The Joy of Journaling

July 27, 2010

Blog, blog, blog! Everyone wants to blog these days.  Why?  What does it mean to blog?  It simply means to write down random thoughts or specific thoughts.  Just write!  Is a blog like a journal?  Yes, in most cases it is.  However, when you journal your thoughts on paper or save them to your own computer, they are for your eyes only.  When you blog, your thoughts are out there for the whole world to read.  Call me old-school, but I like the journaling that's for my eyes only.

Twenty four years ago, I started to journal.  I still write in my journal every single day.  I have only missed a few days here and there over the past several years.  I love to journal.  I am not necessarily a writer, but I love to write my thoughts down.  I write down my plans for the day or my frustrations after a long day.  It is a way for me to channel my emotions.  My journal is my best friend.  I tell my journal everything and the best part is it will not talk back unless I ask it to.  I have written in spiral notebooks, daily ledgers, calendars, sketching pads, homemade note books, diaries with locks and even yup, paper towels.  If I have a thought, I have to record it.  My journals have seen me through some really tough times in my life. 

You know those huge 14-gallon Rubbermaid storage totes? Well, I have 9 of those filled with my journals.  I also have several boxes filled, that I have not moved into bins yet.  Yeah, that’s a lot of writing.  Just the other day, I went  through one of the older totes, and to my surprise I pulled out a journal where I was sitting on my bathroom floor writing about my daughter and son being in the bath tub, playing with their bubbles, and singing the “B is for Bubble” song.  Our history is in those journals.  So, if you get the chance, the hankering to write, just do it.  Start with any thought you have.  You may think it’s silly, but who cares?  No one is reading it but you.  Who knows, in 20 years you may be doing the same thing I’m doing.  Re-reading, re-crying, re-laughing and most importantly re-enjoying those writings.  Release! Relax! Write!

Try our library catalog for books on journaling.

Beth F.