I have always kept a journal on and off throughout my years growing up. I was about 10-years-old when my aunt gave me my first journal and told me that “every girl should have one”.
When I was younger, my journal was filled with trivial things; like homework assignments that I thought were unfair or punishments that my mother had given me for something I did wrong. Every now and again it would be a retelling of my day or something exciting I did.
When I entered high school, I sort of forgot about my journal and my mission to write in it at least once a week. It wasn’t something I was prioritizing, or thought was important anymore.
However, this May I logged onto my (slightly over-used), Amazon account and ordered a journal. I picked out something that I thought was very cute and would inspire me to write in.
I figured that with all my extra time during quarantine, I could write.
Since then I’ve been writing in my journal at least once a week and sometimes as often as four times a week. The journalist inside me screams for joy because I’m writing something, but I enjoy the freedom that I have between the pages. It has become somewhat of a safe place for me to express my thoughts and feelings in a non-judgmental way. So, here’s why I think you should also start a journal.
- A Place to Write Your Goals
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A lot of times we think about all the things we want to accomplish. Sometimes we have concrete timelines and other times we just have the ideas of the task we want to do. Having a journal to write those things down, helps with accomplishing those goals.
- Improves Your Writing
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Even though it may seem obvious, actively writing helps you improve your skills. Whether this is spelling or basic grammar, you will see an improvement in the way you write. Also, having to think out your thoughts and write them down helps you when it comes to writing other things in assignments.
- Tracks Your Growth
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‘Growth’ could be in the way you look at certain relationships and how it’s changed. This may be in the way you view certain past situations. By tracking your feelings, you are able to go back and re-read those thoughts you had and compare them with your present emotions.
- Improves Your Memory
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Not a foreign concept that our memory can be faulty. Writing frequently helps you keep a history of what is going on in your life. You may not be able to remember what you did on May 9th, 2008, but your journal sure would.
- A Way to De-Stress
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Having the ability to write down my feelings in a book also helps me think through what I am actually going through. I may have started my writing session thinking I was angry, but then realize while I’m writing that what I am actually feeling is hurt.
Journaling was something I had to force myself to remember to do in the beginning but now it is something that I look forward to doing at the end of the day. It’s the moment that I get to debrief and capture my feelings in words and it’s very therapeutic to me.
Also, how else am I supposed to live my Carrie Bradshaw fantasy?