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Keeping a journal
Oct. 20th, 2010 01:17 pmThis article talks about how writing by hand can be a good exercise for your brain, and can also improve creativity (the study calls it "idea composition") and expression.
Recent research illustrates how writing by hand engages the brain in learning. During one study at Indiana University published this year, researchers invited children to man a "spaceship," actually an MRI machine using a specialized scan called "functional" MRI that spots neural activity in the brain. The kids were shown letters before and after receiving different letter-learning instruction. In children who had practiced printing by hand, the neural activity was far more enhanced and "adult-like" than in those who had simply looked at letters.
The article mostly cited adult studies that entail learning a new alphabet or new characters. But this statement made me think of journaling, and especially my favorite type of journaling: the visual journaling style that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bestill teaches in several of her workshops.
Other research highlights the hand's unique relationship with the brain when it comes to composing thoughts and ideas...handwriting differs from typing because it requires executing sequential strokes to form a letter, whereas keyboarding involves selecting a whole letter by touching a key.
One of the most striking things (to me) about Traci's journal pages (as well as her art cards, and to some extent, her self-portraits) is the use of handwritten passages with stamped phrases.
How might the use of both techniques to create words and letters (sequential strokes verses selecting a single whole letter) on the same project encourage creativity and expression? I know I feel good--really good--after working on a journal page. I feel good, even when the subject of the journal entry is painful or sad. Doing one journal page always makes me want to do more. I rarely do just one page at a time. Getting feelings and thoughts out of my brain and on paper is a contributor to that high, I'm sure. But this article makes me wonder how much of that boost of added artistic energy is caused by doing something more with my hands than just typing out words words words words words.
Who else keeps a handwritten journal? How does it make you feel when you complete an entry?
Recent research illustrates how writing by hand engages the brain in learning. During one study at Indiana University published this year, researchers invited children to man a "spaceship," actually an MRI machine using a specialized scan called "functional" MRI that spots neural activity in the brain. The kids were shown letters before and after receiving different letter-learning instruction. In children who had practiced printing by hand, the neural activity was far more enhanced and "adult-like" than in those who had simply looked at letters.
The article mostly cited adult studies that entail learning a new alphabet or new characters. But this statement made me think of journaling, and especially my favorite type of journaling: the visual journaling style that
bestill teaches in several of her workshops.Other research highlights the hand's unique relationship with the brain when it comes to composing thoughts and ideas...handwriting differs from typing because it requires executing sequential strokes to form a letter, whereas keyboarding involves selecting a whole letter by touching a key.
One of the most striking things (to me) about Traci's journal pages (as well as her art cards, and to some extent, her self-portraits) is the use of handwritten passages with stamped phrases.
How might the use of both techniques to create words and letters (sequential strokes verses selecting a single whole letter) on the same project encourage creativity and expression? I know I feel good--really good--after working on a journal page. I feel good, even when the subject of the journal entry is painful or sad. Doing one journal page always makes me want to do more. I rarely do just one page at a time. Getting feelings and thoughts out of my brain and on paper is a contributor to that high, I'm sure. But this article makes me wonder how much of that boost of added artistic energy is caused by doing something more with my hands than just typing out words words words words words.
Who else keeps a handwritten journal? How does it make you feel when you complete an entry?