Do you keep a personal Journal? **Not Food**

I used to keep a journal. I really had no one to talk to and I was in a really bad marriage. It helped to get those feelings out. I kept it up as I went through my divorce and started my new life..
I don't keep one for myself anymore, but when I found out I was pregnant, I started one for my daughter. She's now almost three. I wrote about my feelings through my pregnancy, the first time I felt her kick, things like that. Now that she's here, I write about her "firsts", vacations we go on, things we do as a family, or just a little note to tell her how I feel about her. I hope to give it to her for her 18th birthday. For some reason I don't remember much about my childhood, and I think it will be nice for her to have something to look back on...

I am taking a class on Personal Journaling and need help with a homework assignment. (I have tried and failed to start journaling a number of times and I am hoping a class will get me on the right track)

I am supposed to find 3 people that journal, but no one I know keeps a journal - or no one will admit to it.

If you would like to help I have to get answers to the following questions:
(feel free to message me if you prefer)

1. What led you to begin journaling?
2. How often do/did you journal?
3. What tools or techniques help you to journal?
4. What benefits do/did you receive from journaling?

Thank you, Thank you , Thank you!!
Mary

I journal and I feel no shame in it

1-I began journaling when I was a kid and have kept one off an one for many years. Each time I start again it is due to some stress in my life I need some place to vent about.

2-I journal whenever the mood strikes me. That may be everyday for weeks and then not again for months.

3-I dont feel that I use any tools to journal other than picking a favorite pen and journal that appeals to me, I do prefer to be alone when I do it.

4-I feel relieved when I get things off my chest many times just talking to friends or family about it does not help. When I take the time to write it down I can let it go and focus on the rest of my life. Some days Im just dying to get to my journal, others I forget I even have it.

Hope that helps, I remember the days of HW, if you need more feel free to message me

I love journaling and have been an active journaler my whole life.

1. What led you to begin journaling?

Writing is the way I organize my life, whether it be in lists, in poetry, or free writing. Writing was someTHING I could turn to when I did not have someONE.

2. How often do/did you journal?

I have journaled on and off my whole life, probably since I was 12. I now aim to journal at least once a week. I really want to journal more though.

3. What tools or techniques help you to journal?

I have tried journaliing online or writing in word. Tools that help me the most are a real notebook for a journal and a great black, inky pen. Also, setting time aside to journal helps me the most. Knowing in the back of my head that I am going to journal after all my chores are done or something really helps me enter a "free" mindset to relax enough to begin journaling.

4. What benefits do/did you receive from journaling?

I can organize my thoughts. I can identify problems in my life and solve them through writing. I am not logical at all most of the time. I am very creative and live in my dreams. Writing, while creative for me, actually becomes more of a logical process because I have to think about each thought individually as I write it down. Because of this, I can understand my thoughts easier because I come "face to face" with them in my writing.

Hope this helps. If you have any further questions, feel free to message me.

Oh, and believe it or not, I journal about dieting and my food choices. Journaling about how I was unhappy with myself is what led me to start a diet in the first place.

1. What led you to begin journaling?
It always felt like it was a way to work out all things in my head and something to look back on when I wondere what I was like in 7th grad (which is terrifying)

2. How often do/did you journal?
I try daily and I am successful most of the time.

3. What tools or techniques help you to journal?
A really beautiful book to write in is always a good motivator.

4. What benefits do/did you receive from journaling?
I was able to figure out my problems better and communicate with other people better once I ranted to my journal.

I keep a private blog on another website. I use it as somewhere that I can say whatever is in my mind and not worry about making some mad or hurting their feelings. It is where I get all my emotions out. I started it 10 years ago when my grandma had a heart attack and I seriously thought I would go crazy with worry about her. I've continued it - though I don't write everyday or even once a week sometimes. It is really where I turn where I'm just totally fed up.

I journal about once or twice a week. As Qarol said, it's therapeutic. I write out my "deepest, darkest" thoughts, feelings, etc. It helps me to get that out on paper because then I don't feel like it's stuck inside me... It helps me to let things go, if that makes sense. In my journal, I don't just write, I also draw, color, etc... Just whatever "feels right" or helpful at the moment. As far as tools that help me to journal, I often just try to listen to my feelings and my body's signals about when I need that stress release. If I notice that I am really stressed or tense, etc, then it's time to journal again! . Hope that helps. Message me with an more questions you might have... I'm happy to answer them!

I am taking a class on Personal Journaling and need help with a homework assignment. (I have tried and failed to start journaling a number of times and I am hoping a class will get me on the right track)

I am supposed to find 3 people that journal, but no one I know keeps a journal - or no one will admit to it.

If you would like to help I have to get answers to the following questions:
(feel free to message me if you prefer)

1. What led you to begin journaling?
2. How often do/did you journal?
3. What tools or techniques help you to journal?
4. What benefits do/did you receive from journaling?

Thank you, Thank you , Thank you!!
Mary

I used to have a blog... where i would write all the time about life etc. It has a PCOS section, infertility section and family section. But after a not so great encounter with someone I deleted my Google account not thinking and there went my blog ! ..

and I am a journelier as well.. I have many books of journals that I have kept over the years. But I I know journal at Penzu.com which just let's me write down my thoughts.

I tend to write for days at a time, and then skip days at a time.

Benefits: clears my head, gets all the junk out there, even if no one reads it.

I've kept a journal, on and off, for about 15 years now.

1. Originally because I planned to quit my job and go travelling, so I started a few months before leaving and kept it going for several years. I wanted to record my thoughts and experiences during a time of unfamiliarity.

2. Daily at least. I kept my journal on a Psion 3 organiser (a relic by today's standards!) and it went with me most places. I would write most evenings at bed time and occasionally at other times, like on a bus journey.

3. Tools? Well physically, a Psion 3 organiser which had solid state memory cards (and a backup) and a mini word processor that could encrypt the file. I liked to keep it private so I could be honest to myself. There was no WWW back then and the internet was hard to come by, so the journal stayed with me. Techniques? Well, I'd observe mostly how I felt about things. I kept notes about where I was going, how much things cost, where I stayed, etc, but the journal would record what I thought of the people, the places, memory flashbacks, feelings, that sort of thing. It was free form text, no real structure to it.

4. The main benefit for me is that months or years later, I'd remember something, but not be completely sure if I'd remembered it right. Going back to my journal would set me straight. As a result, I'd better remember, and therefore LEARN from mistakes and be able to do better next time.

Nowadays, with the Internet everywhere and prevalence of smartphones, blogging software etc, writing a journal is pretty easy. I blog (here on MFP) and elsewhere on various topics, but they are generally for an audience, so it's less true to myself.

I've never kept a hand written diary.

Journaling is a great way to release any built up negativity and figure out what's going on in your mind. Blogging works the same way. I used to do it a lot, but I haven't really recently, and I think I'm going to start back up again.