Welcome to my confession. For over forty years, various people have suggested that I keep a journal. I never did. I’ve tossed more notebook and journaling books than I can count on fingers and toes.
As a writer, why have I refused to journal? Perhaps it is like eating vegetables or vacuuming. Writing every day is great discipline and practice, which is why I do it. Give me a subject or allow me to pick a topic, no problem. Tell me to write about myself and I’ll push it back like a serving of Brussel sprouts.
I can be a complicated person. Ask anyone who knows or is related to me. They have my sympathies. Scratch the surface and we all might have reams of twisted logic and contradictions. So I’m not the only one, just the one I know the best.
Keeping a journal always sounded like work; and a series of written thoughts that I’d never share with another person, and why have it sitting around? What if someone found it? A journal is not just a list of what you’ve done, it’s your thoughts and views; your vulnerability. A journal is where you need to be honest with yourself.
Doesn’t a journal sound a lot like a diary? Teenage girls keep diaries, and fend off little brothers from trying to read it. Dear Diary, I saw this incredible boy today in social studies. What a dreamboat!! No thanks.
My substitute for journaling is blogging; if you look closely, my blogs tell a lot about what I’m doing, thinking and believe. I suggest to friends, family and associates: subscribe to my blog. New blogs are delivered to your email as soon as they are published. Easy, peasy. While that sounds like self-promotion (it is); blogging is one way I communicate with others (and the world).
Magda Tabac is a writer for Medium.com and has a very good article about journaling, The Neuroscience of Journaling And Its Benefits. Tabac lists great reasons for journaling: creativity, mental stimulation, documentation, reflecting on thoughts, etc. I agree with all of those.
I jot down ideas before a meeting, or during a meeting, so I have an ongoing account of something important in my life. I do the same thing with important phone calls, things I commit to doing and ideas for success. While I don’t call it journaling, at a certain age it certainly does help.
Speaking of seniors, I ran across this helpful article, which espouses many of the benefits for any journaler, but there are additional benefits related to memory and mental stimulation.
I did discover that journaling can be good for developing writing projects. I just never thought of it in those terms.
He (or she) who writes daily not only keeps the pencil sharp, but also the mind. – not an ancient proverb
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