Spaghetti On The Wall, Kristan Swan

About this episode

Kristan Swan discusses the evolution of journaling across life stages and its benefits for self-reflection and emotional expression.

Kristan Swan, creator of the guided journal Spaghetti on the Wall, discusses how journaling can evolve across life stages—from childhood “emotion dumps” to adult reflection practices—and why a journal can be a safe, nonjudgmental place to say the “scary” or “ugly” things without harming relationships. The hosts share barriers to journaling, including fear someone will read it and the challenge of not knowing what to write, and describe how Kristen’s journal provides simple prompts that make daily journaling tangible and quick (about 12–15 minutes). Kristan explains the journal’s structure: a nonjudgmental observer section to record events, and an “experience evaluator” to identify highs, lows, moments of alignment, and “not so much” experiences—designed to reduce reinforcing negative self-talk that can happen with free-form journaling. She shares personal context (being on her third marriage and earlier choices driven by longing for stability, external answers, and fear of self-knowledge) and how journaling can both document progress and, if filtered through self-criticism, entrench shame. She describes creating the first edition about 10 years ago for business-coaching clients…

People in this episode

Hosts: Samantha Mandell, Melissa Matthews

Guest: Kristan Swan

Topics covered

• journaling
• self-reflection
• mental health
• personal growth
• emotional expression

Keywords

• journaling
• self-improvement
• emotional health
• personal development
• guided journal

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