Book Review and Giveaway: 27 Days of Journaling to Health and Happiness

Welcome to the WOW! Women on Writing Virtual Book Tour for 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness

Author Mari L. McCarthy is very straight-forward and honest in her Introduction to 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness: “I’ll tell you right now that if you’re not able to commit for 27 consecutive days, you can put this workbook down until you are able to commit.” Plainly, she has written 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness for a specific audience of folks who are truly interested in reaping the psychological and physiological benefits of a daily regime that includes spending time alone, writing. McCarthy promises that those who make the commitment will result in decreased symptoms of medical conditions/diseases, improved cognitive functioning, a strengthened immune system, and a reduction in the negative impact of stress.

Author Mari L. McCarthy

McCarthy has experienced the benefits of journaling first-hand, so to speak. Seven years after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, McCarthy lost the use of her right hand and arm. She was forced to learn to write with her left hand, so she began writing in a stream of consciousness fashion, merely as an exercise. What she developed, in addition to the ability to write with her nondominant hand, was her “true Self, buried under the old, negative, hypercritical baggage … I’d been carrying around since childhood.” Through her own experience, she developed a systematic method of self-discovery and healing. In the process, she discovered that, while journaling provided a way to deal with challenges and difficulties, it also taught her “how to go beyond the control my emotions held over me. No longer did I feel at the mercy of my emotions. My attention shifted and I became enthralled with my own creative potential. Through my journal, I started to build my own happiness.”

As noted above, in order for McCarthy’s system to provide maximum benefits, a commitment to spending time working through a single writing exercise each and every day for a period of 27 days is mandatory. McCarthy recommends purchasing a special notebook and pen specifically for this purpose and reserving a special place in your home or workspace to which you can retreat each day without having to first deal with clutter or interruptions.

The more you journal, the more you realize that you have an endless supply of ideas, thoughts, impressions. You realize that you never run out of ideas, even if sometimes you may lack the will to access them. You see that writer’s block is about your willingness, and not about an actual dearth of ideas.
~ Author Mari L. McCarthy

27 Days of Journaling to Health and Happiness provides a narrative specially geared toward each day’s theme, accompanied by an inspirational quote about the topic, writing exercise(s), and even a list of book suggestions for further reading. The theme for Day One is, appropriately enough, A is for Awareness. Other topics include Bring Back My Body to Me, Let’s Start at the Very Beginning, What the Health?, Food, Glorious Food, Goal for It, If Only They’d … , Beautiful Music, Coming into Consciousness, and That’s the Spirit. At the end of the twenty-seven day journey, McCarthy encourages journalists to continue making journaling for the health of it part of their normal daily routine in order to reap the ongoing benefits which include:

Heal psychological wounds

Live in the present, not the past

Access your power, talents, skills, and abilities

Unleash creativity

Face your fears

Manage your inner critic

Stop sabotaging yourself and start loving yourself

Overcome writer’s block

Included on the list of highly successful people who journal is none other than Oprah Winfrey. She has spoken often about and frequently shared entries from the journals she has maintained since she was only fifteen years old. Noting that as a young woman, she used her journals as therapy, Oprah observes: “In my 40s, I got wiser. I started using journals to express my gratitude—and watched my blessings multiply. What you focus on expands.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness free of charge from the author in conjunction with the WOW! Women on Writing review and virtual book tour program. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own. This disclosure complies with 16 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Enter to win a copy of 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness

Are you willing to commit to do the work in order to experience the many benefits that can be derived through journaling? Author Mari L. McCarthy has graciously agreed to provide a copy of 27 Days of Journaling to Health and Happiness to one lucky reader who can choose whether to receive the book in print or e-book format.

To enter, simply post a comment briefly stating why you would like to commit to 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness. Be sure to include your email address (for notification and delivery purposes). The book can only be shipped to a United States or Canadian address (no P.O. box).