“The greatest amount of knowledge, if not elaborated by our own thoughts, is worth much less than a far smaller volume that has been abundantly and repeatedly thought over.”
– Arthur Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena (1851)
Introduction
Writing is an extension of thinking. Learning to write is learning to think, and when you write well, you not only think well, but you think for yourself, as the Schopenhauer quote implies. Because as much as one believes themselves to be free in their own thoughts—and the choices and actions that follow from these—until the patterns of one’s mind have been thoroughly examined, self-determination may be an illusion.
Journaling is one practice that can enable this deeper introspection. It can also enable external activities such as goal setting, planning and strategising, problem solving or reflecting on the world. In all such approaches, journaling provides a technique with the potential to increase self-awareness and self-determination.
Self-awareness is the insight and understanding you have into your own thinking, emotions, habits, assumptions, biases, and other internal patterns. Self-determination is your capacity to determine and direct your own life, to overcome obstacles and challenges and achieve desired outcomes. Journaling is a useful practice for activating both self-awareness and self-determination, such that both approaches support one another.
