One of the reasons I enjoy blogging so much is that it gives me a connection to people I love. The other reason is that it is an outlet for expressing myself. A public journal. I wouldn't write just anything here, but that's okay. I still have a lot to say that doesn't need to be private. :)
I have always enjoyed journaling. I started in 6th or 7th grade. I had received a pink journal with a kitty on the front as a gift. I journaled nearly every single night throughout junior high and high school. I absolutely love going back to the journals and reading what I wrote. In fact, Pete and I spent 45 minutes going through one of them together last evening. What an excellent and quite humorous record of my past life. Once in college, the journaling certainly decreased... probably due to a busier schedule, a more intense social life, living amongst friends with whom I could share, etc. There were times when I wouldn't write for months. There were others (during my SST experience in Costa Rica my sophomore year) when I did nearly daily entries again. I eventually stopped somewhere during those college years. I simply was burnt out. It started feeling like a task, a chore. It just wasn't meeting a need.
Since my early 20s, I have played around with gratitude journals, spiritual journals, journals about my kids. Some have stuck. Some come and go. Some were more meaningful than others. I think the important thing I've discovered is that I continue to enjoy what I'm doing. Sometimes it may be more therapeutic than fun and that's a good thing as well. Journaling can be a very effective tool for working through personal issues. There are so many ways to journal as well. If it begins to feel like a responsibility or a burden, that's when it is difficult to sustain.
I wonder what experiences others of you have had with journaling? For those of you who journal, what are your plans for loved ones and/or descendants reading them once you die? It sounds a little morbid, but they can be very intimate and I struggle with who should (if anyone) have access to them down the road...
About Me
- Kris
- I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. But first I'm a woman and I'm committed to taking care of myself so that I can have good relationships with others. This is not always easy. Okay, some days it's just plain impossible but I'm working at it! For almost 3 1/2 years I have been home raising children. Though quite difficult at first, I feel very content with my lifestyle choice. I am grateful that I have this "choice" and that it was mine to make. In college, I spent three months living in Costa Rica, Central America, for a Study Service Term. While there, I became familiar with the term Pura Vida. My interpretation of the phrase is "life is good." Sure, I have complaints and I am full of flaws. Many times things don't go my way. But hey, who has the perfect life (and wouldn't that be boring)?! My life is good!!
5 comments:
Journaling, for me, is one of those things that sounds like a great idea but, I just never seem to get into it. Scrapbooking is another great idea but.... There are so many things in my life that I would love to be doing but, I just can't keep up with the laundry/dishes/cooking.
If I would scrapbook and journal I would probably like to combine the two so I could look through pictures and read what I was feeling.
For my kids, I think it would be nice if I could write a letter to them on each birthday. That would be a concise way to journal my thoughts and experiences of/with them.
Kris, I agree that journaling is great. I have read back through some of my past journals as well, and it is always so interesting and often hilarious too. I have never kept it up regularly, but rather have usually done it during significant life experiences, such as volunteer work, EMU Cross Cultural, etc. I agree that when it feels like a burden it's probably not helpful, and likely a sign to take a break. After all, it's supposed to be a way for us to grow, right?
I read a little about the Grey's Anatomy premier in an earlier entry, and I keep wanting to get into watching it. I die over Patrick ever since Can't Buy Me Love so I really need to make it a priority to watch.
I haven't read your blog for a week or so, and wanted to get back into it. I happen to have some time alone this morning since Sasha went to the bathroom at 3:40 and I haven't been able to get back to sleep. Finally, I gave up and am having my coffee! I guess I should have given up on sleep earlier because I could have gotten a lot of housework done by now. See you later...
Lesley
Kris, I can picture you in my mind journaling through college and SST. I always had so much respct for your discipline when it came to journaling and wished that I had been as determined to do something like that as well. I can understand you worry about what happens to the journals down the road. Did I remember correctly that you have destroyed some of the pages in your journal that you wouldn't want to have read? That's probably smart. Although I am sure that you could designate in your will what your wishes are.
Mennocajunmamma...don't know you, but you have spoken my mind!! I love the idea of scrapbooking and journaling but I seem to get behind in daily life if I try to add those in and it becomes added stress. I have also wanted to write a letter to my children on their birthdays, but also have not managed to carry out that wonderful idea. I saw once in a magazine, or maybe on Oprah that this mother took black and white photos of her son in her husband's dress shirt on each birthday so she has this wonderful wall of photos of this little boy growing into the dress shirt. As a very visual person, I loved that idea but again.... follow through was a problem. At this point, I've kind of given up and have convinced myself to loose the guilt and expectation that I will be able to do these extras, it may be something I regret in the long run but it makes my daily life less stressful.
Christina
I agree that when it feels like a chore it's time to stop. That's how I feel about my blog. When it feels like a chore, I'm going to be done with it!!
I honestly wonder if there is benefit in certain things being read by others in the future. I think back to journals I kept in junior high and high school and really they are so intensely personal they should be destroyed. It's not something that anyone else has a right to read and it's really not something I'd even share with my children down the road.
In writing we know our audience. A personal journal, especially during certain times in life, is probably just that - personal. Other letters, etc. for children are to be shared. Blogs are obviously a public journal that is edited based on who could be reading it!!
I think designating what should be done with journals in a will is a great way to deal with it. I heard Oprah say that Gayle has to come and get all of Oprah's journals and destroy them if Oprah would die.
I've kept all my journals and I think I might let my girls read through them at some point. Esp. if they are struggling with similar things that I did.
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