Do you keep a journal/diary?

[Biyaya]

No, but I remember having a shared one in highschool with a group of close friends. We would draw pictures and share all sorts of stuff with each other in the journal. Everyday, we would alternate who would take it home. I can't remember what was in them really, but embarrassing things no doubt. And lots of art! I loved seeing my talented friends all draw inside the journals.

I don't really have one now, but I will write or type things out if I'm having trouble articulating myself verbally with someone.

 

[Stella-Io]

When I was a kid I used to keep a dairy that I would write my feelings in. It was a regular journal, like used for school, but I treated it like a diary.

However one day my parents went throu all my journals, diary and not (I would also write stories) so ever since then I've never kept a physical trail of diaries anymore. I never wrote down my feelings or thoughts or anythin like that anymore, even when I was goin throu hard times, twice. The closest thing I keep to a diary is posting in the 'What's Bothering You' thread or a plant diary that I record all the times I've last watered my plants and on what days I got new plants. I also have a notebook I jot down notes regarding ACNH in, like design tips and stuff.

I have wanted to start up a diary again, but even since then I don't. Still ****es me off to this day, and I can't trust them with my emotions anymore.

 

[LadyDestani]

When I was a kid I used to keep a dairy that I would write my feelings in. It was a regular journal, like used for school, but I treated it like a diary.

However one day my parents went throu all my journals, diary and not (I would also write stories) so ever since then I've never kept a physical trail of diaries anymore. I never wrote down my feelings or thoughts or anythin like that anymore, even when I was goin throu hard times, twice. The closest thing I keep to a diary is posting in the 'What's Bothering You' thread or a plant diary that I record all the times I've last watered my plants and on what days I got new plants. I also have a notebook I jot down notes regarding ACNH in, like design tips and stuff.

I have wanted to start up a diary again, but even since then I don't. Still ****es me off to this day, and I can't trust them with my emotions anymore.

That's terrible that they violated your privacy so badly. I hope that at some point you can have a space of your own so you can feel secure in writing down anything you want. Until then, I don't know if something digital and password protected would be an option for you, but at least you've got this forum to vent to whenever you need it.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

I've vented on paper and in the Notes app, but I've never really kept a permanent diary! It's a shame because I vividly remember an assembly in elementary school where some person (I think it was an author) came in and urged us to start a diary, and to keep at it. I thought it was a great idea at the time, and I went and got a diary and all that, but obviously I didn't stick to it. I wish I had, it'd be so interesting to read what I wrote 20 years ago lmao

 

[nightglow]

No and never have. I don't see much of a point in doing so now, and as a kid I knew that it would have been raided by mom so I refused to write anything down. Not to mention anytime I was forced to at school, cuz sometimes certain teachers had that as a morning practice, I was accused of lying or being too negative and being forced to change my entry. So I associated that with people who raided journals would also make a big fuss about it too that I don't want to deal with and it was something that had no real importance or purpose because it would cause more trouble than what it's worth and generally something I was better off avoiding.
However quiet time is very important to me, and I suppose I deal with whatever in a mental manner that others deal with in writing.
Online forums with various topics are also nice and don't feel pointless to participate in. Most things that go in a journal are things that can be shared with other people who are nice who have similar interests, which you find in online forums. Personal achievements, disappointments, or things you look forward to.

 

[ChocoPie22]

I do keep a dream journal which I try to write all the dreams I had the previous night, but I forget to do it a lot. I have a wellness journal where I write the things that make me happy or things I can do to improve my self-care, but I end up writing in it once a month or so instead of every day.

 

[Tornado16]

I've got a few journals, none of them finished. I realized a few years ago that trying to write every day just wasn't working out, so I really only write in my journals when it's something I don't want to talk to anyone about or just to vent. I did have some sort of bullet journal at one point but stopped updating it every month and eventually just dropped it. I like the idea of keeping a journal/bullet journal and writing in it regularly, but in practice the routine just doesn't stick.

 

[Snowesque]

Decades ago I used one. I really only wrote negative experiences in it so having journal leaves somewhat of a bad thought for me. When I found it again years later I tore up every page then burned it. In a way it felt freeing so I'm glad I did it. I don't have much time for hobbies these days so I doubt I'd take it up again, if I felt the need.

 

[CrankyCupcake]

Nope. If I feel any kind of creative energy at all, I'd channel it into one of my hobbies. Taking care of my tillandsia, taking photographs, making art cards, solving puzzles, constructing a modular origami model, playing a game, painting, doodling or simply writing a vignette. I feel like I don't need to process my thoughts into a permanent form. I treat them as brain farts and let them go. I'm very much someone who lives in the present. I don't enjoy looking back. Even the idea of keeping track of personal achievements feels weird to me. I see only impermanence in the world. I need to keep moving. Ideally, forward. If I stop, I'm certain the weight of my thoughts will drown me.

Not sure if any of that made sense.

 

[Mairmalade]

I currently keep a book journal where I'll write the title of each book I'm reading and jot down passages, characters, or concepts that are interesting, resonate with me, or are things I want to learn more about later.

I've tried to keep a traditional or bullet journal in the past but never kept up with it beyond daily to-do lists when I had too much on the go and didn't trust myself to remember everything. I did keep a regular diary when I was little though and made entries every other day (usually daily recaps, things that made me happy, or things that were bothering me.)

I've been seeing more specific avenues like dream and gratitude journals which I've liked, especially the guided prompts. I'm planning to do one of those alongside my book journal.

 

[~Kilza~]

I do have a diary that I update weekly. It's something I started while I was in university and gradually started writing in more and more as I found it helped my mental health the more I wrote in it. It's always been a good way for me to just write down my thoughts and think things through, along with recording things that have happened recently for future reference.

 

[-Blue-]

I keep a list of things I need to do. That's about as far as I have gotten. I never really seriously sat down and wrote about my days. Usually it's because I have so much to do in a given day, week, ect that I forget some important things that need to be taken care of.

I also write down different notes on what I would do during the day for projects. For example, some of you may know I am restoring antiques (currently a antique treasure chest) so I write down notes on what needs to be done, what I did on that given day, and what was effective, ineffective, or ended up making things worst. It's nice to go back and reread it to see all the work that needed to be done and how long it may have taken.

Or with my massive vegetable gardens I jot down the status of the different plants, if the levels need to be adjusted, ect. Nothing like what people would normally think a journal should have.

 

[VanitasFan26]

Yes all the time.

 

[duckvely]

yes!! i started keeping a journal back in 2019, and i've been using it to write down anything happy that happens to me. my intent is that when i look back, i'll only remember the good things that happened (slightly cheesy ik) and it's just been fun for me to write in

 

[TurnipBell20]

I don’t keep a journal/diary. I tried to when I was 11 or 12 (a long time ago, lol), but I stopped after two or three entries. I don’t really see any use in it for me personally.

 

[Mr_Persona]

No don't have one and never did. Didn't care much about writing things about life, especially when I live in a bad one. Writing was never my thing anyways

 

[Princess Mipha]

I would love to, but I'm just way too lazy and uncreative. I tried many times to start one, designed it nicely aswell. Also bought some of those helping journals that give you idea on what to write about, buuut.. I didn't even last one day.

 

[dizzy bone]

I used to be into the idea of journalling and making it a habit, but I always failed or gave up half way, maybe because there was never anything interesting to write about my life. I also used to get panic attacks for "memory loss" related things. I've always had bad memory, and sometimes I'd get panic attacks when I couldn't properly remember details of supposedly "big" events I experienced with friends. So then I started keeping a notepad file on my computer of "diary entries" of big or interesting events... but whenever I thought of writing in it again, it was depressing looking back and seeing that there were so few entries in there and with so much time elapsed between entries that I eventually gave up on that too. I realised I was pretty much attempting to keep a journal because I felt bad about having terrible memory rather than doing it because I enjoyed it. Funnily, now I've actually been successful in keeping a very brief "daily journal", but not because of reasons mentioned. Every night I write a few sentences in khmer about my day for language practice. I am able to keep up with it because the act of journalling is now something I consider useful to me, and I actually have fun learning a new language as I write the sentences!

Oh, it's not really journalling, but I do use Notion daily (an organisation app) where I organise things I need to do for my job and some personal things. I don't use it for bullet journaling or self care routines like a lot of people do, but just a few simple checklists to budget finances and track things I need to do for work. I guess any time I take notes or "journal" it has to be practical or useful. I'm not really into writing about my emotions or memories

 

[PeachTea04]

I started writing diaries cuz I thought it was cool, I could be like one of those girls in the TV shows/cartoons/movies that would be like 'dear diary' and the whole world would revolve around them. I don't think like that now, I kind of have them to vent or look back on and it's interesting to see what kind of things my younger self would think and how I've changed.

• My first diary at age 10, the first few pages were just filled with lyrics of my favourite songs, one or two poems I wrote, one diary entry, a short summary page of my likes and dislikes, some doodles, signatures from friends, my younger brother's attempt at him treating my diary as his LOL.
• My second diary at age 13, wrote in it on a weekly/daily basis, that one was filled with just accounts of the daily activities I did with friends. Talked a lot about my crush who's now my boyfriend lol. Those were happy times and I could feel my energetic funny self when I read back. I like reading back at this one cuz there was a point later in my life where I forgot who I was.
• After that one I tried to keep another diary but never committed, I felt like I needed to write weekly and couldn't have any gaps in my diary. Sometimes I just didn't feel like writing. I would write in the first few pages of my diary and then forget to write for like half a year and then rip out those pages and store them in a box and start writing in a fresh new diary. This was wasteful so I've stopped doing that.
• My third and current one is filled with rather sad diary accounts of the many times where I've struggled, I think there's a lot of rants. Some pages can be messy with scribbles and tears. Others can be happy accounts, chill ones, random ones where I've just sampled the new stickers and deco tapes I bought. This one I've had for 5 years and it's not a thick book at all, I've been very inconsistent with it. I'm excited though because its 3/4 filled and I feel I'm in a better place so maybe these last few pages can be filled with nice things. When I read back on the previous accounts I realise that I've forgotten about most of the bad times I've had and it's just fascinating to remind myself where I used to be at in life.

Maybe my next diary will be more like a scrap book with pictures, write about the things I like to watch and play, songs I listen to. Or it maybe a digital blog who knows :> but I do prefer a physical copy XD

 

[Neb]

I typed a digital journal in high school and now I write at least once a month on a paper journal. Getting my thoughts on paper releases tension. It’s also served as a way to preserve my experiences with my first jobs, early relationships, and the pandemic. In several decades reading it could be interesting. Long term memories aren’t very reliable, so having a record allows me to correctly recall past events.