If you did the task above this is called Journaling. Journaling has shown to be one of the more effective acts of self-care. A 2006 study by Stice, Burton, Bearman, & Rohde showed that writing in a journal can be as effective as cognitive-behavioral therapy when it comes to reducing the risk of depression in young adults. This is just one of the many benefits that comes with journaling. Journaling also has shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety, manage stress, improve classroom engagement, improve overall immune & memory function as well as promote gratitude. I personally journal on a daily basis coupled with meditation at least 10-20 minutes and I can say that I have benefited tremendously from journaling. Journaling has allowed me to focus on all the good things happening in my life and not to put all my attention towards the negative things in life. Kristina Baines is an associate professor of anthropology at the City University of New York and she instructed her students to participate in a public research initiative called the Pandemic Journaling Project (PJP). The PJP is a " new online journaling platform and mixed methods research study created to give people around the world an opportunity to chronicle their pandemic experiences" (Baines, 2022). Baines required her students to engage in the PJP each week in one or two ways and then post their thoughts on their class discussion board. They were given the option to reflect on a journal post that they read on or participate in journals and project research each week. The PJP assignment was beneficial to students in "reframing their experiences, related to anxiety, loneliness and 'mental health,' broadly defined, as normal – as something others were experiencing in a similar way" (Baines, 2022). A lot of students chose to do both and below are some responses from the students on how the PJP project has impacted them.