Why I Journal
October 19, 2007 by adavant
Filed under Alyssa's Journal
Journaling is a pastime I have always enjoyed. From journaling my hopes and dreams as a teenager to journaling my doubts and fears as an adult, journaling has been a part of my life for quite some time. I received my first journal in my Christmas stocking as a young preteen. My mom knew I loved to write even back then, and so she bought me a beautiful flowered journal for me to begin writing in. I filled it to the brim and needed a new one by the next year. This started a tradition of my getting a journal in my stocking each year.
Journaling became an almost constant in my life, sure I got out of the habit from time to time, but I always seem to slip back into it. It is almost as if I yearn for it, and the feeling that it gives me. If I don’t do it for a while, I begin to get cravings, or feel withdrawal.
The greatest joy that I get out of journaling is when I journal my prayers and then, I am able to look back on those prayers days, months and maybe even years later (I’ve done this) and see the results, the answered prayers, the prayers God said “No” to or “Wait” and I’m able to understand why certain things happened the way that they did and I truly appreciate the circumstances more.
I encourage everyone to journal. Maybe you won’t make it a daily habit, but I hope you’ll do it often enough to appreciate it. Need a journal? Pick one up for a limited time in this special offer. Also, Take a look at my gift boxes, maybe you will want to even buy one for yourself!
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Hi Alyssa! Do you offer any journaling tools, such as an ecourse with exercises to help people start journaling? It looks like journaling comes easy for you, but it’s hard for many people to journal (including me). I’ve recently subscribed to a couple of ecourses with exercises that helped me get started journaling and I thought this would be a great service for you to offer in addition to the journal that you sell. Just a thought…
Allyssa, I’d love to journal, and quite often do it in my own head. But when it comes to putting it down on paper, I find it hard to do it. I’d love to have my thoughts years down the road and see how much I’ve grown, and how I used to think. We change so much during our lives! Anyway, since you brought it up, it makes me want to try it again.
I’m with Kristine… do you have any journaling tools?
I used to journal in my daily planner a long time ago when I was in college. It’s fun to look back on the things that I wrote. I would really like to start journaling again. I just need a little push to get started.
This is definitely one area I wish I had more discipline in. If I would write all of my thoughts down consistently, I truly believe everything would be much better, LOL! Like you said, it allows you to go back and reflect on things which is really important.
Thanks for the reminder and the ecourse would be something really great Alyssa
Thanks Alyssa for this post … it’s a great reminder. I used to journal more often when my kids were little – I have a specific journal for each child where I journal about them and my hopes and dreams for them for when they grow up. I plan to give the journal to each one on their eighteenth birthday … the journals got stuffed in a box on our last move (Which was like 2 years ago – yikes) and I haven’t pulled them out of the box. Your post reminded me of the journals and I will go ahead and get the journals out – and it looks like there’s a lot of journaling to do.
Alyssa,
I have all of my journals from high school through my later year and I am 38. I can definitely say that as a survivor of sexual abuse and other issues and because I never really received therapeutic help, God was my therapist and journaling was the tool He encouraged me to use. Journaling does so much for you. You wouldn’t think it would because it just words, but it is much more than words.
Alyssa, thank you for sharing the importance of journaling.
I love to journal. Blogging was an outgrowth of that. I keep my words there, and my paper journal has become more of an art journal. Just doodles, souvenirs and such. Almost like a scrapbook, but not.
Great post. Would have to agree with the others about tools.
I like Marie’s comment about keeping journals for each child. Three of my children are already keeping personal journals (although only 2 of them can write…she doodles and scratches her “thoughts”). Thank you for sharing this post. I think I will give this a try again.
Hi Alyssa!
This is a great topic. Definitely writing things down is great therapy and great to lead the pathway to fulfilling dreams.
My favorite journalling is a Gratitude Journal and a Dream Journal.
I go in spurts where I write a lot, and then don’t keep it up as much.
It’s great hearing all the other ideas here too.
Diana
I used to journal all the time, it’s kind of the old way of blogging, LOL! Reading this article takes me back to those teen years when writing my thoughts down helped me work out my young artist’s angst. Writing is one of the greatest forms of expression, next to art
Great post Alyssa. I used to journal years ago and I did love to write things down and then look back over how I was feeling about things later. I always used to write the dreams I had in my journal too, when I could remember them and thought it was interesting to record them.
I even named my first journal, Pinky, lol, which I got when I was about 11 or 12. I wish I knew where they were now, lost in the shuffle somehow.
Angela Wills
I used to journal a lot, but have gotten out of the habit. I really need to get back into it again because it was always a great stress reliever for me. As a mom and wife now (I journaled when I was a teen) I can definitely use all the help in the stress relief department.
Thanks for the reminder!
Beautiful post. I journaled as a teen. Now I journal online with my blog.