I’ve been keeping a diary since I was a little girl. I also used to write letters to my future self (to be opened in two years). Upon reflection, I wish I had continued to do that because it’s incredibly funny but also interesting to remember what you were focused on two years ago, and what that self wanted for your future. I could also read all the way back to what my 12-year-old self’s priorities were (some insight: they usually revolved around crushes on boys or my friends). My future rarely turned out the way I expected it to, but that’s half the fun of writing these kinds of things. Upon even further reflection, I think I will resume this practice, but perhaps instead I’ll write a yearly letter to myself on each birthday. So, I guess I have until April to come up with something!
All of this to say, I’ve been keeping a diary, or (the adult version of that:) journaling for almost my entire life, but it’s never something I’ve been consistent with. I’ve picked up the habit and put it down over month- or year-long spans. I’ve also never journaled in a really focused or intentional way. I usually just plop out my thoughts onto paper when I feel so inclined and that’s the most effort I’ve put into it in the past. A lot of word vomiting and almost illegible scribbling.
Recently, a friend of mine shared some journal prompts with me and for the first time in my life, I did some intentional journaling. It was interesting. And also thought provoking. It made actually helped me to work through a problem I had been puzzling over for quite some time. So since then, I’ve thought about bringing a more intentional mind set to my journaling practice, and making it a goal to journal every day for at least a month. This month in fact. And in keeping with my January intention, I plan to keep this promise to myself!
I’ll be using some journal prompts shared by a YouTuber by the name of struthless. In this video, he discusses how he has struggled with addiction and mental health in the past, and he said that intentional and consistent journaling changed his life. With a recommendation like that, who can look down on the practice?
The five questions he asks himself about his day are:
- What excited me?
- What drained me of energy?
- What did I learn?
- What are 10 things I’m grateful for?
- How did I push the needle forward?
I look forward to being able to look back on my journaling from this month (something I also admittedly never do) to see if there are any consistencies in these questions! Through similar refection, struthess said he came to realize that two things consistently drained his energy every day, so he knew that these were probably things he should try to limit or cut out of his life. I hope to discover similar insights about myself throughout this process and I’m intrigued by how this new practice might alter my perspective on my own life and experiences.
Have you cultivated a journaling practice for yourself? What kinds of things do you journal about? Do you usually do a “mind dump” style of journaling or do you use prompts?
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