Do you keep a journal?

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by wegs, Aug 6, 2019.

  1. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    While I'm not consistent, I enjoy keeping a journal. What I tend to jot down are random thoughts, observations, and the occasional epiphany. When my heart is feeling heavy over a particular issue, journal-ing can be very cathartic. It's especially interesting to look back over a few weeks/months at prior entries, and read about problems that have been solved, or happy moments that were celebrated. It's a comforting thing to do on a rainy day, with a cup of hot lemon tea.

    So, do you keep a journal?


    https://www.psychologies.co.uk/five-reasons-why-you-should-keep-journal

    ''Journaling is like whispering to one's self, and listening at the same time.'' - Mina Murray
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2019
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  3. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    I keep a sketchbook. Does that count?

    I think I've gone through about 8 now.
     
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  5. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    Yes, definitely counts.

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    Do you save them all?
     
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  7. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Yup.
     
  8. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    Does it serve a deeper purpose for you, like how maintaining a journal feels cathartic for me, or do you just enjoy sketching in your free time? Or both? lol
     
  9. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    I don't have a journal. I do have sketch books and when I was diving a lot (almost daily) I did log dives and note special events as a way of remembering them and associating a date with them.

    I'd see sharks (rare type) and note details and it was also help just to note conditions at dive sites that might be helpful on future occasions.

    None of those are quite the same as a personal journal but they are relaxing and sometimes trigger memories in the way that re-reading a journal might be.

    OK...that's all I've got...

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    (Oh, and when I was flying I kept a log for those but used them for more than strictly technical data too.)
     
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  10. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    Definitely don't misplace any of those!

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  11. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    That reminds me of some "dive" sketches I did. I didn't have an underwater camera at the time but I wanted to preserve what I'd seen, so I sketched from memory.

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  12. RainbowSingularity Valued Senior Member

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    no
    though i have wondered if i should keep a journal of things i want to read on.
    i occasionally find myself encountering complex subjects that i intended to read up on that i have not.
    i use to keep a journal of poetry
    my journal was poems
    most of the contents was extremely complex human psychological paradigms, like a philosophers journal of the human condition.
    once i found an old one and it instantly reminded me of memorys which i did not enjoy, so i think i threw it out.
    most of it was quite dark, entertaining the aspects of the self that are quite difficult and very disturbing for people to process.
    it helped a lot at the time.
    it was very cathartic
    after the fact i had to force myself to not feel egotistical about it, i found that detracted from my own desire of personal ideation and found my ego was simply eating a drug like cheap cocaine that simply made it want more and get less from every experience.
    i did for some time keep poetry, however that confronted my ego which i did not like.
    my best poems that some really liked and were extremely impressed with i gave away to them and never kept a copy.
    it was the only way for me to maintain an objective self image of my own sense of normalcy by not feeding my ego to something that was defined by an exterior as being of internal merit of above normal ability.
    i admire those with skill like Daves drawing.
    i lack something(i have been pondering aspects of that lack lately but have not found something that my ego does not wish to grab hold of and cling to like a comfort blanket) that would make me put in that much effort and hold on to it.
    it does remind me of highly complex things i use to do.
    it feels like my focus has shifted. unfortunately that focus is not on making money.
    i seem to lack that aspect of greed that makes people wealthy and im not sure if i am happy with that or if i want to sacrifice part of who i feel myself to be to force myself to become a greedy person
    we(i) cant all be rocket scientists
    im a bit of a bhuddist type personality at heart and have given away a lot of money to other people. that is definitely a big negative to some of my own personal goals. that i find quite annoying to some point while those i encountered on that journey i would not wish to not meet.
    i value meeting those people above the money that was spent even though i may never see them again. i guess there is a journal in my head lol
    its mostly filled with as much of the good bits as possible.
    i try to leave the dark things in the past.
    i see no real merit from recording those.
    what i have not learnt from that dark experience(& wrong decisions even when i now realise it felt the best at the time, though i was wrong and did not have the knowledge to be capable to choose for what i now consider would have been correct/better/ideal, though would that mean i had then gone on a different path, a path that might have lead to somewhere else that may be unhappy...who knows...)
    i may be forced to learn later. so be it and so it has been in one or two things.
    ... i focus on trying to live the lessons and good parts of that journal in my head as an every day occurrence.
    being mindful and present and positive.
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2019
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  13. RainbowSingularity Valued Senior Member

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  14. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    This ^^ is exactly what keeping a journal could be good for - tracking your thoughts, and getting them all out in safe place, like a diary.
     
  15. wegs Matter and Pixie Dust Valued Senior Member

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    lol I just posted my comment as you were posting yours.

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    Wise minds........
     
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  16. RainbowSingularity Valued Senior Member

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    i added to my post.

    i understand your point, however i do not wish and have never really wanted to have a personal journal sitting around with my thoughts in that others can read. so i have never kept one and never will.
     
  17. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    Nice!
     
  18. TheFrogger Banned Valued Senior Member

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    I used to keep a diary in the hope that it could be published posthumously, but I deleted it some time ago. Reading this thread may inspire me to keep another one.
     

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