Posted by Rach on March 1, 2003, at 6:27:58
In reply to Journaling--Does it help?, posted by Miller on February 3, 2003, at 21:28:36
I want to answer before I read the rest of the posts (so sorry if I repeat stuff).
It really helps me. i used to keep a diary when i was a kid, but stopped once I got to about 17. I'm 21, and have started keeping a journal again. I used to have trouble writing because it seemed like such an effort, and I felt like I had to write pages and pages. Now I've given myself permission to write as little or as much as I like, whenever I like, however often I like. I tend to write at least once a week. Sometimes it's pages, sometimes it's a single line.
I started writing a journal again for two reasons. One, because I have a terrible memory, and I forget a lot of events and funny memories, so it's like my storage box for those things. And two, because a lot of the time my thoughts are better out of my head than inside. Particularly if I'm down, I can get all that crap that I'm feeling down on the page, and it definitely diminishes the intensity of the feelings. Sometimes I might have to write repeatedly about things, but eventually it helps to quiet my head.
One good thing is to write so fast that you barely have time to think about what you are writing. I often discover my true feelings about things by writing this way. Admittedly, I often have trouble reading it because I have to write so fast! It is so weird to come back and read something that I wrote only 10mins ago, and not remember a word of it. Just pure thought that hasn't been screened by my head. I screen my 'voice' constantly, even writing in my journal, I edit and re-edit my words as I write them.
The only problem I see with it is if someone else finds it. I'm lucky because I know there is very little chance of someone reading my journal. But it would be a problem if someone did find it. It's not necessarily a true indication of how I'm feeling, because when I'm really happy and having fun I don't have time (and I don't really want to take the time) to sit down and record it all. Also, sometimes I may write about other people. It's not necessarily my entire feelings about them, just some aspect that is bugging me in particular. That's the main problem - someone reading it and believing that it gives a true indication of you as a person.
whew. I guess I'm in one of those pages and pages moods...
poster:Rach
thread:2463
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030203/msgs/204963.html