16 Comments
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Matthias Biehl's avatar

You have come far June, but life is a constant rollercoaster of being closer to fine and further away from it. We are all just riding along. Think the journaling is a pretty good addition to the tool set to address the lower times. Substack is one digital journal, but there is something comforting about analog.

June's avatar

definitely beauty in the analog, and I remembered how much I love to doodle!

✨ lynn‘ journey 🧚🏻's avatar

I love the lighthouse u doodled on ur notebook. sometimes we do need a ray of light to guide us thru the mist of life. 🫂

June's avatar

my therapist told me to be like the lighthouse because “the lighthouse does not rush out to see to save wayward ships, it stands as a pillar and lights the way by simply being itself.”

it is uncanny how true this is and how it works like magic in my life since I’ve started to practice this theory!

✨ lynn‘ journey 🧚🏻's avatar

this is truly gold!! and im soo happy it works for u!💗

EJ Kemp's avatar

Can I suggest morning pages to you? They really have helped me to ground myself in the morning. Even if you dont read all of the book "The Artist's Way" the bit on how to morning pages "brain dump" was so helpful to me. I never felt like I could fully journal. To be honest and let my mind tumble. It really helps. It is like laying on a bare floor ♡

June's avatar

this is such a great idea! I have always thought about a dream journal because I truly have the wildest dreams that feel very emotional and visceral — I will give this a try!!

EJ Kemp's avatar

Good luck! Hope you find it helpful!

Ella Thompson's avatar

(of course yours was the first article I read after a day off)

as always, i’m left desperate for more when i reach the end of your articles. they say things so eloquently, things that I might not have even understood myself. i see myself in your words, but I also see a woman who has got through all of her hardest days so far. a woman I am so proud of. this was a beautiful article and completely lived up to my excitement over the past week.

I hope writing about it helped address it, and by addressing it helped armour you with the tools to keep it at bay. So grateful for you and your writing <3

June's avatar

SO glad to have you back, I’m not sure what this space is for me without you in it!! I am glad this one did not disappoint, I knew you would understand!

O L I V I A's avatar

i feel so seen (as always!!) "For a long time, my eating disorder was a cry for help. A tool that, at the time, served to show the severity of my suffering in a way my caretakers could actually legitimize." my gosh, reading those words physically transported me back into the bedroom i had when i was 14. i remember being like that, though, i didn't actually realise it was a cry for help until long after i had recovered. the mind is a strange thing!

i also love how you brain dump; i'm going to have to start doing that myself.

your inner child would be so proud of how far you've come; she's rooting for you! <3

June's avatar

My first and only brain dump of this sort was cathartic, and I hope I am inspired again to take to the pages of this notebook.

There is nothing quite like bring a 14 year old girl struggling to make sense of it all. Thank you for being here with 14 year old me as well!

rachel kess's avatar

I love laying on the floor, like shavasana anytime, where I can access the vast universe of space inside myself. I get those types of flashbacks all too well. I think what seems different now by the way you write about it is how you can slow down and reflect in an evolved way. It feels like we are that young girl again because we sense her but we also remember our growth and who (you) we know has gotten us this far and shown us the beauty in our willingness to trust and love ourselves. You are so worthy of that. Having a partner that loves you dearly helps too 💜

rachel kess's avatar

It’s a necessary exercise when you’re aware enough to know you need it in the moment. It’s strengthening over time. & beautiful journal entry! “staring down the unknown” might be the scariest thing, but also exciting 😬 & I love “she flows like water” 🌊 I like how you connect the dots of your thoughts and draw pictures too hehe

rachel kess's avatar

I also think it takes true courage to let those moments in when you feel them (I know it’s damn hard), sometimes it’s part of the healing, as weird as that sounds; and you being able to write about it and see yourself is a sign of emotional intelligence, big hugs

June's avatar

Thank you thank you as ever my sweet... I get flashbacks at the oddest moments where they consume my thinking and there I am a child again. This was a really interesting exercise for me all around, to let that be and then to let it out.

ALSO I let this publish without taking the time to take a pic of said journal entry and add it OOPS - just updated!