During this holiday season, a great way to reminisce and reflect on your life is by capturing special memories through journaling. This habit can benefit anyone, but is especially powerful for older adults who have a lifetime’s worth of experiences and wisdom to capture. While writing a memoir or autobiography may seem daunting, sitting down every day to journal is a terrific way to record your life and make sense of the world around us.

At Montereau, we are lucky to be around such an amazing group of residents, and we work hard to support them with a full calendar of social activities and wellness opportunities. One cornerstone of wellness is finding something new and exciting about every single day—and taking up the pen (or opening a word processor) to do some writing can be very exciting indeed.

While the practice of journaling has been around for ages, many people don’t know where to start.What do you write on? What do you write about? Are there rules for journaling?

Discover the Benefits of Journaling

Retirement is a great time to start the habit of journaling. Not only do you have a lifetime’s worth of material to record, but you also have the freedom and flexibility to spend your time on new interests. Beyond the intellectual stimulation, journaling also offers a number of benefits for older adults. According to Healthline, some of these benefits include:

• Helping to calm feelings of overwhelm and reduce stress.
• Boosting your overall health and well-being as a result of writing about your deepest thoughts and positive experiences.
• Separating yourself from negative thoughts by writing them down.
• Offering an outlet for processing your emotions.
• Putting things into perspective when you have a decision to make and you’re stuck on the next steps.
• Deepening yourself-discovery as you take moments to reflect and write about what’s on your mind.

5 Tips to Get Started with Journaling

There’s really no right or wrong way of journaling. Because it is a private practice, you are writing for an audience of one, which frees you up to do what you want, when you want and how you want to do it! But to make the most of the practice, here are a five tips to make journaling the best experience it can be:

1. Write every day. Get a little done each day at your own pace so you won’t feel like journaling is a task. It will also help you to stay consistent and form a habit from which you can really reap the benefits.

2. Keep your favorite pens on hand. Whether it’s the smooth way pens glide across the page or experimenting with different colors, there’s just something about using your favorite pens that gets you writing.

3. Write what comes to mind. Don’t suck the fun out of journaling by overthinking it. Let your thoughts and ideas flow by writing what comes to mind.

4. Establish your top journaling spots. Make a cup of tea, put on your go-to playlist and write in your favorite places that are both inspiring and relaxing.

5. Have a designated book for journaling. Sometimes you may want to journal at the spur of the moment and you start writing with what you have on hand. However, it’s best to have a book that you use only for journaling so you can look back on all your memories in one place, see your progress and build on past entries. Later on in the blog, we recommend some books that you can use for journaling.

How to Get Started

Unlike fiction, journaling recounts the many experiences and events that happen in your life, and who knows your life better than you do? At the same time, you may find that you’re sometimes stuck wondering what to write. The blank page has intimidated even the most seasoned professional writer. To break yourself out of your regular routine and get some fresh ideas, consider one of these writing prompts:

• What is your greatest fear, and how did you conquer it or how are you working to overcome it?
• What are you most grateful for today, this week or this month?
• Recount the last time you laughed uncontrollably.
• What advice would you give to your younger self and how can you put it into practice even today
• What book(s) are you reading these days? Why would you recommend it to a friend? (Or not.)
• What is your earliest memory?
• What were your grandparents like?
• When did your family come to the United States? How do you imagine their lives a hundred years ago?
• Finally, as we’re nearing the end of the year, talk about the top 5 things you learned this year or set goals for the year ahead.

As you continue to journal, you may even find that the same list of prompts brings varied ideas to mind at different times. Feel free to have your own list that you go back to every time you feel stuck.

Notebook Recommendations for Journaling

While you can use any book to journal, having one that you absolutely love helps to get you excited about writing. Nowadays you can find notebooks that are made especially for journaling and will give you an even better experience. These include features such as writing prompts, dotted pages, or even themed books for travelers, professionals, and more.

Here are a few notebooks you might consider for your journaling project:

• Rhodia Top Stapled Blank Notepad: Rhodia notebooks are a favorite, known for their high quality and smooth paper. The pages are also perforated making it easy to remove if necessary without damaging     the book or other pages.

• Field Notes Dot Graph Notebook: If you’re a fan of dotted pages then this is the book for you. Get creative without the constraints of lined pages. It’s also perfect to take along on your day-to-day errands and trips measuring just 3.5 by 5.5 inches.

• Moleskine Classic Notebook: Moleskine’s notebooks offer a variety of options in terms of size, color, and paper style. This Italian brand uses faux-leather covers that give off a sleek and polished look.     The inner storage pockets are perfect for those who enjoy using stickers and other elements to incorporate scrapbooking as part of their journaling.

• Muji Recycled Paper Bind Plain Pocket Notebook: If you’re looking for a sustainable option, consider this pocket notebook made from recycled paper. Made in Japan, it comes with a built-in ribbon     bookmark and is available in three sizes A6, A6 slim and B6.

• Leuchtturm1917 Reporter Notepad: If you’re not one of many words but still enjoy journaling, or you’re simply looking for the best pocket notebook when on the go, try this reporter notepad. This A6 notepad is made of acid-free and ink-proof paper, has an expandable pocket inside the back cover and includes a page marker and elastic closure.

Make Montereau Part of Your Story

The exciting thing about sitting down to write your stories is that your story is still ongoing. In fact, retirement might be the best chapter yet! At Montereau, we would love to be a part of your story. Residents of our Life Plan Community enjoy the flexibility to live retirement on your terms and enjoy maintenance-free living.Our residents are an active and welcoming bunch that will make you feel right at home. To learn more about our community and get started on your next story, contact us at (918) 495-1500 to schedule a tour.

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