Self-Help Notebook

Writing as therapy ... Beautiful, linen-bound notebook from The School of Life are designed to capture your ideas, desires, and worries, as well as your thoughts, in the therapeutic activity of writing.

We have so many vague feelings of pain, envy, anxiety, and regret, but most of the time we never stop trying to make sense of them. It's too uncomfortable, and especially difficult because we are so often busy and distracted, hyper-connected yet a little bit lonely. To truly understand what we feel and think, we need to turn away from distractions, common sense, and the opinions of others. We need to develop intimacy with ourselves.

Our unexamined thoughts contain clues to our needs and our longer-term orientation. Writing them down is the key to insight. Through writing, we recognize patterns that have been observed and may even have grown out of control. We can develop strategies—a remarkably neglected task. We can challenge flawed narratives and create new ones. We can consider ideas before committing to them and reinforce good ideas we already know.

Writing is ultimately about discovering and developing what we think. There could hardly be a more important personal goal.