A long time ago I used to work in my journal/sketchbook RELIGIOUSLY! But lately I haven't really wanted to work in my journal. One of the things that I wanted to do this year was work in my journal more, but it seems like it's just easier and more convenient for me to blog, rather than sit down and write. It feels like writing is just so much more time consuming than I'm willing to put in, but I know that there is also the possibility that all my blog posts get deleted or what have you, and it would be better if I just sat down and wrote things out. That I should write about EVERYTHING going on with me, but when things are going bad and I'm dealing with anxiety, the LAST thing I want to do is slow down, sit and write things down. It's what I should be doing, but what I really want to do is just solve the issue that I'm dealing with.
So in an attempt to try to convince myself that it's actually better to write things down, here's a list of reasons I believe it's better to journal it out.
- It slows you down. I know I just got done saying that I don't want to slow things down, but when you do, you get a chance to analyze things, see them from a new perspective, you can learn from it, and quite possibly appreciate it.
- It's personal. By this I mean, you can write down your thoughts, hopes fears, aspirations, wishes and ideas. AND NOBODY HAS TO SEE IT, if you don't want them to. That annoying thing that your best friend does that you've never told her, you have a place to write it down. Maybe you'll tell her one day but for the time being, maybe you're only comfortable with it being written down here.
- It can be anything you want. The best thing about journaling, to me, is that I can do whatever I want in my journal. I can draw in it, I can write down my favorite quotes, I can schedule a vacation, or my classes for next semester. I can glue/tape stuff into it, I can write my grocery list. I can choose what goes in my journal to make it a more complete view of who I am. The possibilities are endless when it comes to what you want to do with it.
- It's not expensive. I mean, yeah there's the cost of buying the journal and some pretty nice pens, but really that's ALL you need. The journal I use costs $10 at Barnes & Noble and lasts me the entire year, as opposed to blogging where I pay $15 a month. See? Journaling is cheap.
Do you journal? What are some of the reasons that you do?
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