If you’re anything like me, you’re really looking to find a hobby right now. Finding a hobby that leaves me fulfilled and helps ground me in the present moment is my main goal for 2024; many people have suggested trying pottery, reading more, taking up a sport in intramurals, or even making sure my room stays cleaner than it was last year (sorry mom).
But more than anything, people in real life and all over the internet suggest taking up journaling as the ultimate hobby, self-reflection tool, nostalgia-invoker… and basically, the key to understanding yourself (lofty claim, I know).
I’ve tried a bunch of hobbies, some of which have stuck around. I love anything to do with taking photos, decorating my room, vlogging on my private story, going for walks and to workout classes, baking, and creating things. However, I’ve also tried hobbies that didn’t really make me feel like myself. For example, when I was a total beginner at the gym, I tried lifting weights everyday. I didn’t know the right exercises or the right form, and I was too “in my head” about whether I was doing it right to decide whether I was having fun or not. And that’s the thing about hobbies — you should be having fun while you do them!
So this year, I want to give journaling another shot. I want to be consistent with it, and I want to have fun while I do it.
I wrote a diary when I was seven. I’d go back and forth between writing in it and leaving it alone (which I was totally fine with, because I was seven). It was pink cloth with doodles of elephants all over it, and I treasured that little book. I still have it to this day. When I look back on my entries, I feel an overwhelming sense of love and protection for my younger self. I love looking back on the things that once seemed so important to me — like the original yet plagiarized love song I wrote about my first love, Colton Dixon, the guy who came in seventh place on Season 11 of American Idol. If you’re wondering, I used the lyrics fromVictoria Justice’s My Best Friend’s Brother and tried to pass them off as my own. Thankfully, this was kept to the confines of my diary, which I hoped no one would ever read.
Without having kept a diary, how else would I have known about my crush on some random guy on TV? This is one of the main aspects of keeping a journal that I’d enjoy the most: looking back on the mundane moments in my life. Especially as I’m entering my fourth year of university, I’m realizing that I’ll never get my life back exactly how it is in this moment. There’s a lot of growing up we’re going to be doing in the next few years, and I don’t want to forget a second of it.
So, get a journal. Get a pen that writes exactly how you like it (for me, I like a black ballpoint pen that tucks into a spiral-bound notebook). And document your life in a space where no one else will ever see it (unless you want them to). Be honest, be messy, write as much or as little as you want to. Write about the first time you got your heart broken, the coffee shop you and your friends go to on Sunday mornings, the things you need to get from the grocery store that week. Write about it all. There is so much beauty in our little day-to-day moments, and I guarantee you’ll want to look back on it.