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By Ramon Johnson, About.com Guide to Gay Life since 2002

Keep a Coming Out Journal

Monday June 30, 2008
I'm sure you've heard of journaling or may know of someone that journals. Why should you give it a try? Well, for starters, there are many benefits to journaling. Jotting down your thoughts is a great way to manage stress. Journaling can also helps you achieve some degree of clarity on how to best approach the tough situations in your life, like coming out.

What often makes coming out a seemingly unbearable process is the stress and fear of the unknown. Many guys wonder how their parents or their friends will take the news. They wonder if they will ever be in a happy relationship or have kids. And as the internalized homophobia we grew up with begins to unravel, the stress of rebuilding a life out in the open can be overwhelming. Keeping a coming out journal can help you separate your fears and thoughts from the reality of the situation. It can also help you develop a plan on how best to come out. Here's how to start your own coming out journal.

Coming Out Tips and Suggested Readings:
Coming Out Tips
How To Come Out
The Benefits of Journaling
Stress Management at About.com

Image © Tanya McConnell.

Comments

June 30, 2008 at 5:13 pm
(1) Ben says:

Just make sure you write it in code or if you use your computer put a password on it. I am very big into this but my COJ I did by hand without codeing it. My ex wife got a hold of it and sent it to everyone she could think of.

Needless to say her plan backfired on her. Still all in all it was my book.

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