This week, I got the chance to talk to Mari L. McCarthy about her new book, Heal Your Self with Journaling Power. Heal Your Self is Mari’s second book, following her first award-winning book on journaling, Journaling Power.
In her second book, Mari collected moving personal stories in order to form a guide to successful journaling. Each story is followed by journaling prompts and advice from people who have used the their journals to reduce stress, improve relation ships, and gain clarity.
Mari answered a couple of my questions about journaling, her experience with healing herself through writing, along with some advice for everyone struggling to stick with their journals. If you want to know even more about Mari’s book, find it on Amazon. But you can read the summary for her new book here:
Mari L. McCarthy’s international bestselling book, Journaling Power, started a movement. Now, Heal Your Self with Journaling Power is igniting a revolution!
You’ll discover the life-changing magic of journaling through moving personal stories told by just some of the thousands of people who have tapped into the proven therapeutic power of expressive writing.
These are people just like you, and their challenges are the same ones you have.
Heal Your Self with Journaling Power reveals the inner strength and grace that comes with living your life in the present from the inside out. It will help you transform your life and…
● Manifest everything your desire
● Fill you with uplifting positive energy
● Put you on a path to better health and wellness
● Give you the inspiration and motivation to live your best life
● Show you how to use journaling to solve your most pressing problems
Why did you decide to write this book?
It was part of the plan my Journal and I scoped out about 5 years ago for the Journaling Power Trilogy. Book #1 was Journaling Power: How To Create The Happy, Healthy Life You Want to Live. It was my self-help memoir of how I use Journaling Power to enhance my mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health. Heal Your Self With Journaling Power is an update on my Journaling Journey and includes 10 stories of journalers and how they use Journaling Power to deal with life challenges such as alcoholism, cancer, anxiety and depression, emotional wounds and accomplishing goals.
How did you collect all of the individual stories represented in it?
They were all guest bloggers who shared their Journaling Journeys on Mari’s Journaling Power blog. When it was time to create Heal Your Self With Journaling Power, I went back through my blog and chose journalers who dealt with mental, physical, spiritual and emotional health challenges. This was to show my readers all the situations Journaling Power helps us deal with and master.
Is there anything you want readers to know about this book before they start it?
It will enhance their reading experience if they have a pen and journal with them. Like my first book, Journaling Power, there are lots of exercises for them to do. The stories are inspirational and informative and readers will want to take notes for future discussions with their Journal.
How was the process for writing this book different from your other books on journaling?
I’d say the process was similar. I create the title, front and back cover content, then the TOC and then write, write and write.
What was the process like for trying to tap into the healing in order to write a book about it?
I started journaling over 20 years ago for physical therapy purposes to teach myself how to write with my left hand since I had lost most feeling and function on the right side of my body from an MS symptom exacerbation. When I started Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages, I soon experienced journaling as a holistic healing tool and knew I had to share my discovery with the world. I call Journaling the ultimate self-healing tool.
Has writing about journaling changed how you journal on your own?
Yes, I find I go deeper and deeper into all aspects of my being and I trust my intuition as to what type of journaling routine I need to try out or go back to. Since the publication of Heal Your Self With Journaling Power, my routine has been one page of Morning Pages before my morning meditation and a page of Night Notes before bed.
What are some of the ways you’ve noticed healing changes in yourself from journaling?
Physically, journaling has helped me mitigate many MS symptoms, get off prescription drugs (15 years), change my diet to organic foods. I love myself unconditionally (this is huge!) and spiritually I’ve reconnected to my soul. I know that my purpose is to work with health conscious people to show them how to use journaling to heal the issues in their tissues and grow and transform their life.
Have you always journaled, or was it a discovery you made later in life?
It was a discovery I made at age 46, thanks to MS.
What are the top ways you think journaling can be healing?
Journaling can help us heal physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. It is the all purpose healing tool. There’s no healing needed situation journaling can’t help us with.
Do you have any tips for people trying to start journaling or struggling to stick with it?
My suggestion is to come visit me at CreateWriteNow.com where we have many resources (workbooks, videos, journaling journey blog posts, 375 unique journaling power prompts) to help a person jumpstart their journaling practice for the first or fortieth time.
#Just WriteON!
This interview was a part of Mari’s blog tour. If you are interested in seeing more about Mari’s book, reading a guest post she wrote or more interviews, check out one of the blogs below!
