A Journal To Keep Me Sane

I started keeping a personal journal when I was in college. I'm talking about a private hand written journal here. When I started my journaling it was a way for me to cope with various things that were going on in my life at the time. I could write out all of my frustrations and not have to worry about anyone's opinion. It was my therapy.

Over the years my journaling habits have evolved a lot. I now write about all kinds of things, but my journal is still my sounding board. It's a completely private place for me to work through whatever issues are bothering me. I also keep all kinds of notes in there and snippets of some dreams I've had. Really, I write about whatever is on my mind.

During the course of the many years that I have been journaling, my writing habits have varied a lot too. That first journal actually took me a couple years to fill. At one point several years ago I was able to completely fill a journal in a week. There have been times when I haven't written for months, but for the most part I do write daily. The biggest adjustment came after my daughter was born. For months I simply did not have the time or the energy to write in my journal. Now I'm finally making time for it again and it feels good. I had forgotten how much daily writing helped me. Now I make sure that writing in my journal is on my to do list. By taking the time to write and clear my head every day I tend to have a much more positive outlook on life.

If you've never tried personal journaling, I suggest giving it a try. You can write in whatever is handy. Right now you can get spiral notebooks really cheap at various stores, but if you prefer a more "typical" journal you can check your local bookstore to see what they have. For your first journal I'd suggest sticking with some fairly cheap. You don't want to spend so much money on it that you're afraid to actually write in it. Wherever you write, don't be afraid to jump right in and start writing about whatever is on your mind.

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