“What do I have to lose?”
A personal testament to the power of the practice of journaling.
“From 5 p.m. - 9 p.m., I’m a photographer, writer, and avid traveler. Almost everything I do creatively started on the pages of a journal and is inspired by my daughter,” says Jeff Geffert. Geffert lives in Cleveland, Ohio and is a sales and account manager by day, but about 6 years ago, the person he is from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. didn’t exist.
In December of 2020, Geffert was between jobs, had just been through a divorce, and his daughter had moved out of state with her mom. “I was carrying a lot that I hadn’t put down anywhere,” says Geffert, “I’d been trying to think and reason my way out of all of it for months, and it wasn’t working. I decided something had to change.” As Geffert’s journey with mental wellness began, he had decided he needed to find a new path, outside of his comfort zone, and joined a men’s group. “The coach emphasized the importance and benefits of journaling. After that first session I grabbed a spare notebook and a pen and wrote the date on the page,” says Geffert. On that first page, he summarized what he had learned during his first group session and wrote about how he was proud of himself for starting to do the work. Day after day, Geffert came back to the notebook and did the same thing, “It was therapeutic, a place I could be honest with myself. Instead of just thinking, the pages helped me start to feel.” Geffert emphasized, “The next thing I knew, it was the end of the month, and I had filled the entire notebook with 30 straight days of writing and reflection.”
“What do I have to lose?” Is a feeling Geffert cites as the feeling that first drew him into journaling. Early on, he says that it was an emotional dumping ground to help him get the pain out of his head and onto a page. But then the journaling evolved; it turned into a place for reflection and gratitude. The more Geffert wrote and reinforced gratitude in his practice, the more growth and gratitude appeared in his daily life off the page.
When asked how journaling has helped Geffert personally, he made sure to share that he didn’t set out to fill notebooks and write every day over the course of five years. “It was all about that one day,” he says, “that one page.” Geffert shared that the journal had started to help him actually unpack and process all of the feelings, emotions, and events that he had been carrying with him for years. “It helped me challenge the narratives I had always told myself.”
It helped him process thoughts and anxieties surrounding purpose and what kind of a man and father he wanted to be, “The journaling began to fundamentally change me as a man.”
Geffert also attributes unearthing his creative side to his journaling practice, “The pages helped me challenge the assumption that I had always made that ‘I’m not creative.’ Today, I have two poetry books ready to be published and a growing portfolio of travel photography from around the world, along with other creative pursuits that I never could have dreamed of before I found the page,” sharing how journaling can help with more than processing feelings.
As someone who practices journaling and has seen the benefits firsthand, Geffert believes that there is no right style of journaling, that the “right style is one that gets the pen moving.” He says, “Most of the days I free write and summarize what happened that day. Through that summary comes some type of reflection and gratitude. Some days I may only write a few sentences. Some days it’s a full page. The only thing I've stopped doing is making rules about which style is ‘right’.” Geffert goes on to say that showing up is more important than how much you write in any givenjournaling session. Leaning into journaling as a habit instead of chasing volume is what will ultimately make the practice enjoyable and easier to get into.
When asked about tips Geffert has for those wanting to get into journaling, he says, “Keep it low stakes. Use a notebook you're not afraid to mess up. Buy a nice pen that feels good when you write.” Most importantly, he says not to grade yourself. “This isn't a writing class, and no one is going to judge you. It’s about honesty. If you don't know what to write, pick a mantra that anchors you and write that,” Geffert says that his for a long time was, “stay patient, stay present”. He also encourages going back and rereading your entries occasionally, stating that “meeting an earlier version of yourself, frozen on a page, can be a powerful experience.”
He also says that the best no-pressure journaling practice for someone just starting can look like five minutes in the same notebook, even the same chair if you can manage it, “no prompts required, if you’re stuck write what you’re feeling or write the mantra, no editing.”
Geffert’s final thoughts on journaling and his mental wellness journey? “Just this: the practice isn't mine. I've spent five-plus years living it, and now I get to pass it forward at events like the one I had the honor of facilitating with Artem Vale in March, and in conversations like this one.” He says none of this is wisdom he generated. It's a practice that he received, lived, and is still living.
“If anyone reading this is on the edge of starting journaling — please start.”