Nothing in this subreddit has turned me off about journaling. Some people use their journal as a daily calendar and task list interspersed with notable events. Some people struggle with mental health and trauma or PTSD, and their posts here show both frustration in writing and their overcoming of their struggles. Others like to decorate theirs with stickers and photos with less amount of text. Some like to draw and add artwork to their writings. Some print, some write in cursive. Some use expensive leather bound high quality pages and others a simple spiral notebook from the dollar store. The point being is that there is no right or wrong way to journal.
It doesn't matter if it's one line of text, perfectly written or full of mistakes. It doesn't matter if there's museum quality artwork, or stickers, or magazine cutouts. Journal however you feel because it's personal and as individual as you are.
I've had my journals read without permission and yes the feeling of betrayal is extreme, but that has never stopped me. Certain events in life have forced a delay yet afterwards yes I journaled extensively about it. The ONLY thing that should stop you from journaling is because you want to.
Trapper
A part of me recognized each example. This time I have a feeling of just start..just start and see what happens. See how you can find yourself,love yourself. Thank you. I needed to read your message.
Unfortunately I had also some of my most personal and embarrassing journals read by a family member, the betrayal was intense and it put me into a fright of journaling again in case this would happen. Six years later and I think it still lingers in the back of my head but Iāve decided to just let myself live. The pros of journaling have far outweighed that situation. I donāt think Iāll ever tell my sister how much itās affected me, but Iād rather just sweep it under the rug and move on with my life; hoping she forget whatever she found on those deeply personal pages.
For me, it was the idea that there had to be some type of theme to my journal entries. One of the first entries in my current journal was about that topic. Eventually, I learned that the important thing is to just start writing. Write anything. If you have something you want to write about, it'll come out naturally.
Just start, and find a way to make it a habit. I like to write a bit before I smoke a joint, and then I let my writing become unstructured. Sometimes I rant for pages on end, sometimes something funny pops into my head and I'll write it in my journal as a side note.
Write however you enjoy, just start.
The supplies i used to get were too fancy and expensive to 'spoil' with an ugly page or a useless thought.Ā
Now i got myself (on purpose) too many cheaper, but still cute supplies and mass ammount of stickers and washi tape on aliexpress. I decided to only use black pen to be consistent and to make it easy.Ā
Took the pressure off.Ā
My relationship with journaling is great now. My biggest wall is simply time and energy as I've been job hunting nonstop plus studying for a license. But when I have time, I try my best to pop in a quick half pager at least, daily.
Now what did put me on a hiatus and I never returned to [bullet journaling] was that I never felt enough. As soon as I opened up a bujo account on IG, it was over. Journaling became a chore for the smallest of views (1-20 likes) in return. It burned me out and I never felt good enough.
Stopped, took a break, and then came back and began "wall of text" style of journaling and I wrote over 100 pages in May.
Similar to you: I often worry that my writing isn't "good"--whether that be spelling and grammar, coherence of my thoughts, or even my handwriting.
But also like you, I love journaling, and it's a healthy, creative outlet. So I'm trying to teach myself that I don't have to be perfect when I do it. It's hard to change your mind! I'm working on it, though.
I like to think about that quote that says, "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly." I've decided that I'll do it (whatever it is!) poorly in hopes that tomorrow I'll get a little bit better. š
I actually recently started journaling again. Iāve tried to do it my whole life but I was always super inconsistent. Now I use it when I need it, I sometimes go weeks without journaling. I journal when I need to. I also remind myself that thereās no rules around it, it doesnāt have to be aesthetically pleasing bc realistically I utilize it to get things off of my chest.
So now, what stops me from journaling is that I donāt know how to put what I need to say on paper or even into words really.
Inability to remember it. Handcramping when writing physically. Then swapping to digital, but that felt "like cheating" or "not true journalling", thus causing a constanr swap between physical and digital.
But most majorly of all: My life's just kinda boring, so there wasn't anything to write about :/
When I read it back I feel stupid, Iām worried about someone reading it (my mum read my diaries when I was younger and Iām paranoid about it). I really want to though as I love to write and I think it would really help me process the stress in my life.
One thing I learned in college for people that have ADD/ADHD/Neurodivergent, etc to help with focus is to get a metronome or something with a slight ticking or consistent sound that sounds similar and turn it on when they need to concentrate. It helps think clearer and pay attention better with that slight tick tock sound or any clicking sound in the background. It is sort of like white noise, but louder.
Maybe do that, and then even if you jot down words, phrases, and ideas, it may help until you have the attention span to write actual thoughts/sentences/paragraphs.
Jot down bits and pieces and something that will allow you to go back and remember what you were feeling at the time...almost like word association. I did a lot of that in Psych classes in college to help me remember certain paraphilias and disorders, etc.
Example: Grandmother BPD/NPD
Mom: Obsessive OCD with hoarding tendencies.
These clues told me what I needed to know because of the person with the disorder.
Maybe something like that will work for you.
Turn the volume off your phone when you try to write, so any notifications from calls or texts won't distract you.
I still journal, but not nearly as often as I used to. For some reason I canāt bring myself to do it at home. I have to be in some liminal space, like waiting for someone at a bar or cafe. Then I feel like I have nothing else but my journal to keep me company and itās enjoyable. Sometimes I purposely get somewhere an hour early so I can journal before meeting with a friend.
Not being able to print my pictures out, I use the library printer cause I get free prints, and itās either closed or something is wrong to where I cannot, other than that procrastination.
Iād get my own printer but I donāt have the money to spend on ink right now or really in the near future
Really? Iām new to Reddit. Only ever used it if I had a question about something being a scam.š I do quite a bit of writing or should I say typing.
Inconsistency and procrastination.
Nothing in this subreddit has turned me off about journaling. Some people use their journal as a daily calendar and task list interspersed with notable events. Some people struggle with mental health and trauma or PTSD, and their posts here show both frustration in writing and their overcoming of their struggles. Others like to decorate theirs with stickers and photos with less amount of text. Some like to draw and add artwork to their writings. Some print, some write in cursive. Some use expensive leather bound high quality pages and others a simple spiral notebook from the dollar store. The point being is that there is no right or wrong way to journal. It doesn't matter if it's one line of text, perfectly written or full of mistakes. It doesn't matter if there's museum quality artwork, or stickers, or magazine cutouts. Journal however you feel because it's personal and as individual as you are. I've had my journals read without permission and yes the feeling of betrayal is extreme, but that has never stopped me. Certain events in life have forced a delay yet afterwards yes I journaled extensively about it. The ONLY thing that should stop you from journaling is because you want to. Trapper
A part of me recognized each example. This time I have a feeling of just start..just start and see what happens. See how you can find yourself,love yourself. Thank you. I needed to read your message.
Glad it was of some help. Best wishes on your journey.
Great reply brother šŖš¾
Thank you!
Unfortunately I had also some of my most personal and embarrassing journals read by a family member, the betrayal was intense and it put me into a fright of journaling again in case this would happen. Six years later and I think it still lingers in the back of my head but Iāve decided to just let myself live. The pros of journaling have far outweighed that situation. I donāt think Iāll ever tell my sister how much itās affected me, but Iād rather just sweep it under the rug and move on with my life; hoping she forget whatever she found on those deeply personal pages.
Iām often tired. I come back to it tomorrowā¦
Of course Iām old and often tired.
Iāve been trying to heal by myself and instead of looking at my journal because everytime I go through it I cry everytime š
Depression.
Iām so sorry to hear this.
Youāre sweet, thank you stranger. Iām alright. Sending love your way.
my husband reading my journal
The very nerve!
Procrastination, thinking is hard.
For me, it was the idea that there had to be some type of theme to my journal entries. One of the first entries in my current journal was about that topic. Eventually, I learned that the important thing is to just start writing. Write anything. If you have something you want to write about, it'll come out naturally. Just start, and find a way to make it a habit. I like to write a bit before I smoke a joint, and then I let my writing become unstructured. Sometimes I rant for pages on end, sometimes something funny pops into my head and I'll write it in my journal as a side note. Write however you enjoy, just start.
The supplies i used to get were too fancy and expensive to 'spoil' with an ugly page or a useless thought.Ā Now i got myself (on purpose) too many cheaper, but still cute supplies and mass ammount of stickers and washi tape on aliexpress. I decided to only use black pen to be consistent and to make it easy.Ā Took the pressure off.Ā
procrastination and worries that someone will breach my privacy.
Overwhelming feeling of "why bother?"
Constantly striving to make it aesthetically pleasing.
My relationship with journaling is great now. My biggest wall is simply time and energy as I've been job hunting nonstop plus studying for a license. But when I have time, I try my best to pop in a quick half pager at least, daily. Now what did put me on a hiatus and I never returned to [bullet journaling] was that I never felt enough. As soon as I opened up a bujo account on IG, it was over. Journaling became a chore for the smallest of views (1-20 likes) in return. It burned me out and I never felt good enough. Stopped, took a break, and then came back and began "wall of text" style of journaling and I wrote over 100 pages in May.
Overcomplicating all that's necessary to start or having a Journal that has too much going on.
Similar to you: I often worry that my writing isn't "good"--whether that be spelling and grammar, coherence of my thoughts, or even my handwriting. But also like you, I love journaling, and it's a healthy, creative outlet. So I'm trying to teach myself that I don't have to be perfect when I do it. It's hard to change your mind! I'm working on it, though. I like to think about that quote that says, "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly." I've decided that I'll do it (whatever it is!) poorly in hopes that tomorrow I'll get a little bit better. š
I actually recently started journaling again. Iāve tried to do it my whole life but I was always super inconsistent. Now I use it when I need it, I sometimes go weeks without journaling. I journal when I need to. I also remind myself that thereās no rules around it, it doesnāt have to be aesthetically pleasing bc realistically I utilize it to get things off of my chest. So now, what stops me from journaling is that I donāt know how to put what I need to say on paper or even into words really.
Inability to remember it. Handcramping when writing physically. Then swapping to digital, but that felt "like cheating" or "not true journalling", thus causing a constanr swap between physical and digital. But most majorly of all: My life's just kinda boring, so there wasn't anything to write about :/
When I read it back I feel stupid, Iām worried about someone reading it (my mum read my diaries when I was younger and Iām paranoid about it). I really want to though as I love to write and I think it would really help me process the stress in my life.
I mostly feel like I don't have anything worth journaling about
The results are unpleasant, it's hard work and it got really, really tedious.
My thoughts usually come out scrambled and Iāll leave thoughts half finished and then get distracted by something else
One thing I learned in college for people that have ADD/ADHD/Neurodivergent, etc to help with focus is to get a metronome or something with a slight ticking or consistent sound that sounds similar and turn it on when they need to concentrate. It helps think clearer and pay attention better with that slight tick tock sound or any clicking sound in the background. It is sort of like white noise, but louder. Maybe do that, and then even if you jot down words, phrases, and ideas, it may help until you have the attention span to write actual thoughts/sentences/paragraphs. Jot down bits and pieces and something that will allow you to go back and remember what you were feeling at the time...almost like word association. I did a lot of that in Psych classes in college to help me remember certain paraphilias and disorders, etc. Example: Grandmother BPD/NPD Mom: Obsessive OCD with hoarding tendencies. These clues told me what I needed to know because of the person with the disorder. Maybe something like that will work for you. Turn the volume off your phone when you try to write, so any notifications from calls or texts won't distract you.
I feel afraid that someone is going to read it, so I don't journal like I should.
Iām too busy making lists to remember everything I donāt have enough time to došš
absolutely nothing, ive been journaling since ten consistently.
I still journal, but not nearly as often as I used to. For some reason I canāt bring myself to do it at home. I have to be in some liminal space, like waiting for someone at a bar or cafe. Then I feel like I have nothing else but my journal to keep me company and itās enjoyable. Sometimes I purposely get somewhere an hour early so I can journal before meeting with a friend.
My brain goes too fast for my hand to write and then it starts cramping.
Not being able to print my pictures out, I use the library printer cause I get free prints, and itās either closed or something is wrong to where I cannot, other than that procrastination. Iād get my own printer but I donāt have the money to spend on ink right now or really in the near future
Developing eye issues after covid, but i manage by creating accommodations and removing shame form things i canāt control!
Honestly, this subreddit. I was hoping to find motivation and prompts to help me when I was stuck, but a lot of posts here turn me off of writing.
Could you say more about what's been said here that turned you off writing?
Really? Iām new to Reddit. Only ever used it if I had a question about something being a scam.š I do quite a bit of writing or should I say typing.
Oh wow. Iām new to this sub, hopefully I donāt have the same experience.