{"id":4504,"date":"2013-01-02T19:42:39","date_gmt":"2013-01-02T19:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.studyabroad101.com\/?p=4504"},"modified":"2022-07-14T10:52:22","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T14:52:22","slug":"wellness-wednesday-personal-reflection-is-key-during-study-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studyabroad101.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/wellness-wednesday-personal-reflection-is-key-during-study-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellness Wednesday: Personal Reflection is Key During Study Abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Welcome to the fifth installment of Wellness Wednesdays, featuring Abroad101\u2032s expert on expat emotional health,\u00a0Melissa Doman.\u00a0 In this post Melissa shares 5 reasons why you NEED to be journaling during your time abroad.<\/p>\n

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“You\u2019re having so<\/em> much fun studying abroad that it feels like there isn\u2019t enough time in the day to experience everything you want to do. Right? Well, I must remind you of a very important tip: Don\u2019t forget to write it all down! We often learn the most about ourselves during\u00a0times of change and struggle. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, \u201cThe ultimate measure of a man is not where he\u00a0stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Self-reflection while you\u2019re overseas is key for personal growth, my friends.\u00a0Take moments regularly to stop and think about what you\u2019re\u00a0experiencing and how you feel. The way I recommend to do this is by journaling. Not only is putting pen to paper\u00a0a good way to record what you\u2019re seeing around you, but it\u2019s also very cathartic. Counseling clients I\u2019ve worked\u00a0with have reported that by regularly journaling and taking time to actively reflect, they felt more relaxed, with a sense of resolve, and clarity on their current phase of life. As\u00a0a professional counselor, I\u2019ve always recommended journaling<\/a> and active self-reflection to clients for use during\u00a0major life transitions. To stop and truly pay attention to what you\u2019re thinking about, what you see, and how your\u00a0perspective is evolving can change the very trajectory of your life.<\/p>\n

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Journaling is such an incredible tool\u00a0to record amazing moments of your life, but it\u2019s also a great\u00a0way to workout any internal conflicts you may be going through. Echoed by other mental health professionals at\u00a0PsychCentral.com, here are 5 reasons why journaling can benefit you:<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Clarifies your emotions and thoughts
\n2. \u00a0Help to get to know yourself better
\n3. \u00a0Stress reducer
\n4. \u00a0Help you strategize to solve problems more effectively
\n5. \u00a0Resolve disagreements with people in your life<\/p>\n

By starting the habit of journaling when you\u2019re abroad, you may find it to be a great tool to use when you\u2019re back\u00a0at home as well. Whether you\u2019ve been journaling your whole life as a budding writer, or you\u2019ve never done it before,\u00a0the good news is that you can start anytime! Buy a journal that you\u2019ll not only enjoy writing in, but find one you\u2019ll\u00a0want to keep forever and open up to read again in 40 years. Depending on the stories you write down<\/a> \u2013 you\u2019ll either\u00a0keep it to yourself or share it with your future children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n

I decided to start journaling when I first studied abroad in Melbourne, Australia in 2006. By the time my semester\u00a0broad was over, I had written hundreds of pages! After that experience I promised myself that I would always bring\u00a0a journal with me whenever I traveled internationally and even sometimes nationally. In 2007, I was traveling in\u00a0Spain, Italy, and France with my family. When I was in Florence, my father bought me a leather-covered journal\u00a0with a beautiful fleur de lis symbol on the front cover. In it were gold tipped pages to fill with chapters of adventures\u00a0to come. To this day, I carry that journal with me whenever I\u2019m off to a new country, so I can fill its pages with new\u00a0stories of my thoughts, what I\u2019ve seen, and images I don\u2019t want to forget.<\/p>\n

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Some of the most enhanced moments of\u00a0my life were when I was journaling while laying on a beach on Roatan Island off the coast of Honduras, relaxing by\u00a0a fire place in my hostel in New Zealand after climbing the Franz Josef Glacier, and sitting in a bus traveling around\u00a0Israel. These travel moments were integral to my personal development and I\u2019m so happy I took the time to write\u00a0them all down.\u00a0I leave you with\u00a0the famous words of Oscar Wilde who can sum this all up best, \u201cI never travel without my diary. One should always\u00a0have something sensational to read on the train.””<\/p>\n

Dreaming of journaling on your semester abroad? \u00a0Check out the student reviews on Abroad101<\/a>\u00a0to find the perfect program for you!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the fifth installment of Wellness Wednesdays, featuring Abroad101\u2032s expert on expat emotional health,\u00a0Melissa Doman.\u00a0 In this post Melissa shares 5 reasons why you NEED to be journaling during your time abroad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[356],"tags":[373,374,372],"ppma_author":[681],"class_list":["post-4504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wellness-wednesday","tag-journaling","tag-self-reflection","tag-travel-writing","author-sarahhanley"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t