6 {Big} Reasons to Keep a Journal

I have a lot of notebooks. Keeping a regular notebook or journal was something I always wanted to do, ever since I was in 1st or 2nd grade. My problem was I had always thought they were for writing all about your day, and they had to be written in nearly every day. 

I totally missed the point. Thus, reason number one you should be keeping a journal:

1. They are fun to write

Keeping a journal is fun. You can totally customize it to your specific writing style. You can have as many or as little rules as you want. I personally write purely when I feel like it. I never force myself to write. I go weeks writing every single day, then never write at all for a number of weeks. I don't write what I don't want to write. I don't have to introduce myself, or explain myself, because the reader (me!) already knows all of it. Skipping the boring parts leads you straight to the exciting parts.

2. You can see how your life has been fitting together

Looking back at old notebooks, I can see patterns I wouldn't have noticed otherwise, prayers I didn't remember that were answered, and just how my life has been going. Keeping a journal is great for retrospection. We as humans often don't notice little things happening. Reading back is like rereading a book and noticing all the little subplots you hadn't noticed the first time.

3. They can provide you inspiration for other writings

Honestly, when I need inspiration for a story or a poem or just a different writing in general, I go to my notebooks. Partly because I've scribbled in so many poem drafts and story ideas that I can use now, but sometimes just interactions you've recorded can help you launch a plot.

4. They remind you of goals/plans you have had

I have a short and limited memory. It's amazing how much you can forget in just a few days or weeks. Flipping through my current Notebook can remind me of my goals, why I set them, and inspire me to see them through. Often not reaching a goal for me is less of a matter of quitting and more of a matter of just forgetting about them.

5. It's like writing a little book for yourself to read in the distant future

Sometimes when I finish a notebook, I just want to destroy it and forget about it. But seriously, if you keep them for long enough, at some point you'll be glad you did. There'll be interactions you have forgotten about, little snippets you don't even remember writing, and thoughts that will show you how you've shaped into who you are.

"We can imagine a rainbow of possibilities.

We say 'anything', and 'everything'.

But in the end,

it's only our limited rainbow

and we forget there are other colors,

incomprehensible to us."

6. You can learn your writing style

Keeping a journal teaches you writing in a valuable way. You learn to write better with practice, you learn to express yourself and your opinions, and you learn yourself in a way you didn't before. Keeping a notebook is a fantastic way to get better at writing, check in with yourself, and enjoy yourself in the process. The writing doesn't have to be great. The notebook itself doesn't have to be high quality. You can write anything you want. And in the end, in this way, you learn more about who you are, and what you truly care about.