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Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
A dear friend with a neurodivergence explained her journal to me as cue cards for different places, emotions, and experiences she'd had.
Much like a great dream, most of the memories would turn to smoke without a written pointer of what it was she'd done that day.
It's a daily list of reminders
Shamelessly pointing to the journaling community: !journaling@sh.itjust.works. There is also a great introduction in the !nanowrimo2@feddit.online community.
I journal mostly because I like writing and the ritual of sitting down (usually with a hot chocolate) and thinking about what is going on inside my head. It's like someone asking "how was your day" and you tell them. Sometimes nothing special, sometimes a lot and sometimes you think it has not been much, but once you start it all falls into place and the thoughts and emotions start to come up. I don't do it daily, but multiple times per week.
There are many ways to journal. You can use prompts, if you are unsure what to write about. It can be more shallow, like what has happened during the day. Or more deep to explore your feelings. Some like to track what's going on in their life and it's actual closer to a logbook. But that's fine as well. It has to fit for you after all and will probably change as you go along and get more comfortable with it.
And, to be honest, sometimes it's a good excuse to buy that pretty notebook I saw in the store...
I don't journal to document my life. I journal to get my thoughts out of me. Expressing something can be cathartic regardless of it's veracity. It doesn't have to make sense, be interesting, or fun. The act of writing can clear your head and let your honest feelings come to the surface.
I don't go back to read what I wrote. The act of writing is enough.
daily journals? no but i do travel journal, started few years ago. for me its like bringing memory souvenirs, i printed photos of places, food, brochures, leaves and even receipt.
my plan is to archive the journal so my grandkids can see and wonder about the world like we wonder what was the world like in the 1800
im not the most eloquent writer, but this is enough for my grandkids. i hope..
Oh I love this! And it is a great way to journal and keep the memories of all the travels and important events.
And see, I always feel boring because I just write to journal. I was already proud when I had one train ticket from my last travel, which I could put inside my journal :D
It's more about getting thoughts out of your head. I don't really do it to make any particular note of my life. I find that sometimes it's just nice to be able to dump thoughts on to a page (I only journal on paper) and maybe make a bit more sense of them.
I find that if you start writing without any real goal in mind, just whatever you're feeling or whatever's troubling you, it might uncover something to you that you hadn't considered. A new perspective, maybe.
I have been journaling for 50 years or so (started as a little 7 year-old boy and I'm now nearing my 60s). My life is not remarkable, and I don't much tings out of the ordinary. I journal for various reasons:
I now journal to put some order in my head and to keep a record of things and stuff around me. As a record, I feel no need to write long paragraphs. Heck, I even record the weather and... my mood, in a single word or two, sorry the pictures of my journals are in French (I write it mostly in French) but you can get the idea. As for putting order in my head, it depends: it will be long or short depending what I'm writing about, I don't care provided it helps me ;)
Btw, the link I shared goes to a journaling community I'm the admin of. Feel free to join and to participate: you're more than welcome. Even though it looks a bit too sleepy for teh time being, like I promised a few months ago, I should be able to start again investing some time in it soonish, The things that are still keeping me busy are just more demanding than expected ;)
I think it can help process some feelings as you're defining things before you put them on paper instead of everything being a nebulous mess. Also, if you want to retrospectively understand what happened, the journal can help you establish a timeline and causes and effects, right? I've never done it but it's probably helpful to some of us.
I use it as a way to voice my thoughts and emotions that I cannot express otherwise. I primarily write poems for that.
I don't journal to document my life but to organize my tasks.
There are different ways of journaling.
Isn't that called a to-do list?
Exactly. And journaling on paper is essentially useless. Ctr+F is the main reason to journal for me.
For me, writing a journal, notes or to-do list on a app or text file is completely useless. I just forget about it. I forget what words I used, did I write in the dialect or the official written language way (my native language has a bunch of different ways to write shit and I mix them up constantly because I'm a useless dummy). Once I hit "save" thats the equivalent of erasing it from my brain memory.
If I write things down on paper, I remember the action of writing, I remember what words I wrote, I even remember in which spot in the notebook it was, for example, half a page down from the spot where I circled a important task the previous week or one page after the spot where I crossed over a bunch of text.
Isn't that just todo.txt-formatting with its "@" associations and "+" project tags?
I barely do it anymore but when I did it was a bit to put thoughts in order or tell stuff that I couldn't tell to anyone to someone that will never read it.
Sometimes was some kind of dialogue with myself.
Nowadays is mostly for the pleasure of writing by hand and improving my handwriting or as an excuse to use my typewriter.
Don't worry about it being worth documenting, it is rarely the goal for journaling to document what happened accurately. It is more about discovering your thought and emotional patterns. Sometimes it can be nice to see how they have changed over time.
I write for myself with the primary goal to readjust what I know are irrational thoughts and emotions. The effect is surprisingly good, I have for example never had fewer ruminating thoughts than now. If you need a drill to get you started try gratuity journaling ; find three things to be grateful for each day.
You write because it organizes your thoughts better. Every other reason I feel will not sustain the effort.
Makes me feel better about myself, seeing what I have achieved the past days.
Surely, your life matters to you?
eh
