I’ve kept a journal for most of my life. When I was a kid, I wrote dialogue and observations for the hundreds of novels I would write as an adult. As a teen, I wrote poems, thoughts, and created little pictures. As an adult, I have found that it helps me to download the day its own file and the things that bothered me throughout the day are dealt with, and sometimes I even find what my real feelings are and come up with ways to help myself.
There is something about journaling that clears your mind. I know that some people are afraid to journal their innermost thoughts because they are afraid someone will find it and read it – a child, spouse or co-worker for example. I created a file and named it something that no one will be interested in. Sometimes if I really have something I don’t want others to read, I write it and burn it or create a document and then delete it.
You could even get a lock-box and keep it in there.
Actually, I now have enough stuff that I can write a novel, and reading through things helps me to see how I handled things badly in the past, or how I bowed to pressure and did something I didn’t want to do. After reading a few pages in my old journals I can usually find a pattern that needs to be changed.
Journaling your emotions can allow you to get them out in a safe way – it keeps things from building up and eventually exploding.
I like to use pretty journals or beautiful fonts when I am writing on the computer. Purple or pink ink – you name it. Having pretty things makes me happy and a pretty journal is no different. It’s really hard to be angry for long when you are writing in pink.
photo credit: Marcos Ojeda
