Your Story, Your Healing: The Unexpected Gift of Journaling

Ever feel like life’s moving so fast, you barely have time to process any of it?
What if the simple act of putting pen to paper—or even recording a voice note—could help you heal, grow, and reconnect not just with your truest self, but with God? In this thought-provoking episode of the Imagine Yourself Podcast, Lanee and Sandy revisit a heartfelt conversation with Tareka Wheeler of Professional DNA, exploring the “unexpected gift” of journaling. Tareka shares how journaling became more than a habit—it became a lifeline. She opens up about how this practice has helped her walk through difficult seasons with God, creating space to be raw, real, and spiritually grounded.

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Through candid reflections and touching stories—including that of a grieving mother journaling through her child’s illness—Tareka reveals how journaling can be both a time capsule and a form of therapy. It’s a sacred space where you can pour out your heart, process your pain, and listen for God’s gentle whisper in the midst of it all.

We also explore common barriers that hold people back—like worrying about privacy, struggling with consistency, or feeling “not creative enough.” But journaling doesn’t have to be polished or perfect. Whether you're jotting notes in a journal, typing thoughts on your laptop, or simply speaking into your phone, every honest reflection can become an act of courage and connection. It’s not about performance, it’s about presence. And God meets us in that presence.

You'll walk away from this episode with practical encouragement to try (or revisit) journaling as a spiritual and emotional tool. It’s a powerful way to process life, pray honestly, and remember who you are and whose you are. Journaling just might become an unexpected gift on your journey of healing, faith, and personal growth.

Ready to reconnect—with yourself, with your faith, and with what matters most? Press play and let this conversation guide you there. 

Get more info on our Guest, Tareka Wheeler and Listen to "Change Your Life By Changing The Way You See Yourself (w/Tareka Wheeler of Professional DNA)" 

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"Imagine Yourself" is hosted by Lanée Blaise and Sandy Kovach—two dynamic voices with a passion for inspiring and uplifting others. Lanée, a TV writer, producer, motivational speaker, and podcaster, brings powerful storytelling and insight. Sandy, a radio personality, voiceover artist, and podcaster, delivers warmth and wisdom with every conversation. Broadcasting from the Detroit Metro area, they welcome guests from around the world to share valuable perspectives on health, career growth, faith, and personal transformation. Tune in and imagine the possibilities for your life!

Transcript

Sandy Kovach [00:00:03]:
What if taking just a few quiet moments with your thoughts, whether that's writing them down or speaking them into your phone, could help you process your emotions, draw you closer to God, and actually bring some healing. On this episode of Imagine Yourself, we're revisiting a powerful conversation with Tareka Wheeler of Professional DNA about the kind of journaling that goes beyond just keeping a diary. So whether you're into pen and paper or tapping out voice notes, this might be the practice your soul's been craving. I'm Sandy. And on behalf of Lanee and I welcome or welcome back to imagine yourself podcast. Let's jump right into part of our conversation with Tareka.

Tareka Wheeler [00:00:52]:
I need for everyone to understand the power of journaling, such a powerful and intimate place. It doesn't have any boundaries. It doesn't have any judgment. It is a place between the pen, the paper, or the strokes of the keys in the computer and you. And when you take journaling and utilize that to communicate to yourself, talk to yourself about your goals. Talk to yourself about the journey that you're in. Be real with yourself. What did you not like about today? It could be as simple as you're gardening at home, and you don't like that your tomatoes aren't coming out the way you want them to come out.

Tareka Wheeler [00:01:34]:
Journal about that, and then journal about what are some solutions. What What are some things that you can maybe do differently? Do they need more sunlight? Do they need less sunlight? Do they need more water? Now I'm saying that as an example because I have nothing close to a green thumb. So I could not actually tell you that I would do good in gardening. But what I do know is that when you journal about it, it's like talking to yourself. And it's having those real intimate conversations with yourself that allows you to really make a lot of progress in your life, whether if it is in your professional career or if it's in your personal. I love journaling, and I've had some amazing experiences for myself. I journal every single day. It is a part of my morning routine.

Tareka Wheeler [00:02:20]:
It's incorporated into my quiet time, and it's important for me to be real with myself and talk about how I'm feeling, talk about how I want to feel if I'm not there yet. And then most importantly, what is it that I'm gonna do about it? It also serves as a time capsule. It allows you to really document where you are at any moment and point in life. And I save my journals, and it's amazing. Talk about boosting your self confidence. It's amazing to go back and look at journals I was was writing in 2017 when I was at one of the lowest places in my life professionally to then look at what I'm journaling about now. And it's mind blowing. Sometimes it's also kind of emotional.

Tareka Wheeler [00:03:01]:
It brings me to tears, but, like, good tears because it's like, look at the growth. I have a ton of colleagues. One really in particular that I wanna share. She really started me in journaling. And let me say, I wasn't always team journaling. I thought about it. I did it here and there, but I wasn't always 100% doing it. And a really dear colleague of mine, a nurse, pediatric oncology nurse, changed my life and changed the way I looked at journaling.

Tareka Wheeler [00:03:27]:
I worked as a clinical assistant in a pediatric hospital, and I worked on the childhood cancer unit. And, that's how we met, and we were colleagues and friends. And years on down the road, we stayed connected. And in this journaling conversations that, you know, I've had, it was amazing a story that she shared with me about a family. And there is a mom who reached out to my friend and essentially shared this amazing piece for her. So she journaled about gosh. How do you speak of it? Like, really about the end times of her child's life. She was really just journaling about her time in the hospital, the good days, you know, where she was doing wonderful, the bad days, the sad days, all through that entire period of time.

Tareka Wheeler [00:04:12]:
And that journal really became, I don't know, almost just a way for her to kind of moralize, if you will, that entire situation that was happening. And so years were passed, and the journal itself, it was something that my friend, she really encouraged her to do. Like, this is a way for you to just release and really share with yourself on how you're feeling. So she kept this journal. And she reached out to my friend, and she told her that what she asked her to do was something that was so impactful and so profound in her life. And she looked back on that journal, and it was just so powerful for her. It was therapeutic for her. It was helpful for her.

Tareka Wheeler [00:04:51]:
She continued to reflect on it. And she essentially was thanking my friend for doing so, thanking her for encouraging her to go down this process of journaling. And in the times where she was grieving, it helped her because she could reflect back, and she could really see the good times that she had with her daughter and the not so good times. But all of it together was just so freeing for her, And she was forever grateful that she took the time to do it. And when my friend shared that with me, I just was like, wow. Like, I just never thought about journaling in that way. I really didn't know that that's the type of impact it could have. And one might hear that story, and it could sound incredibly sad.

Tareka Wheeler [00:05:30]:
But for me, it's incredibly healing and incredibly helpful because journaling helps you capture moments in life. Sometimes you need that kind of reflection pond, if you will, to be able to go back to see where you were in those particular moments in life. Sometimes it serves as a memory, and it's the only thing that you have from that time to be able to go back and connect to, and it's that journaling that you did. So I truly believe that journaling helps you in the present and can absolutely inspire and empower you in your future. And I've been doing it really honestly ever since.

Lanée Blaise [00:06:06]:
You just opened our eyes to a totally different way of thinking of things because this society has become a lot more technological and busy. And sometimes we might think that we can just record our lives on social media through pictures and things like this, but this is a deeper level, like you said, with the reflection element, like the time capsule element, the healing, and the fact that you said that we've gotta be honest with ourselves. It's that place where we can have no judgment and we can really move through some of the really hard times and some of the winds too, because I think most of us were taught to be super modest and make sure that you never toot your own horn. And sometimes we have to remind ourselves how far we've come or congratulate ourselves on a job well done. Sometimes we need to, like you said, intentionally take time to remember those people who we love, who may not be with us anymore and writing things down. Or even if you type out your journal, because some people, that connection between what's in their mind and that comes out is best through their fingertips, you know, through typing it out or through writing it. But either way, it's almost like, I don't know how many people keep greeting cards or letters that were written. I have letters from my grandparents that date back to, I don't know, the eighties and seventies and nineties.

Lanée Blaise [00:07:37]:
It's a beautiful way to communicate. And like you said to that future self might enjoy these journals. Sandy, I don't think you're a journaling person, but tell me what you're thinking about now that you've heard this.

Sandy Kovach [00:07:48]:
No. I mean, I wanted to say this earlier, but then the story of this nurse got me feeling like, oh my gosh. This is so cool. I can't come in and say why I don't journal. But I guess let's talk about it because I'm probably one of the folks out there that does not journal. Now when I was a child, I had a little diary with a little lock on it. I don't know if anybody remembers those from back in the day. But Thank you.

Sandy Kovach [00:08:14]:
Yeah. I don't know whether that whole psychological thing of locking stuff up got to me in some weird way. But when I got older, I felt like I can't write stuff down that's personal. Somebody might find it. And so I've even every time I've done it, I've torn it up. Or if it's on my computer, I've deleted it. I promise you, you will find no personal anything anywhere. When I die, you're gonna have Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and Pinterest.

Tareka Wheeler [00:08:47]:
Oh my goodness, Sandy. So here's the thing. I actually have two journals. Well, so I have a ton because when they run out, I've got another. You guys, like, saw my desk. It's it I've got notebooks like crazy even with work. But my journals, I definitely, when they end, I put them up. I store them away.

Tareka Wheeler [00:09:03]:
For a really long time, though, before I moved to the Virginia area, I used to share a computer with my kids. So my husband and my kids, we all are on the same computer. So I was journaling, but I was typing. And so I password protected everything, Everything. Because I had this year that my innermost thoughts, some of them about motherhood, some of them about becoming a wife at a young age. I mean, all types of things. I was like, oh my gosh. Can somebody read this? And so I, I protected it.

Tareka Wheeler [00:09:30]:
Right? And so I I understand. You know? It's kinda like your inner thoughts. But what I would challenge people to think about is that it's when we don't talk about or journal that we are locking things away because we don't give ourselves the opportunity and the ability to release those things. Right? So our minds and our hearts and our souls become what holds on to the good, the bad, and the ugly. And, unfortunately, sometimes, depending on what moments and seasons you are in life, it holds on to sometimes more bad than good. And so journaling is a way to release. And I will tell you, my daughter, I encouraged her to journal. She was kind of in the same likeness of, like, oh my gosh.

Tareka Wheeler [00:10:14]:
Somebody reads this. And we actually did a little burning ceremony one year, and she wrote all the things that she needed to write and got them out and said whatever she needed to say. And it was right around New Year's, and then we took it outside to the grill, and we burned it. And it was almost a way for her to take all the pain and just stress and challenges that she was feeling and put it all on paper, and it was just, like, screaming onto that page. But then let's let it go.

Sandy Kovach [00:10:41]:
So that was the negative stuff, though, that she was burning. That was, like, more of a not like the good reflections and the bad reflections that you would do.

Tareka Wheeler [00:10:48]:
But the negative phase

Sandy Kovach [00:10:49]:
is being

Tareka Wheeler [00:10:50]:
folded in. Right? So I feel like journaling is going to show up differently for everyone. Some like to journal and keep the pages intact like I do, and I love, like, going to fun places and getting cute and beautiful journals. And depending on the journal, it's probably you could think about what I'm probably writing about in that season in my life and what that journal looks like on the outside. But you could journal from a place of it just being more healing and therapeutic, and you're needing to release some things out of your mind and your heart and your soul, and then get rid of it. Some people even journal and then bury them, like, in time capsules. Now that doesn't help with, you know, after we're gone, someone might give that up and find it, and then they've got the next best seller. Right? But

Sandy Kovach [00:11:30]:
And then who cares? Right? Yeah. I know.

Tareka Wheeler [00:11:32]:
Let them make some money off of my stuff. Yeah.

Sandy Kovach [00:11:35]:
I'm not that interesting, actually. So but,

Lanée Blaise [00:11:39]:
I'm very interested in all this.

Sandy Kovach [00:11:40]:
But Lanae is. Right?

Tareka Wheeler [00:11:43]:
But, yeah, that's where I come from, ladies, on journaling, and I I have just found it to be an unexpected jewel.

Sandy Kovach [00:11:50]:
So yeah. It seems very valuable. And another thing I always remember hearing about when you do, like, a bible study or any kind of study into things, people encourage you to take notes and to go back and, you know, see what God's done in your life. And I'm always thinking, that's never gonna happen because I'm not gonna write it down. So, like, my my pages are all, like, the blanks are all just not filled out. And

Lanée Blaise [00:12:14]:
But then you're never gonna get to go back and reflect

Sandy Kovach [00:12:17]:
I know.

Tareka Wheeler [00:12:17]:
All the chairs.

Sandy Kovach [00:12:18]:
Because then I'll have to throw out the book and Because

Tareka Wheeler [00:12:22]:
I can understand, but the people

Lanée Blaise [00:12:23]:
in your house are not even snooping.

Sandy Kovach [00:12:25]:
No. They don't care.

Tareka Wheeler [00:12:26]:
So you're in good shape.

Sandy Kovach [00:12:28]:
Because the other part is,

Lanée Blaise [00:12:29]:
like, it's that development of you and your best friend. You can be your own best friend type of thing too, where you're telling her all of your important things.

Sandy Kovach [00:12:39]:
That's true. That's true. I mean, there is that like, your girlfriend's relationship's a little different, but Yeah. But even them, you don't wanna bore with all this others, you know,

Tareka Wheeler [00:12:47]:
a lot of the stuff. Right? It's so funny because you talked about bible said you're absolutely right. You know, there's always, like, the prep sheet with the prompts and the notes and the messages that you're supposed to go through. And Yeah.

Sandy Kovach [00:12:58]:
I remember does it. I do.

Lanée Blaise [00:13:01]:
Mine is full.

Tareka Wheeler [00:13:02]:
Your sermon notes are full. Yes. So I remember being in a women's bible study, and one of the things that they recommended that you do was write down your prayers. I was like, it's hard enough for me to come and have a conversation and real conversation and say, god, I know you already know this, but if you want me to write it down, like, what?

Sandy Kovach [00:13:28]:
That's even too much for you.

Tareka Wheeler [00:13:29]:
Right. It took me a place. And so I'll never forget. I was watching the movie The Help. The main character, she talked about writing down her prayers. I was like, my prayers write a part of this script. Like, where is this coming from? But I'll never forget the benefit what she says. And so I'm not there yet full transparency, but I wanna share at least the benefit because it's right there with journaling.

Tareka Wheeler [00:13:51]:
I feel there's a beautiful connection. She said, sometimes we need help being humble, and we need help being transparent. When you can get to a place where you can come humbly and transparent before god, it will help your prayer life develop. And so I took that to journaling to say, when I can be humble and just transparent enough with myself and it's why I take it into with my clients. Like, where do you believe you are? Like, really? And doing that self reflective activity. And then thinking about where I want to go, when I go back to that journaling that I've done and I can see that I spoke about six weeks ago where I am, where I wanna be, and I can come out on the other end and say, oh my goodness. Did I just do that? It's the receipts and the proof that you need. And so what her point was is that when God delivers on that thing and makes it happen, you prayed about it and you wrote about it over here, and you've got the documentation that shows what that prayer works.

Tareka Wheeler [00:14:56]:
And so I was like, okay. I take that to journaling. It's like then you kind of go back, and it's speaking to the work that you're putting in, but it's like the affirmation and receipt to say, look what you did. You can do it again. Yep. This was a rough time. I got a couple journals that I feel like additions one, two, and three were rough. I was like, woo.

Tareka Wheeler [00:15:14]:
I was busy. And I was writing, and it was it was not all the fluffy fun stuff. But it's like then the latter parts of it, when I go back into reflect, like, wow. Look how I came out of that. Look how I was able to really see that progress. And sometimes, mentally, we try to block some of the things that are not as pleasant. We try to block some of our challenges, and we we only reflect on the successes and the growth and the advancements. But that journaling helps you really value the growth and the process, and it reminds you that there is a process to advancement.

Tareka Wheeler [00:15:46]:
So whether you're growing in your career, there's a process. And when you are documenting your journey along that process, it helps you learn to trust the process. If you are just at home and you are, you know, retired, if you are a working mom, whatever it may be, you are a dad, you whatever you are, grandparent, aunt, uncles, whatever, if you're able to document the a to the b to the c, it will give you another level of trust for the process. And so that's another benefit of journaling for me. Like, I want my clients not to say like, I want them to say great things about the work that we're doing together. Absolutely. But what I really want you to reflect on is the work that you did. And journaling helps you do that so that when Tariqah's long gone, you have something that you've memorialized to be able to document your success and your process that you should be proud of, of the highs and the lows.

Tareka Wheeler [00:16:45]:
Highs, lows, and plateaus. You should be proud of it. That's where I am on journaling, and I think it's a powerful, intimate tool that I encourage anyone to explore. You too, Sandy.

Sandy Kovach [00:16:54]:
Yeah. I know.

Tareka Wheeler [00:16:55]:
K.

Sandy Kovach [00:16:55]:
No. I you've completely sold me. I will try. But I will also say one other thing. I'm terrible at just writing things down in general. Like, I use a task list on my Gmail, and that's about the extent of my to dos. Or I might use a spreadsheet to figure something out. And I have a Weight Watchers app, and, you know, I've lost weight, but I don't really use it either because I don't like to take the time to put in my calories.

Sandy Kovach [00:17:22]:
You know? So so what about that? What about people that just like me? They're maybe a little scatterbrained that just kinda the creative mindset that's just not real disciplined when it comes to writing things?

Tareka Wheeler [00:17:33]:
That's a great question. I'm laughing because I'm thinking about a client that I have that I

Sandy Kovach [00:17:37]:
So I'm not the only one?

Tareka Wheeler [00:17:39]:
Yeah. That's the only one. And it's and and and, again, we're all different. Right? And we all have different things that kinda make us tick. We all have different personalities. What I would say to that is that then you have to identify a way that you can become crystal clear about what outcomes you want to see in any given day, any given month, any given year. For some, that's a task list. For others, it's a vision board.

Tareka Wheeler [00:18:05]:
For some, it's a post it note. But you've gotta identify a mechanism for you that can be a highly visible reminder about where you want to go. Because if we are just operating aimlessly in life without goals and targets and vision, we just start to kind of circle around. And I would venture to say, even the most creatives have a vision. They're oftentimes creatives are extremely amazing visionaries. So it's finding what will work for you instead of trying for and this is what I told my client. I don't wanna put you in a box. This process is meant to be helpful.

Tareka Wheeler [00:18:45]:
So if this process doesn't work, let's talk about what does work. And so for him, what worked was memos to himself on his phone. So he talks to himself, literally. Okay. And he uses his notes, and he talks to himself. And he'll say whatever he needs to say for that day. It's It's almost like saying, hey, Trico. Here's things you gotta get done this day.

Tareka Wheeler [00:19:05]:
You have a meeting at 09:30. You've gotta be sure you pick up your dry cleaning, and you need to go to grocery store and get some milk.

Lanée Blaise [00:19:11]:
Or it's like the captain's log on Star Trek. Captain's log, captain Kirk. Day 25, we met with the aliens of this particular planet, and I really got to understand that I think that we need to set up our government like they had theirs.

Sandy Kovach [00:19:26]:
I think you okay. Not Kirk. I wanna go with Janeway on Voyager. Can we do that? Or Picard or Picard, the next generation. Trekkie here. Alright. She's hit on a nerve because I'm a Trekkie. So

Lanée Blaise [00:19:40]:
And you got that app on your phone for voice memos.

Sandy Kovach [00:19:42]:
My captain's log. Yeah. There you go.

Tareka Wheeler [00:19:45]:
There you go. Alright. But it's again, it's finding, like, what is that place that's gonna work for you? I tell them all the time, there's no cookie cutter way. Every single person's journey is different. And just like I talk about professional DNA, it's your defined natural ability to succeed, your defined natural ability. Our DNA is so unique and so specific. We are all individuals in our own unique way. So what works for Lanae may not work for Jerica.

Tareka Wheeler [00:20:11]:
It might not work for Sandy, and it might not work for our listeners. But it's the overarching strategy and thought process behind it, and then take that and apply it to what will work for you.

Sandy Kovach [00:20:22]:
Whether you're scribbling in a notebook or just speaking thoughts into your phone, typing them into your laptop or computer or your iPad, whatever you do, there's no right way to journal as Tareka said. It's about giving yourself space to reflect, connect with God, and process the things life throws your way. And if today's topic stirred something and you career wise, make sure to check out the entire episode with Tareka Wheeler. She's a pro at helping people gain clarity and confidence in their careers. We'll drop a link to that episode along with their contact info in the show notes. Thanks so much for spending time with us today. We hope this episode gave you something to hold on to, something encouraging. You can always reach out, and we'd love to hear from you.

Sandy Kovach [00:21:10]:
You can use our text feature. That's right in the app. You can go to imagineyourselfpodcast.com. There's other encouraging things on our website, faith filled content and ways to connect. You can also find us on Instagram and Facebook, and all those links are in the show notes. And if you found it helpful, of course, we'd love for you to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. And if you feel led, give us a rating or a review. Doing that helps us with feedback on our episodes and also helps other people to find us.

Sandy Kovach [00:21:42]:
This is Sandy on behalf of Lanee and I, until next time, take a deep breath, keep the faith, and imagine yourself growing, healing, and becoming all you're meant to be.