Reclaim your life through journaling
Guest post by Heather Epps, AMP Tribe community member + journaling student
When Angela first approached me to guest write one of her newsletters, I panicked.
A pure, unadulterated flood of anxiety. My saboteur was afoot. That inner voice that tells you, “you’re not good enough. They will judge you. Why would your words, thoughts, mere being help anyone, mean anything to anyone.” THAT inner voice. I call mine Betty.
But that’s the difference between me now and me in May when I found myself in my first journaling session. I know that voice, distinct from my own. I’ve named her. I can call her out on her bullshit now.
The anxiety she brings with her no longer is debilitating. I know it’s not my truth. I know my worth now. I know I have a voice that is allowed to speak. Speak out and be heard.
The power of journaling
The work I have undertaken in the past eight months has brought me so far along a journey I didn’t even know I needed to take. The path I’ve carved along the way has carried me to places I had long forgotten inside myself. Passions left by the wayside. Needs and desires for me and only me, not me the mom, or me the boss, or me the wife, or me the ______.
Just me.
It’s been a road I’ve struggled to traverse at times. I’ve had to look hard at ugly truths. I’ve had to take responsibility for things I’d rather not have to own. It has been fraught with tears and unknowing. I’ve had to find stillness. I’ve had to make choices. Hard ones. But every inch has been worth it.
Along the way, I found my community. I found my values.
I met my people. I met myself.
Answering the wake-up call
And even though the pandemic continues, even though the unrest and unraveling continue, so does the unveiling. So does the journey. My journey. Our journey. Our opportunity.
We have been given a gift. A gift to see what needs to be stripped away and our chance to act.
Through enormous devastation, loss, and upheaval, I have seen change, hope, connection, and clarity that would not have come without this time.
I reclaimed my life. I began searching for my new normal. I explored why I had lost connection with my own life, my passions, my needs, my wants for MY life. I am finding my way back to equilibrium. I am finding my knowing, my inner sherpa, and learning to trust her again. I call mine Abby.
This photo represents my rediscovering of the forest. Remembering how much it feeds my soul. Remembering how good it feels to be connected to the Earth. This was my wake up call. I decided to stay in those woods for a while. I took my children on long walks in these forests so their souls could feel the same connection. I listened carefully. I felt deeply.
As I look forward now, to whatever comes our way, as a family, a community, a country, as a species, I know that when I feel like I can’t see the forest for the trees, maybe I just need to walk among the trees and reconnect, to my knowing, to my soul.
AMP Tribe offers live online group journaling and daily journaling prompts that help you crush anxiety and identify where you’re stuck so that you can rediscover who you are at your core.
Becoming a part of the AMP Tribe community of deep-feelers and creatives ensures you have support, accountability, and friendship in your corner during your transformative self-care journey.