When people journal regularly, they often describe accessing a “wiser self,” “downloading information,” “channeling wisdom,” or “partnering with the muse”—insights that seem to appear from nowhere. Here’s what science suggests might actually be happening.

This phenomenon looks like when someone writes about their frustration with someone and ten minutes later has uncovered a pattern about authority that traces back to childhood, or journals about feeling stuck and emerges with a detailed career change plan they didn’t know they wanted.

Maybe you’ve experienced this mystical force yourself, or maybe it sounds like self-help nonsense.

What we do know is that when researchers study expressive writing—writing about emotions, thoughts, and experiences—they find remarkable changes in brain activity, working memory, and even physical health. The science is real and fascinating. But the science doesn’t necessarily negate other explanations for why this feels so profound.

I’m someone who experiences this magic and uses journaling as a tool for clarity, growth, and guidance. Sometimes it’s fun to speculate what’s actually happening. Ultimately, I don’t think it matters how I’m getting the insights or connecting the dots, but what matters is that I am.

When You Write, You Download Wisdom

People who journal describe connecting with something greater than themselves—brilliant ideas and solid advice that appear as they write.

We don’t know, for certain, how this happens, but research points to three key mechanisms that might explain why writing feels like tapping into something beyond ordinary thinking.

1. Making the Implicit Explicit

Normally, thoughts fire in chaotic streams without forming conscious insights—work frustration, childhood memories, physical sensations, tomorrow’s meeting, that weird thing your friend said.

With writing, you can only write one word at a time.

When you write, you go from parallel processing to serial processing of thoughts. This forces your brain to slow down, prioritize, and make choices: which thought comes first? What thought connects to the next? Which ideas to follow and which to let go?

In making these choices, we bring to the forefront what was running in the background, making patterns more visible, making the unconscious conscious.

This could explain why journaling feels like communing with a wiser being—the mechanism of writing inherently connects you to insights that would otherwise never reach your conscious awareness.

2. Freeing Mental Space to Connect Dots

Writing also frees working memory and reduces cognitive load.

Think about trying to cook dinner when every counter surface is covered with mail, groceries, and dirty dishes. It requires you to use more mental energy to work around all that clutter.

Writing clears that “mental counter” so you can think better.

When people write about difficult experiences, their working memory measurably improves¹. All that mental energy you were using to suppress or manage difficult emotions becomes available for insight and problem-solving.

3. Shifting From Reactive to Reflective

The act of finding words for emotions physically shifts your brain from reactive to reflective mode.

Brain imaging reveals that putting feelings into words decreases amygdala activity (threat center) by up to 50% while increasing prefrontal cortex activity (higher-order thinking)².

Expressive writing hits the brakes on fear and stress reactivity while accelerating logical, symbolic, and abstract thinking required for insights and wisdom.

The “wiser voice” people describe might simply be what happens when your analytical systems can finally communicate without being drowned out by fear and anxiety.

Your brain enters a different processing mode almost immediately upon writing. Even 2-minute writing sessions can improve mood and psychological wellbeing³. Regular journaling reduces cortisol—the stress hormone—by up to 23%⁴.

This is more than mystical; we’re talking about neurological and biochemical changes you can measure in brain imaging and in your blood.

The Real-World Impact

I enjoy journaling because I value the insights, clarity, and wisdom in the moment as I’m writing, but I also love the after effects. Often, I start my entry feeling a bit clouded, conflicted, confused, or even apathetic. I often finish my entry feeling a wash of clarity, confidence, and peace. For me, it’s a useful way to start the day.

But studies show that journaling translates directly to other life outcomes beyond what I experience. They are just remarkable— magical even.

Research finds that after just 15 minutes of expressive writing over 4 days, people have shown improved resilience to stress and immune systems⁵. Depression scores drop by 30% over 8 weeks⁶. Some studies suggest journaling works as well as cognitive-behavioral therapy for certain conditions⁷.

But here’s the catch—the emphasis is on expressive writing. What’s required is genuine emotional engagement. Writing grocery lists won’t cut it. The benefits come from honestly exploring thoughts and feelings without censoring yourself and allowing the process to unfold.

The Magic

Here’s where I think science can’t always explain the magic, and the magic can’t always be understood through science.

The saying, ”what’s important isn’t always measurable, and what’s measurable isn’t always important,” comes to mind.

Science shows us the “how”—the measurable brain changes, the cortisol drops, the working memory improvements. But does that explain the “what”? When someone writes about a work problem and suddenly receives a “download” on the solution, is that just freed working memory? Or is the freed working memory simply the mechanism that allows something else to come through?

The research hasn’t been able to answer that yet.

Decades of research show journaling creates measurable changes in working memory, emotional regulation, and immune function. Writing changes how your brain structures and processes information, which could explain why regular journalers describe it as “magical.”

But who’s to say the science isn’t simply describing the mechanism through which we access something larger? Who’s to say it’s not both brain processing AND something more mysterious happening when we’re writing and receptive?

The scientists have their brain scans. The mystics have their muses. Maybe they’re looking at the same phenomenon from different angles.

Here’s what people who journal regularly are confident about: something unexplainably beneficial happens when you dedicate a few minutes to describe your thoughts, feelings, and experiences, as a sentient being, onto a page—measurable in both brain activity and life outcomes.

Whether that’s neurology or something more mysterious… well, that’s for you to decide.

My Gift to You

I created a 365-day guided journal system for people who don’t know where to start or want prompts designed for clarity. If you’re curious, here is the Clarity Journal 2.0.

But honestly, all you need is any blank paper or open a blank document and begin writing about what you’re thinking, feeling, and experiencing, and allowing whatever shows up to be present.

I’m gifting 5 copies in September to the first people who want them (code: journalgift2025). If you miss the giveaway, you can still receive 50% off through September 30, 2025 (code:journal50).

References

1. Klein, K., & Boals, A. (2001). Expressive writing can increase working memory capacity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
2. Lieberman, M. D., Eisenberger, N. I., Crockett, M. J., Tom, S. M., Pfeifer, J. H., & Way, B. M. (2007). Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli. Psychological Science.
3. Burton, C. M., & King, L. A. (2008). Effects of (very) brief writing on health: The two-minute miracle. British Journal of Health Psychology.
4. Petrie, K. J., Booth, R. J., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2004). The immunological effects of thought suppression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
5. Pennebaker, J. W., & Beall, S. K. (1986). Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
6. Burton, C. M., & King, L. A. (2004). The health benefits of writing about intensely positive experiences. Journal of Research in Personality.
7. Stice, E., Burton, E., Bearman, S. K., & Rohde, P. (2006). Randomized trial of brief depression prevention program: An elusive search for a psychosocial placebo control condition. Behaviour Research and Therapy.