Why Keep A Journal?

By Elizabeth Iles (Guest Writer)

Do you remember your first diary or journal? I had quite the collection as a child. Some were plain spiral notebooks. There was one that had all black, lined paper and came with those cool metallic gel pens that all the girls loved to write with in the late 90s. I wrote about my friends, my crushes, my teachers, and even wrote a list of qualities I wanted in my future husband.

Now that I’m an adult, my journaling still includes expressions about the things I want and yearn for. Recently in my life, I’ve realized the deep importance of solidifying goals. Journaling about them helps to visualize them, and visualizing them helps to have the motivation to actually DO something about achieving them. I wish I still had some of those diaries I kept as a kid. I could look back on how the things I have in my life now match up to what I wanted (or thought I did) back then, and what things I wanted back then that I may have long forgotten about.

Journaling is a wonderful form of writing because it has no limits, no specifications, and no form to follow. You can make lists, draw pictures, write poems, stories, or just simply write exactly how you feel and what’s on your mind. A journal can be your own personal therapist, and the more you observe how you think by writing about it, the more you can learn about yourself.