I have been blogging for almost fifteen years now, thirteen of them here at RJsCorner. I will soon exceed 5,000 posts here, and for the last five years or so, the posts are, as my header says, is a daily journal about my view of the world. I don’t imagine very many of you have visited older posts I have written over the years, but I like to look back and see where I was back then, compared to where I am now. For me, that’s what journaling is all about. It provides a record of my daily thoughts and is a good monitor for my progress, or lack thereof, and how my beliefs have evolved, and sadly, where I have failed to take intended action. Journaling is very therapeutic.
Writing down emotions and acknowledging traumatic events have positive effects and as researchers have shown actually improves your moods. Some think RJsCorner is a little too personal to be on the web. Most people will not bare themselves as I do. I think my Aspie traits have something to do with this. I am just more uninhibited than most.
I publicly journal so that others can see that maybe their thoughts and views are not as strange as they imagined. I do it so that maybe others can learn from my experiences and not have to make the same mistakes. I will admit that I keep two sets of books, so to speak. Yes, some thoughts are just too personal for public view, even for me. 😎
Putting words to paper, even virtually, makes the thoughts permanent. Putting them out for others to see shares them, and therefore relieves some of the inner tension that often results from the issues I discuss.
I liked the New York Times recent article about journaling. That is where the graphic above came from. Maybe I need to do “a circle my mood” like that in my daily journal post. I liked one of the references in that article that said journaling has taught me is that the mind is a surprising place. I don’t often don’t realize what I am going to say until I start putting it down on paper. Many posts I write start off on with one topic in mind and end up about an entirely different matter. That still pleasantly surprises me every time it happens.
Journaling, try it, you’ll like it.
Even if you don’t care to share your journal thoughts, they will be a positive plus in your life.
I want to close this post with a quote from the article. Click HERE if you want to see the entire NYT article.
Ms. Cameron encourages practitioners to think of them as “brain drain,” a way to expel “all that angry, petty, whiny stuff” that “eddies through our subconscious and muddies our days.” After years working as a writer and journalist, making my living trying to sound smart on the page, this was a huge relief.
I like the idea of a brain drain, that rids us of all the trash that often accumulates there.
RJ's Corner 
I, for one, benefit from your “too personal” journaling posts. On the other hand, I’ve been shredding some of my old journal entries, written during a time when a daughter was having a difficult time. Those journal entries might be hurtful for her to discover. Others, written when I was recovering from surgeries for the same cancer that had taken my mother’s life on her 45th birthday, I have kept. So, that’s my own demarcation line–not unnecessarily hurting someone else dear to me–and it’s not one I’ve seen you cross.
LikeLike
Thanks for the encouraging words, Linda. Sometimes my private journal entries even scare me a little when I read them later. It takes time to get over traumatic events. I am currently in the special series here about emotions and grief. The stages of grief over traumatic events is often hard to see in real-time. It takes time to understand why you said them.
LikeLike
I’ve been journaling for years, and I keep meaning to go through my old journals and get rid of the most damaging pages (as Linda says in the above comment). I’ve often written the most when I’m strugglng, so if someone were to read them after I’m gone, they would think I was generally sad, angry or some variation of the two. But doing a brain drain (great term) has been really helpful to me over the years.
My mom and my daughter have both told me they found it therapeutic to burn them, but I’m going to read through some of them (probably with some discomfort) before I do that. My mom did say she’s saving one for me after she’s gone — the one she kept when my father was fighting cancer and dying. I’m not sure it will uplifting, but I’m sure I’ll read it.
LikeLike
Thanks for the thoughts, Laurel. I, too, have been journaling for most of my life. I have only been doing it at RJsCorner for a few years now, but find it very therapeutic to share with others. But, like you say, my “private” journal is not something I really want others to see as it might hurt their feelings. In the heat of the moment, harsh words are often written. But these type post are the exception for me. I am now comfortable journaling on-line and have had many positive comments from my readers over the years.
LikeLike
Whoa, over 5,000 posts! And over 15 years. Those are some serious figures for blogging. Also, I always enjoy a good post about journalling, and this was a treat. I particularly enjoy reading old entries and recalling days that I would’ve totally forgotten about otherwise. Thanks for this post!
LikeLike
Thanks for the kind words, Stuart, and welcome to RJsCorner. Journaling has been part of my life forever and, of course, that let to blogging. It is just who I am. When I read some of my posts from a decade or more ago, I am pleasantly surprised just how much I have grown since then.
LikeLike
I started regularly journaling about 5-6 years ago. Intriguingly I started blogging around the same time. I think both were a reflection of realizing I like to write. My personal journal sometimes prompts my blog post…but not always. I’ve wondered what to do with all my journals (they are in a box in the attic at the moment). I’ve got no kids who’d be interested….and not sure I’d even want to relook at them. But maybe I will someday. Especially this past year’s craziness.
LikeLike
Hi Pat, and welcome to RJsCorner. 80% of the advantages to journaling is just writing the words down. It forces you to think about something in a more organized way. It helps you make sense of things.
LikeLiked by 1 person