Blah, blah, blah.
"It's not as if I have time or energy or a reason to do this journaling thing," you say.
Wrong! You may not think you have time or energy, but you certainly DO have a reason to journal. Just pick from a plethora of options:
1. Well, just because. You know that person at work who rubs you the wrong way or how your sister just says the wrong thing at the wrong time? Perhaps you taught your puppy how to roll over after a month of unsuccessful efforts. And guess who wants to hear about it? No one. That's right, no one really cares or understands the insignificant problems and joys of your life. So write about them. Take it from an experienced journaler: you will feel so much better about life.
2. Keep a record! I know you're sarcastically jumping for joy over this one. But seriously, how many times have you gone on a trip and later wished you could remember exactly why and how you ran through the airport carrying shoes in one hand and luggage in the other, diving onto the plane? And of course, you always kick yourself for not remembering the punch line to that joke the snaggle-toothed gas station owner pulled when you were road tripping. These are memories you never want to forget: write them down.
3. To become a world-famous writer. Okay, no promises. But it is an almost guarantee! Just look at all the people who have had their journal or diary published: Samuel Pepys, Anne Frank, the PostSecret guy (yeah, that's a journal), and Julie who journal-blogged just like I'm doing, except hers was about Julia Child. But hey, her journal got published AND made into a movie. Even if you don't submit your awesome thoughts for publication one day, journaling is a perfect practice field for kicking out bad grammar and scoring great writing and vocabulary skills. So you could end up publishing a best-selling novel all because you wrote in a journal.
That's definitely not the end of my list, but alas, I am out of space and patience. But, unlike me, a journal is never out of either of those virtues.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Joy you are an inspiration to me... i love you and you make very compelling points to journal more. you should post this link on your facebook status so that more people will know this great blog exists!
ReplyDeleteI think Journaling(sp?)is just the modern equivilent to "keeping a diary". While Diaries were usually meant to be kept private - many of them from historical figures have given us a different view of history from their "original source" point-of-view! Even if we never become "important historical people", a journal can serve as historical material of everyday life, in the future...and even remind ourselves of how things really were - "...the good ole days weren't always good, and tomorrow isn't as bad as it seems" (Billy Joel). Finding the time to do it is another story...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, laugi and Chedda.
ReplyDeleteSo are you saying that someone will be reading my journals someday and examining them for historical facts and details about everyday life? Isn't that reason enough to find time to journal?
I definitely agree with Billy.