Keeping a journal can come in various forms: jotting down random thoughts, gluing in pictures and movie tickets, or even recording your favorite memories. For me, keeping a journal includes all of the above. Here why I’m glad that I continued the 6th grade “diary” trend all the way to my freshman year in college.
1. Memories-One of my favorite things to do is look back and read about my life. It is so cool for me to relive the things I’ve done through my writing. So many parts of my past I would have forgotten if it weren’t for writing them down.
2. Someone to listen-Sometimes I don’t want to share every worry, thought, and idea with a real person. My poor roommate listens t
o my stories every day: I pretty much tell her every detail of my life. But sometimes my thoughts need a different escape from my wild brain. There’
s nothing better than a fresh blank page, eager to listen at all times of the day.
3. Reflection-At this time in my life as a 19 year old, I am constantly changing. Having a journal lets me look back, as I flip through the pages of my life, and see how I’ve grown. I think it is important to reflect on myself, even though sometimes it is embarrassing to see how immature I used to be, but we’ll ignore that part.
4. Freedom!-As you can probably guess, since I am currently writing this article, I genuinely enjoy writing. My journal, full of white pages, begs me to expand my creativity through my writing. How often do you have the total freedom of writing ANYTHING you want—no teacher telling you some dumb prompt, no harsh grades waiting to define you, no eyes even to read it expect yours?? Having a journal makes writing fun, something that our English teachers stole ever since the day we stopped making picture books with no plot whatsoever, but it was okay.
Having a journal has given me a solid piece of memories—of laughing with my friends, family trips that didn’t go as planned, concerts I replay in my head over and over and over. It has captured all my crazy thoughts and seen a side of me that no one else has. A journal gives you a way to reveal yourself in the most raw form. Anyone can do it—all you need is a pad of paper and a pen (I recommend a pen you like writing with for guaranteed enjoyment)! So start writing, I dare you!
P.S. Here are a few things you can include in your journal to get started…
-movie tickets
-birthday cards
-your favorite essays
-list of your favorite songs/movies
-your future goals
-recent text threads
-fortune cookie fortunes
-pictures pictures pictures!
-what you did yesterday
-all your thoughts, let them out!