A journal is the writer’s soul made tangible. I’ve been using journals in some form since I was a child, but I’ve been keeping them seriously for about ten years.
I’m lucky. My high school’s curriculum required students to write for five minutes before every class. I took eight classes. That gave me a half an hour a day during my formative years to get into the habit of writing.
The school board believed journals would improve our essays. I won’t give the school too much credit, I would have found my way into journaling without them, but they hastened the process.
In the past 20 years I have found numerous benefits in journals.
A link to the past.
A memory is the freshest when it first happens. When you tell the same tale repeatedly over time the story evolves. Details get forgotten, and things get added. Each time the story is retold, the memory is rewritten. With each reiteration the truth becomes skewed.
A journal is a direct link to the memories as they are created. When using a journal to revisit the past, you know that what you wrote will be the closest to the true events. The story isn’t filtered through a fickle memory.
A photo album.
My journal is full of family photos. The photos in my journal have stories attached. Sometimes a single photo will have a five-page story. Looking at old photos is enriched when you have the information about when, where, and why it was taken.
A recipe book.
Every recipe that I try and love makes its way to my journal. Usually accompanied by where I found it, when I made it, and photos of my family enjoying it.
My journal has my grandmother’s biscuits, my son’s paternal grandmother’s cornbread, the banana nut bread me and my son have been making together since he was four, Chocolate Mousse, chocolate cookies, and butter cream frosting just to name a few. I’m happy knowing our family recipes are in a safe place.
Goal tracking
Most of my plans come from my journal. It’s the place that I get clarity on what I want and how far I am from it. Each step that gets written down reminds me of the progress I’ve made and keeps me motivated for the work to come.
Improves Handwriting
I’ll give my school a little credit. Journaling did help improve my writing. Though not in the way they intended. I once tried to reread something I’d written. I couldn’t make out my own handwriting. Afterwards I made efforts to write slower and neater. Over the years consciously practicing writing legibly made my natural handwriting almost as neat as my conscientious writing.
A connection to the past and future
Who are you going to be in ten years? Who were you ten years ago? Without knowing yourself the first answer is impossible, and the second relies on faulty memory. A journal creates a static impression of the person you are when you write it.
A journal gives you the means to revisit those impressions and learn your own patterns of behavior. When you know who you’ve been, you know who you are, and if you know where you want to go, you can have a better idea of who you’ll be when you get there.
Keeping a journal has changed my life. It’s enriched my memories; it’s given me a tangible connection to where I’ve been and a road map for where I want to go. I wouldn’t be who I am without it.
There are few things as sentimental and enriching as a well-used journal. I hope you’ll consider getting one for yourself.
Photo Attribution: "Journal Book Pen" by CorbeauCreative is in the Public Domain, CC0
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