In 1980, my father gave me a 300-page leatherbound journal. Two days later, I made my first entry. I’ve missed writing only a few days since.

I recently read my multi-volume journal for the first time. I was surprised. Just weeks after my first entry, I wrote about pondering spiritual experiences in order to better recognize spiritual impressions. A few days later, I wrote that I’d made a solemn commitment to walk by Spirit to the extent Heaven would help me learn to recognize it.

After journaling for just a few months, I recorded something I hadn’t remembered but desperately needed. In a letter to my future self, I wrote, “You can find the comfort you need in your worst times; you can find that spirit and that peace . . . If you’re not connecting with Heaven now for any reason, start!”

That message came from my past self on the exact day I needed it.

Clients and friends ask how to be more spiritually connected. One valuable tool is writing. Write often. Write authentically. Write vulnerably. If you tear it up afterwards or burn it, fine. If you save it and read it later, fine. The exercise of writing will help you process your experience, find perspective and connect with Spirit. Write.