I can't get emotional with journaling. Tips?

Hahaha, its funny that you calling this being monks. First of all, I wrote "for a period of time".
Secondly, and more importantly, with this you can still have as much sex with your partner as you both want. You can masturbate if you want, just not to porn (use your fantasy). You can work a job, you can hang out with your friends and have joyful dinners, you can play sports, you can watch sports with your friends, listening to music. Be involved in your community. Whatever you want. I would rather say it is more like living as we have for thousands of years and as intended by nature. Naturally using the chemicals in our body for forming bonds with others and getting things done, not messing all the systems up with external (non intended) stimulants.

The fact that most people respond like this monk reference is a good reflection of todays society. I agree with it being difficult to sustain since you would be going against how most of the rest conduct themselves and that is very difficult, but I still believe its the way to go. I will still continue to voice my opinion on alterative ways of living that I believe would lead to less depression in society.

 

Aside from abstaining from stimulants, I don't see how your list of things you can do is any different from your list of things you can't do vis a vis bringing forth your emotions. You can avoid your feelings while playing sports and hanging out with friends just as much as by watching TV or working long hours.

Your description of how to live is truly wonderful but I don't see how it is any less fleeing from your emotions.

 

I see a mistake in my communication, kind of mixing two topics - tips to people having trouble connecting with their emotions and general ways of living to feel better (though I believe they are intertwined). I will make some last comments:

I completely agree to this, sure you can avoid your feelings in any setting. I´m getting the feeling that you want to misunderstand my point, or I´m not communicating optimally. Again, this original comment was to people who have problems getting in contact with their emotions while journaling or trying to meditate or whatever. The things I listed are common ways people today flee their emotions and in addition mess up their brain chemistry - double whammy. So the point was to quit the things you usually use to distract from your feelings for a period of time to see if feelings starts to surface - it definitely did for me and for other people I know in person. It helped taking a step further in the TMS emotional work. I still drink whine on a Friday sometimes, still play videogames sporadically, still eat candy on weekends, still watch TV a whole evening sometimes - but not every day, all the time.

Most of the other things I listed are more or less equivalent to using stimulants. E.g. there are teams of people at tech firms just working on how to optimally get you hooked on keep scrolling your phone (Dopamine release) to increase add revenue and make you a phone addict (notifications, colors etc.).
When you hang out with friends and form meaningful bonds you increase Serotonin and Oxytocin (makes you feel good), which actually helps you regulate your Dopamine release and drive - making you less prone to addiction. You are also more likely to open up and share your emotions when truly connected to other people. You feel safe.
I mean, there are shopping addictions, there are gambling addictions etc. These are not stimulant substances, but things that affect your brain in a similar way - and almost always the reason for people falling into these things are emotional issues they are not facing. So stopping it can make emotions surface.

I strongly recommend one of Simon Sinek´s talks on this that are top level, easy to follow: