28/12/2025

ON SUNDAY December 28, 2025 theSunday Special VII

small details you would’ve otherwise ignored – the smell of rain at 4pm, the PRPHQW \RXU VKRXOGHUV ¿QDOO\ UHOD[HG the way someone said your name. You notice, because you’re storing little mo ments to write down. The line isn’t just a summary. It becomes a lens. Philosopher Henry David Thoreau, known for his journals during his time at Walden Pond, understood the power of these small, habitual observations. He once wrote, “I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” +LV UHÀHFWLRQV ZHUHQ¶W UHVHUYHG IRU PRQX mental events – they lived in the daily rhythm of noticing, of being present with the moment as it was. Modern thinkers echo the same. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits , advocates for micro-journaling as a sustainable practice – the idea that small, consistent H̆ RUWV DUH PRUH SRZHUIXO WKDQ RFFDVLRQDO intensive ones. One sentence isn’t impres sive. That’s why it works. It’s too small to fail. What emerges over time isn’t just a collection of lines, but a quiet trail of self-understanding. It’s astonishing how a single sentence can bring back an entire day. A year later, reading “Burnt the rice, but laughed about it” might unlock the memory of the whole evening – the smell, the company, the mood. It also offers a form of emotional grounding. Writing even one sentence after a difficult day can give shape to the chaos. It becomes a form of self witnessing. “Felt out of sync all day, but didn’t know why” is not a complaint – it’s a moment of self-connection. You name it, so it doesn’t sit unnamed in the background. T KHQ WKHUH DUH WKH LQYLVLEOH EHQH¿WV It teaches consistency without pressure.

The beauty of one sentence journaling is that it lowers the bar while raising your awareness.

You don’t need a diary. You just need a sentence.”

It builds emotional vocabulary. It gently cultivates introspection. But perhaps most importantly, it allows you to show up for yourself – not in some grand, performa tive way, but simply and quietly, one day at a time. There’s no need for a special notebook or fancy pen. A sticky note works. So does your phone. So does the back of a receipt. All that matters is that the sentence gets written. It might even surprise you how often one sentence turns into two. Or three. But that’s not the point. The point is to lower the threshold. You don’t sit down thinking, “I must write something important.” You sit down thinking, “Let me write one line.” And often, that’s enough. There’s a quote attributed to novelist Joan Didion: “I don’t know what I think until I write it down.” That’s the heart of journaling – not performance, but clarity. You don’t write because the day ZDV H[WUDRUGLQDU\

Secret power of writing one sentence a day

Writing even one sentence after a difficult day can give shape to the chaos.”

The pressure to stay productive has turned everyday life into a marathon and few are crossing VJG ƓPKUJ NKPG WPUECVJGF BY SIMON VELLA

J OURNALING , for many, starts with the best intentions and ends with an empty notebook somewhere under the bed. The problem isn’t the lack of thoughts – it’s the pressure to record them all. Sitting down to write a proper entry can feel like emotional homework. And when time is tight or the day’s been dull or chaotic, the blank page becomes another thing to avoid. But there’s a quieter, simpler way to make journaling work. No prompts. No guilt. No “dear diary”. Just one sentence a day. That’s it. One line.

A few words about what happened. 6RPHWKLQJ \RX QRWLFHG $ ÀHHWLQJ WKRXJKW A tiny truth. It could be mundane, “Had nasi lemak for lunch, again.” Or quietly profound, “I felt invisible at the meeting DQG , GLGQ¶W NQRZ KRZ WR ¿[ LW ´ 2U XQH[ - pectedly joyful, “I made someone laugh today and forgot how good that feels.” The beauty of one-sentence journaling is that it lowers the bar while raising your awareness. There’s no pressure to be poetic. Just honest. Writing one sentence a day has a way of changing the way you move through life. You start paying attention. You catch

One sentence won’t solve everything, but it might make you feel a little more anchored, a little more awake inside your own life.