Putting Pen to Paper: How Journaling Becomes a Practice of Presence
Putting Pen to Paper: How Journaling Becomes a Practice of Presence
Humans have been writing down their thoughts for thousands of years. The earliest known diary, written on papyrus, dates back more than 4,500 years to a mid-level official who helped construct the Great Pyramid of Giza. Since then, the long line of journal-keepers has included Lord Byron, Virginia Woolf, Albert Einstein, and Audre Lorde — alongside countless ordinary people simply trying to make sense of an ordinary day.
A recent piece in The Guardian by Madeleine Aggeler — "Subtle but powerful form of self-validation": how to start journaling(April 27, 2026) — revisits this ancient practice and asks a quietly important question: why are so many of us hesitant, even embarrassed, to try it?
The article's central insight is freeing: there is no wrong way to journal. You don't need a leather-bound notebook. You don't need elegant prose. You don't even need to reread what you've written — ever. What matters is the process, not the product.
At Choosing Presence, we wholeheartedly agree. And we'd add something more: when journaling is approached with intention, it becomes one of the gentlest and most powerful ways to enter — and remain in — the Practice of Presence.
Why Journaling Matters: A Practical Summary
The Guardian piece, drawing on therapists and researchers, makes a strong case for picking up a pen. Here's the practical heart of it:
Journaling is a form of self-validation. Therapist Melissa Nunes-Harwitt describes it as taking something from inside yourself and giving it an external place to land. Each time you write down what you're thinking or feeling, you honor your inner life and allow emotional energy to be released.
Writing changes your perspective. Dr. James Pennebaker, who has spent decades studying expressive writing, notes that putting an experience into words forces you to describe it and connect it to other parts of your life. That process of articulation goes deeper than rumination ever can.
You don't need fancy tools. The best journal is the one you'll actually use — a beautiful notebook, a notes app, a legal pad from the kitchen drawer, or even a whiteboard you erase afterward if the permanence of paper feels too heavy.
Consistency matters more than frequency. Five minutes, a few times a week, is plenty to start. Some days you might write three pages; other weeks you might not write at all. Both are fine.
Start small if a blank page feels intimidating. A gratitude list. A to-do list. A single sentence about something you noticed today. Lists are a low-pressure way to get pen to paper.
Be honest — even about the discomfort. If you sit down and feel awkward, write about feeling awkward. If you have an inner voice telling you that you're "supposed to" journal a certain way, write that down too. Naming the resistance often softens it.
Where Journaling Meets the Practice of Presence
For many of us at Choosing Presence, journaling has become more than a wellness habit. It has become a centering and contemplative practice — a way of slowing down, listening, and returning to the peace that is always available in the present moment.
The Practice of Presence rests on three simple questions that we invite ourselves to ask throughout the day:
Am I at peace now, and do I know why?
If I am not at peace, do I know why?
Do I know how to get back to peace?
These questions are quiet, unhurried, and deeply revealing. They help us notice when we've drifted into the familiar fog of memory, anticipation, worry, or compulsive thinking — and they offer a path back to stillness, breath, and God's peace.
Journaling is one of the most natural ways to engage these questions. When we write, we slow our thoughts down to the speed of the pen. We give the soul a place to rest its observations. We become witnesses to our own inner life rather than prisoners of it.
In this way, journaling and the Practice of Presence reinforce one another:
Journaling helps us learn the Practice of Presence, because writing teaches us to pause, observe, and become consciously aware of what's happening inside us.
The Practice of Presence enriches our journaling, because it brings stillness, intention, and an open posture toward God to the page.
You can read more about this connection on our dedicated page: Christian Journaling: Meeting God in the Moment.
Sample Journaling Prompts Grounded in Presence
Below are a few prompts designed in the Choosing Presence style. Each one offers a gentle setup — a few sentences to settle into stillness — followed by a single, simple question to carry into your writing. Don't rush. There are no right answers. Let the page hold whatever rises.
Returning to Peace
Take three slow, conscious breaths. Notice the room around you, the weight of your body, the sound of your breathing. Allow your shoulders to drop. Without judgment, scan your inner state. Are you carrying tension? Worry? A lingering conversation? Simply notice.
Prompt #1: Where am I right now — at peace, or somewhere else? And if I'm not at peace, what is pulling me away?
Noticing God's Presence
Think back over the last twenty-four hours. Don't search for the dramatic — search for the quiet. A glance, a meal, a conversation, a moment of warmth or beauty, an unexpected pause. Let one small moment come forward in your memory.
Prompt #2: Where did I notice God's presence today, even briefly — and what was it like to be there?
Releasing What's Not Mine to Carry
Many of us carry burdens we were never meant to hold — old grievances, future fears, the weight of someone else's expectations. Take a breath. Imagine setting down everything you're holding for a moment, the way you'd set down a heavy bag.
Prompt #3: What am I being invited to release — and what would it feel like to lay it down?
The Honest Inner Voice
Journaling is a place where you can be more honest than you might be with anyone else, including yourself. Settle into stillness. Let go of how things "should" sound on the page.
Prompt #4: What is true for me right now that I haven't quite admitted out loud?
Gratitude as a Doorway
Gratitude has a way of returning us to the present moment. It softens the grip of what's missing and opens our awareness to what's already here. Take a slow breath and let your mind drift across today.
Prompt #5: What three small things am I grateful for right now — and what do they reveal about where God is meeting me?
A Gentle Invitation
If journaling is new to you — or if you've tried before and stalled out — let The Guardian's central message be your starting point: there is no wrong way to do this. And let the Practice of Presence be your companion: a quiet rhythm of stillness, breath, and return that gives your writing somewhere to land.
Set a small reminder. Five minutes. A few times this week. A pen, any notebook, and one of the prompts above.
You may find, as so many in our community have, that what begins as a wellness habit slowly becomes something more — a contemplative practice, a conversation with God, and a tender, daily reminder that the peace you're looking for is already here, waiting to be noticed.
Source
Aggeler, Madeleine. "'Subtle but powerful form of self-validation': how to start journaling."The Guardian, 27 April 2026.
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Brian Mueller – Poet, Community Organizer, and Spiritual Guide
Brian Mueller is a poet and community organizer based in Dayton, Ohio. He serves as Director of Education & Engagement for ChoosingPresence.org and is an active member of the Ohio Chapter of Illuman, where he co-leads writing retreats that support men’s spiritual journeys. As a writer, Brian is known for his candid, accessible poetry, with works including Cock‑A‑Doodle‑Doo: 100 Morning Haiku, the Poem of the Day series, and the Bull Series. Inspired by poets like Rumi and Mary Oliver, he believes everyone carries the voice of a poet within.
