BrianAdamsID
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Is journaling always worthwhile?
- Thread starter BrianAdamsID
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I kept a journal for about a year, back in 2008. I really learned a lot about myself while writing it, and for various other historical reason, it turned out to be one of the most important things I've ever done. But once writing in it got too... compulsive, I guess, I had to give it up. I started feeling like I had let myself down or something if I went more than a few days without writing in it.
pinata
Well-known member
I used to keep a diary but yeah I guess it does sort of end up seeming a bit self-absorbed in a way. I haven't kept anything like a journal for years now, but I don't see much point in it. When I DID keep one, I rarely read back previous entries, but when I did it was sort of embarassing lol, writing about crushes I had on guys and what had bothered me on a certain day. It just makes you dwell on things, and I don't think that dwelling on good or bad things is a great idea. Well, for me personally anyway. You might as well just live in the moment and move on, take each day as it comes and don't revel in it. I probably won't have enough time to make a journal when I go back to uni anyway!
razzle dazzle rose
Well-known member
I started a diary when I was about ten, and kept at it till I was about 20 or 21. Thing was I used to basically just vent. Unlike you, I would reread my past entries and it would all make me depressed again. So I destroyed them-best thing I ever did. I do enjoy writing and like the idea of keeping a journal to document thoughts, so I bought a journal a few days ago. I don't know if I will keep up with it. I want to focus it more on observations...maybe descriptions, which is the truer purpose of a journal anyway. Ah, which reminds me of this scene in Bridesmaids, in which the roommate reads Annie's diary and says she didn't know it was a diary at first, she thought it was a "very sad handwritten book." I don't want to write sad books anymore.
I write in a private journal even now and have been doing so for five years or so. At first I did it to try and feel better (like getting it off my chest kind of thing) or to find answers, but those hopeful outcomes never happened. Now I do it to make sense of what's going on in my mind by putting it into coherent sentences, and it's a way of letting off steam when I don't feel like talking about it to anyone yet.
Having said that, I always feel that talking about your thoughts and worries with another person helps a lot because they can give you a fresh perspective on these things. Otherwise my thoughts would just go round in circles endlessly.
Having said that, I always feel that talking about your thoughts and worries with another person helps a lot because they can give you a fresh perspective on these things. Otherwise my thoughts would just go round in circles endlessly.
I always wanted to keep a journal. A lot of people told me that its helpful, but I'm just too lazy to keep one lol.
I started keeping one here recently. Today I saw one of those ppl with all those initials after their name....that I cant spell.....haha.
Anyways I knew hed be in so I read through my journal ( which is recent) but it did help me answer questions. Like 'What is your general state of mind? Do you think you're depressed? ' I could say 'No, I'm frustrated and I'm struggling but I am positive and I am proactive' I probably wouldnt have been able to answer honestly before.
Anyways I knew hed be in so I read through my journal ( which is recent) but it did help me answer questions. Like 'What is your general state of mind? Do you think you're depressed? ' I could say 'No, I'm frustrated and I'm struggling but I am positive and I am proactive' I probably wouldnt have been able to answer honestly before.
Kiwong
Well-known member
I think keeping a journal is a great idea. I find that I am able to isolate the good thoughts which tend to get swamped by a tidal wave of worrying thoughts. It's a way to turn up the volume of more helpful advice I send to myself. I'm surprised at what gets through. The other thing is that I write about the good days, and I can relive them any time I want.
this_portrait
Well-known member
Every time I start a journal, I never seem to keep up with it. It's a bit of a relief to write in one when I feel any kind of negative emotion, though.
EscapeArtist
Well-known member
Very interesting thread topic. Well, when I read that you journal so often, it makes me have a lot of respect for you, so I must see it as a positive and self-care kind of thing
Hmm.. as far as becoming too self-absorbed from journaling... I think that can rely on a lot of things. If you're using forums (like spworld) and having a journal, it can definitely be too much you-focused time. If you're out and about, challenging fears or having fun living life and you don't give yourself a lot of time to dwell, then having a journal is a very good thing.
But on the other hand if you're a person that has a lot of emotions, and even dwells all day on your problems, or you're not able to express yourself in the public eye, then putting your emotions down on paper can help to release them.
If you feel like it puts you too much in your head, is it because you are writing about things that you are not expressing in your living life and it lets some real hidden emotions start to emerge that you can't hold back the rest of the day? Or is it because you feel like you're analyzing yourself instead of expressing yourself in your journal? Or mabe, like me, it's easier to hide in your problems as an excuse not to connect with people when they're around, and your journal gives you a reference to all the things you can hide in?
It sounds like it could be important to further think about why your journaling is making you feel detached from the world. Maybe take a break from it for a few days even and see what happens
Hmm.. as far as becoming too self-absorbed from journaling... I think that can rely on a lot of things. If you're using forums (like spworld) and having a journal, it can definitely be too much you-focused time. If you're out and about, challenging fears or having fun living life and you don't give yourself a lot of time to dwell, then having a journal is a very good thing.
But on the other hand if you're a person that has a lot of emotions, and even dwells all day on your problems, or you're not able to express yourself in the public eye, then putting your emotions down on paper can help to release them.
If you feel like it puts you too much in your head, is it because you are writing about things that you are not expressing in your living life and it lets some real hidden emotions start to emerge that you can't hold back the rest of the day? Or is it because you feel like you're analyzing yourself instead of expressing yourself in your journal? Or mabe, like me, it's easier to hide in your problems as an excuse not to connect with people when they're around, and your journal gives you a reference to all the things you can hide in?
It sounds like it could be important to further think about why your journaling is making you feel detached from the world. Maybe take a break from it for a few days even and see what happens