It’s one of those things I’ve never talked about with other people, the most I’ve really been exposed to journal keeping in pop culture is Doug Funny. People don’t talk about their personal journals.
Ever since I was a teenager I’ve sometimes felt compelled to write about major events, and over the years this has become the habit of keeping a journal that I write in almost every day, and sometimes I go back and read old entries. “What was I doing this time last year?” I also sometimes keep notes or such intentionally for future reference.
So, if you keep a journal, do you go back and read it? Why?
Oh yes, definitely.
It wasn’t always the case. I started Journaling as a means to recover my mental health. The initial entries were really dark and I don’t read them often, perhaps less than once a year.
After I recovered, I started using it as a logbook for my own life. Initially I only just wrote events happening around me, or interesting world events, but soon I was writing my own desires to improve myself.
That’s when it really kicked off for me. Till now about 2 years had passed since I started Journaling. I would write about something I wished to change about myself, like reducing soft drink consumption, quitting cigarettes, or just changing my behavior a certain way. Gradually I would write about how I could go about realizing it, eventually I would do it.
Reading back I can see that today I am totally different from me a year ago. It’s really fascinating to me and it has helped me to stay way ahead of my mental health. I was able to recognize a relapse in my depression and address it accordingly.