UMC20250601 - Externalising the inner world¶
Two or three weeks ago, I went trail running with a couple of friends. While we were out, someone broke into the car and stole my bag. Inside was my journal — two years’ worth of reflections, prayers, moments from our pregnancy journey, and work milestones. It felt like more than just paper went missing. Since then, I haven’t had the heart to find a new one or begin writing again.
But I can feel the absence. My mind feels tangled — spaghetti brain. Thoughts are scattered, tensions undefined. Without the practice of journaling, I’ve lost a way of making sense of things.
There is something holy about externalizing our inner world. When we journal, paint, sing, cook, or pray, we engage in practices that draw thought from within us out into the world. These acts help us externalize our internal state — transforming the intangible (feelings, ideas, moods, and dreams) into the tangible (words on a page, paint on a canvas, sound in the air, or a taste in food).
And when the intangible becomes tangible, it enters the world. No longer confined to the hidden places of the heart or mind — it becomes something we can see, study, and begin to understand.
I think this is so cool. It’s part of the mystery of being made in the image of a Creator — shaping the outer world from the inner one. Sometimes this happens through journaling. Sometimes through conversation. Sometimes even through prayer.
In all these forms, reflection becomes expression, and expression becomes clarity. It’s an act of trust — trusting that what’s inside of us is worth bringing into the light, and that in doing so, we might come to understand ourselves — and God — more fully.
Maybe it’s time I find a new notebook.
Love, Cliff