I have officially completed two full journals! I have been journaling consistently since 2018 when I was in my senior year in high school. To celebrate this achievement, I am writing this blog post about how journaling has changed my life.
Journaling is a part of my character, daily routines and hobbies. Occasionally, I answer the question "what did you do last weekend?" with "I wrote in my journal."
Adds More Depth To Life
I think deeper about all the relationships I have in my life. The way that people have different personalities and interests are fun to write about. I think about that boy I met at a party who had a free and easygoing personality, or the girl I met at a university hall who was intelligent and diligent with her studies. People have their own life stories, and people have different approaches to life. When I capture these people through writing, I think about how rich their experience is. I think about how everyone goes through growing up, changing schools, changing careers, but at that moment we were together. I write about someones goofy laugh or the group of friends chatting at the train station. When I think of people, I see a depth to them.
Life is more than crossing off to do lists and getting things done. Before I journaled the only notebooks I wrote in were my homework notebooks and school agenda. My life revolved around getting things done and organizing my duties. In contrast, in my journal I write about my life experience. I write about the quiet morning I had or the waiter who smiled at me at the café. I find myself reminiscing about memories I had in the past and writing those down as well. I write about how focused I felt as I was studying throughout the day. Recently I have accepted that it is okay to write about bad days too. It's okay to feel angry and upset about the exam I failed. Don't be afraid to write it down. Journaling keeps me grounded with my emotions, reminding me that I am human.
Increased My Self-Discipline
Writing is hard. I say this as someone who has been journaling for years. It takes an immense amount of effort to capture the thoughts in your head into words. Writing is a skill that requires practice and focus. Sometimes I use the same words over and over again because I don't want to look up alternative words in a thesaurus. There are days when I don't want to journal at all and would rather do something easier such as watching a YouTube video. Writing exercises my willpower and discipline.
It's also hard to understand yourself. Sometimes I have felt like I was writing the same thing every day because I could not think of anything new to write about. Sometimes I feel sad, but I don't know why. There are days where I feel guilty and upset about something I had done, but cannot rationalize why I did it in the first place.
Made Me a Better Writer
I was an awful writer throughout my whole life. I hated writing and always preferred science. In high school, all of my essays were C grades no matter how hard I tried.
When I started journaling I found myself writing more often. I wrote to communicate my love for other people, and I wrote to communicate my passions in computer science and music. In university, I was complimented for the first time by professors on my writing style. I attribute my excelling writing skills to journaling.