5 reasons why you should keep a journal and how it can change your life.
Why should you keep a journal
Most successful people advocate keeping a
journal. Right now I am reading a brilliant book by Julia Cameron called ‘The
Artists Way’.
One of the quotes from the book, that stood out for me is :
“In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to right now. The precise moment I was in was always the only safe place for me.”
A record of now: Keeping a journal is a record of your
now. Your present reality. Your goals. Your dreams. Your aspirations.
Slotting time: Without a journal, one day merges into
another, merges into a third. Time is a blur. With a journal, there is a goal,
a map, a ‘place to go’.
It is like a blurprint to shape your
life.
It is fun: If you feel writing a journal is
monotonous, you can make a bullet journal. Or a scrapbook of ‘wishes’. Make it
fun. Make it any way you want. There are no hard and fast rules. But do
maintain one.
Record of growth: You will see how much you have grown
from the time you start it, to a few years from then on.
Clearer though process: When you start writing in a journal,
your thought process becomes clearer. You tend to start becoming more
assertive. Your dreams materialise.
I have kept a journal ever since I was
10. I don’t write every day, but I do write regularly. From 2005 onwards, I
stopped keeping chronological diaries. Instead, I write when I feel like
writing, and I put the date.
Try it.
Read up about it.
Then do it.
You only have a lot to gain.
Have you ever kept a journal? Has it helped you? Do you intend to start one?
Tell me in my comments below. 3 comments win a BEAUTIFUL exclusive special edition mug, designed by my team.
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Grab my latest book: http://preeti.io/3
Mam
ReplyDeleteVery good blog
I also have it with mine beautiful pictures on it
I thus pour out happiness as well as pain
The dairy is mine SOUL PARTNER which i trust fully
I too. But i write only in system first and copy paste to dairy to reduce errors☺
DeleteYeap. Got it right Preeti. We should keep a journal infact according to me it should be one of our daily needs. I am writing a journal since class 8th. And really, when I look back at my writing, it have improved a lot. One thing I like the most about it is that it improve our writing skills.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child, I used to keep a journal. If there was something which I would not forget to do at the end of the day, then it had to be to write in my journal. I would write and write and write until my hand hurt. Keeping a journal not only helped me remember those days of my life, but it also helped me improve my English writing/reading/proofreading skills. This is why I hope to start writing in my journal again. Surely, it will bring back so many fond memories, and of course, create new ones! Nice post, as always, Preeti!
ReplyDeleteI do. They don't have to be the designer ones, and I don't write daily, but I can't do without it. I even keep a section for dream journal. I find dreams fascinating and have written some stories inspired by my dreams.
ReplyDeleteI agree with u , afterall It helped amir khan alot in "Ghajini". :)
ReplyDeleteWriting a journal has been a peaceful experience for me... But with time I kind of stopped writing.... After reading your inspiring posts I wish to begin writing again and I soon will...
ReplyDeleteI've kept a journal for about the last 3 yrs now...it has given me more clarity in life..sometimes we tend to forget who we were in the past wen we get affected by great adversities nd it is gonna change who u are..A journal is a reminder of who we were nd it also let's us know how much we have grown intelectually..One if the other reason I keep a journal is bcos I have a strong desire to become a writer nd it helps me keep track of my emotion which might in turn help me write a book from all perspectives..
ReplyDeleteI tried writing diaries at the start of every new year only to realize that I lacked the consistency and interest. however when I got into a relation things changed. I realized i had plenty of things which I cherished and the need to preserve, that's how I started writing a journal. It remained a place where i hid all the best events in my life with the person I thought, none could replace. every time i met him, I had something to celebrate about and I wrote. but not for long. my relation ended very harshly and hastily and my journal was where i poured in my emotions, anxieties and apprehensions. i picked up courage and wrote about my plans how to go about dealing with such searing pain. that is the time when i wrote down that i need to focus on a new thing to move on, and i tried many things until i came to do trekking. i felt that it is adventurous, and added new spirit to my soul and continued it. Now i write down my list of places to go trekking and strike them off with pride when i write my experiences from each trek. :) its true that when you re-read your journal we realize how much we have grown, reminds us that the problems and troubles after all are not as unsolvable as they seem to us at those moments. it takes time for one to get a new perspective and a journal could help gather those ideas. :)
ReplyDeleteI had been writing a journal since my 10th birthday. Which means it's been 8 years till now, as I am 18. It was no sooner that I read your article about the "5 reasons..", that I was tempted to do something I have not done for all these years.
ReplyDeleteSo, I just went back, picked up my journals I wrote so far -that counts to 4 hardbacks! I had read my own hand written life which was something I had never done before. It was so amazing and felt too good. I was tongue-tied, that soon after I finished reading them, I came to my table and now, I am writing a reply!
Thank you mam!
You have really helped me become a strong person. It is because of you that I do several things I even fear to think about!
I wish you and your family all the goodness of the heaven and earth! You are one among those persons whom I thank everyday, soon after I wake up in the morning.
Might be too touchy, but life is meant to be enjoyed with all the little things we value. Little things make a great difference, Life is indeed what we make it! (That one I learnt from you)!
Many thanks,
Always,
Shinega.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWriting a journal or what I call a diary has been a very important part forever. It's such a intriguing process when you open a fresh book or a diary to write on and you can smell and feel all those fresh pages and you have no idea what will come up on these pages later. You never know what you will whisper to yourself at the end of tomorrow and listen yourself, getting rid of the agony of an untold story inside you. I can easily sum up my days , my ups and downs by the length or the choice of words I have in my diary. I feel my worries are shaken off and transferred with the black scribbles on white paper, my joys are reborn and I can relive them anytime later on. Also at times , when you read those bad experiences again, when you have made peace with it , you might just learn the lesson that came in disguise and you were too angry or too hurt to learn it on the day it happened.
ReplyDeleteIt's like you taste life once in the moment and then again in retrospect. I believe it will be a long letter to someone who reads it after I die . And I can pass on what I want the people in future to know.
It's such an sweet escape for introverts who want to speak their mind out without making eye contact.
Best part, you don't have to be a writer to be able to write a diary, nobody is going to judge your grammar, your story telling skills , your imagination or your character.... it's a story you tell yourself. You don't have to be a writer to write a journal, but you have to write a journal to be a writer.
Agree with you.I also write journal. I am writing a journal since i was 14. It helps me most in my teenage years to grow up as a matured person. I write not only when I feel angry, helpless and ashamed but also when I feel happy and proud about myself.
ReplyDeleteWriting a journal will make a person better than his/her past.My journal shows a graph about myself.
I lived in hostel for 5 years. During that time my journal was my best friend. It connects me with myself. Every page of my journals has a different story. It helps to be a positive person. It helps me in being a good friend, a good daughter and a good wife.
I am 28 now and pregnant. I hope my journal also helps me in being a wonderful mother.
regards,
Nupur
Yes I had maintained a dairy before. I had a habit of writing dates as well.I had never thought my dairy would be able to shift my focus from now to beautiful then. I often read my dairy and I find surprising stuffs about my life. I do plan to start writing it again and for life time. Thanks to you Preeti. You have really encouraged young minds to express themselves through writing.Cheers.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Shubham Patil
By keeping a journal we can learn from our mistakes in the past and correct them in the present to have a better future.And I am going to start writing my own journal.
ReplyDeletehttps://sajidsheikh7.wordpress.com/2016/10/27/checkmate-with-soulmate/
ReplyDeleteThis is for guest review mam..
As a Author, which novels inspired you the best in your life.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am maintaining a journal from one year, the reason is that Iam a very talkative person & always have full of words to share with, but no one has that patience or time to listen to my junk all the time, I use to blame my family & friends for not alloting time for me when I actually need them, but no use everyone is busy in their own lives. That's when I decided to get solution for this through a journal . It's exactly one year I have started writing more than 100 entries by now.
ReplyDeleteSo now I am more matured girl, who knows what she wants in each & every aspect of life. Reason I write what my heart says & my mind reads it through eyes while writing,then my mind reasons everything what my heart's feels aboutby penning it down.Exploring myself more & more day by day
I seriously recommend everyone to start writing to know themselves.
Yes, I am maintaining a journal from one year, the reason is that Iam a very talkative person & always have full of words to share with, but no one has that patience or time to listen to my junk all the time, I use to blame my family & friends for not alloting time for me when I actually need them, but no use everyone is busy in their own lives. That's when I decided to get solution for this through a journal . It's exactly one year I have started writing more than 100 entries by now.
ReplyDeleteSo now I am more matured girl, who knows what she wants in each & every aspect of life. Reason I write what my heart says & my mind reads it through eyes while writing,then my mind reasons everything what my heart's feels aboutby penning it down.Exploring myself more & more day by day
I seriously recommend everyone to start writing to know themselves.
I should start right away
ReplyDeleteI should start right away
ReplyDeleteI should start right away
ReplyDeleteyou should. It do wonders to the writing :)
DeleteYou are right madam. Same as your book "The Secret WishList". Maintaining a journal gives one insight of where one is heading and what all one has to do in future. Moreover writing and viewing the previous unachieved goals helps one to strive and achieve them.
ReplyDeleteWell said Mam! I have managed my chronical journel as well as a journel in which I write only when I feel like writing. Journels do wonders to our writing. also, I have created a blog yesterday being inspired by you. Do visit it. :)
ReplyDeletelifeisyourpreciousgift.blogspot.com
:)
I do have a journal that and I'm writing it from two years and it has helped me a lot to channel my thoughts and emotions.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYes , It is really a slate on which we can scribble what is there in one's mind. We can see the changes in our thought process over years. Sometimes we can laugh at our own thoughts...and look for future direction from past mistakes. I used to write on and off but not so regular. I stopped it after it was read by someone and it hurts. Anyway thanks for bring it afresh in my mind. Happy blogging.
ReplyDelete