Keeping a journal

[Oli]

So lately I've been thinking a bit about writing in a journal to reflect on different aspects of life. Haven't really gotten into the routine of it, I'm kinda lacking in motivation. Does anybody here keep a journal to keep track of aspects of their life? Anybody find it useful for anything, or is it more just a past-time you do for kicks?

[Tim]

I have a diary that I originally bought to write in every day as I was traveling.

Writing didn't vibe with me as a daily habit like meditation and other things have, so I ended up only writing in it occasionally. Now I'm not traveling and I only write once every couple of weeks or so.

I do find it to be really useful though, because I find the physical act of writing encourages me to express things far better than any other medium. So what usually happens is that I get a thought in my head, and it sort of churns around inside my brain for a week or more, and eventually it builds to the point where I have to release it somehow. So I grab my diary and just start writing, and while I usually start off by just writing down what I've already considered and concluded, I end up discussing things I haven't yet considered, and start asking myself other questions.

The important thing for me is to always have it handy, otherwise the idea can just slowly slip out of my thoughts.

[Traindom]

Hey Tim, do your thoughts include experiences, events, and such? I always thought of a diary or journal as a way to record what transpires in your life. I've been wanting to write more in a journal. Writing is extremely underrated these days. I love it though. I'm always asking teachers for my essays because I like to keep my writing.

[Tim]

Mine's not really descriptive of my life unless it relates to those thoughts, for various reasons. I wrote a travel blog about my experiences when I was overseas, but I have no self-restraint, so my posts ended up being insanely long. Thousands of words for most of them. I loved doing it, because I just enjoyed getting in that state of flow, but it was pretty self-indulgent. Luckily I had some friends who quite liked that, and read them all I think. I was writing more for myself anyway, and I think it'll be cool to look back on one day, even if I'm going to be totally embarrassed at how pretentious/try-hard a lot of it was.

I think if you enjoy writing, and you enjoy writing about your life, go for it. I love writing in a book the most, but I'm planning to start a blog soon because I feel the need to start writing something that's a bit more disciplined and interesting. If you're at all interested it'd be cool if you check it out and tell me what you think. And I'd be keen to do the same for any of your writing.

[Mark]

Journaling is super useful. For me, my blog has largely acted as a journal... but I write a lot of stuff privately as well, particularly when I'm emotionally charged about something. Before the blog though I wrote quite a bit...

Journaling is one of the few self-help devices that science has found evidence to back up. I think (don't remember) this guy's talk covers it:
http://postmasculine.com/how-to-be-slightly-happier

[Alvar]

I used to write down my experiences after every night out, one or two years ago. Can't say it helped me, although I suspect it was useful for a time; I do have a high threshold for evidence...
I quit writing after a few months when it felt like a chord and I had to push myself to do it. I also tried writing short gratitude notes last autumn but give up pretty fast.
In her book "the how of happiness" Sonja Lyubomirsky explains that, for most people, it is ideal to vary the subject of writing and not to do it daily. Like Tim says above, she also suggests to write down negative or emotionally charged events, writing helps get your head straight and see what may have gone unnoticed.

I do write daily, I've been doing sentence completion exercises for 4 months already. I believe it is the fact that I pick my own stems that makes me look forward to it.