in the same way. And those thoughts just may motivate you to share with others who are facing the same challenges.

Steph Beth Nickel is the former Editor of FellowScript and the current InScribe Contest Coordinator. Steph is an editor and author and plans to relocate to Saskatchewan from Ontario to be close to family in 2026. (Headshot Photo Credit: Jaime Mellor Photography)

Journals For Mental Health - Tracy Krauss

I have kept a journal off and on for most of my life. In the early days these 'diaries' were full of childish angst, long laments about a current crush, or more often than not, mundane lists about the weather and what I ate that day for dinner. At one point in my teenage years I destroyed all of my diaries for fear someone would find and read them. What I didn't understand then was that writing down one's personal thoughts and feelings is a powerful way of processing and subsequently dealing with those feelings.

Since becoming an adult, I've kept most of my journals and I now have a banker's box full. I still vent in my journals and I even dare to write down my dreams, no matter how unrealistic or extravagant they might sound. I've also found journaling to be an indispensable prayer tool. Not only is the writing process itself therapeutic, but it is very encouraging to go back and reread what I wrote years before and see the fruition of those dreams or the answers to those prayers. While some of the ranting may be humbling, even those entries are useful in that they help me to put life in perspective. It is interesting to see how each of these issues played out. What seemed like an impossible situation has usually worked out in some unexpected way.

Expressing myself in this manner has been a hugely important way for me to maintain my mental health. Others have expressed this same sentiment this month. Writing from such a personal place may not be for everyone, but for me it continues to be my primary way to make sense of my world.

Besides journals, Tracy Krauss writes other stuff, too, from her home in Tumbler Ridge, BC. For a list of her stage plays, novels, short stories and non-fiction, check out her website: tracykrauss.com

Why Work Logs Are Now A Part Of My Daily Routine - Bruce Atchison

Until fifteen years ago, I never saw much use in writing diaries. Though I kept one when I vacationed in Trinidad during Christmas of 1982, journaling each day's events never appealed to me. Any attempts I did make to fill in a diary became so tedious that I quickly abandoned each one.

My attitude toward recording my daily activities changed in 1996. A year previously, the Government of Canada placed me on disability due to my vision problem. A work counselor suggested I try freelance writing after I showed him tear sheets of articles from electronic music fan magazines which I had written on an amateur basis. Since Canada Pension Plan insisted that I find some sort of gainful employment, and since my ophthalmologist warned me not to strain my vision, writing via my screen-reader-equipped computer seemed like the best career choice.

In order to prove to CPP that I was actively looking for work, I began recording every writing-related task that I completed each day. I found a small wooden clip board that I had scrounged from the garbage at work and wrote what I did on scrap paper. When I had time, I transcribed my notes onto a floppy disk.

I still do this today.

Not only does keeping a work log provide evidence of my diligence but it yields several side benefits. One of these is that seeing the blank page each morning encourages me to fill it with writing-related activities. Another is that I'm reminded of publications I've sent work to, what I've submitted, and book purchasers when I transcribe my jottings to the PC. Since I have address macros for my customers and I record them in my electronic entries, I have additional proof of where these buyers live and when they bought my books. If I am challenged by my case worker, I can show her the dates on which I searched for work as well as what I did on each.

Creating a work log has given me incentive to continue writing on days when I've felt like quitting. The more than four and a half megabytes of log entries alone reminds me of the work I've accomplished. It also is a ready reference that I can use to remind myself of when I worked on various articles or manuscripts.

I highly recommend work logs for anybody who needs to focus on accomplishing tasks. After a while, these daily entries will show definite patterns in work habits. They'll also give a writer's descendants a window into his or her daily routine. Likewise, they help dispel the myth that we merely dash off articles or books and then relax the rest of the time.