The Secret to Journaling: Just Start
The weight of words can be heavy, as we all know. But when you’re moving into your new apartment, struggling to carry a cardboard box filled to the brim with dozens of page-filled journals, the saying takes on somewhat of a literal quality. Though my journals did not make the moving process easier, they certainly made the process of growing up and navigating through my emotions much more bearable. I guess the muscle I pulled in my back is worth the memories stored on the shelves of my bookcase.
Six years old–that was how old I was when I discovered journaling. My first-grade teacher reserved at least ten minutes each day for us to open up our spiral-ringed notebooks and write whatever came to mind. While my journal entries back then consisted of abrupt changes in thought, a graveyard of grammar mistakes and misspellings that likely made my teacher tilt her head, this exercise laid the foundation for a passion of mine that would become a core part of my life. I journaled inconsistently from then until early high school, when I decided that journaling was an activity that was a necessary outlet for my thoughts and feelings. Once I solidified the habit of journaling almost daily, the rest was history–or rather, the rest now sits on my bookcase.
Journaling has endless benefits. From the act of writing itself, to practicing reflection and introspection, to simply taking the time to record memories and thoughts, journaling is an activity that you can enjoy and practice anytime, anywhere. The ability to pull a journal off my shelf and relive a memory or feeling from years past was my main motivation for continuing the practice throughout my teenage and college years. I wanted to access different aspects of myself in the moment and explore who I was from an outside perspective months–or even years–later. In a sense, journaling is like taking a snapshot: just as a photograph preserves a visual memory, journaling preserves an internal feeling or thought process. As a writer, it has become a way to connect more deeply with myself–every version of myself.
However, you do not need to be a writer–or even someone who particularly enjoys writing–to begin journaling. Why would someone who doesn’t like to write want to take it up, you may ask? Journaling is less about the act of writing and more so about the process of exploring oneself in an imperfect manner. The truth is, there is no single way to journal, and everyone’s journaling journey looks different. You don’t need to journal daily, or even weekly. You don’t need a leather-bound notebook or a fancy ink pen, and you don’t even need a specific reason to start. Journaling is simply an act of unloading and exploring–it isn’t something you can be good or bad at. There is no risk, only reward. A common misconception is that journaling must be organized or consistent. While it certainly can be, it doesn’t have to be. At times journaling may seem daunting, inconvenient and even uncomfortable, but it can also be freeing, healing and
immersive. Though every person is different, I’ve gathered some tips that may help you begin your journaling journey and make starting this new hobby feel less intimidating.
First, you need a journal. It doesn’t matter if it’s a spiral-ringed notebook, a hardback journal or anything in between– you just need a centralized place to store your thoughts and anything else you may want to write about. You also need a writing utensil. While I maintain that you don’t need a fancy ink pen, it helps to use a tool that feels comfortable. My personal favorite is a ballpoint pen, just because I love how smoothly it flows across the page. Finally, for a personalized touch, some people like to decorate the cover of their journal to make themselves more inclined to write in it. If an aesthetically pleasing journal–or a few stickers–encourages you to write, then by all means, go for it!
Now–you’ve got your journal, your pen and your cover may or may not be plastered with stickers. Here’s where many people get stuck: what do you actually write about? There is no one answer to this. You could start with something immediate, like how you’re feeling right now, what you did today, or what you plan to do tomorrow. You could recall a favorite memory, write down a list of things you love or even jump around and write about a mix of these things. Feeling overwhelmed with too much to choose from, too much to say or too much worry about how to say it? Take a deep breath. With journaling, there is no audience–you are your audience. No one is grading your work. There are no requirements. There is just space–space you can fill with run-on sentences that contain misspellings, random thoughts that flow into one another and feelings that don’t need to make sense. Journaling can be messy, imperfect and jumbled, or other times neat and concise. Navigating feelings is a tricky business, and journals are dumping grounds for you to figure it out.
Finally, let’s talk about organizing your journals–and perhaps even more importantly, your time. When it comes to organizing your journals, you can choose to keep separate journals for different categories. One journal could focus on feelings, another on dreams, memories, poetry, books and so on. If you find yourself writing about certain topics more frequently, that might be a sign to create a dedicated journal for it. Within each journal, I write the date and my age when I began writing, as well as when I finished. I note this on the inside cover and at the bottom of the book block so that it is easy to read and attribute to a specific time period.
Now, how often should you write? The answer is–whenever you want. Some days I don’t feel like journaling, while on others, I can’t put the pen down. I would challenge you to make time each week to write without boundaries. Even thirty minutes a week is enough to build your journaling habit and explore how you like to journal. Eventually, I think you’ll find yourself wanting to write even more.
Sylvia Plath, the famous writer and poet, once described keeping diaries as a repository for one’s dreams. Inside them, anything was possible, and nothing was off-limits. That’s what I keep in mind as I journal in my own daily life. My main objective is to understand my thoughts and feelings in the moment and have them to reflect on later. Journals are more than just pages to write on or added weight to carry–they’re a means of dreaming and memorializing every version of yourself. Journaling doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be real.
