Start Writing a Journal

I started doing something that I haven’t really done before. It’s kinda ironic given the name of this content category. I decided to start writing a journal. I’ve been thinking recently about how much stuff we as a society, publish things online. There’s a whole culture based on celebrity, and sharing photos and videos online. Sure, I write blog posts, but I don’t offer much in the way of personal details. IF I do, they’re about myself. I don’t share the private details about other people. That’s their business, not mine. I think some things should remain private. Not everything needs to be on the web. A lot of people don’t understand this – especially the millennials. They think everything should be online. I disagree with their attitude – If you think it or feel it, then share it. I disagree. I still want an outlet though. I’m planning to try bullet journaling again for 2020. However, a bullet journal isn’t the right method. It’s not really designed for long form prose. It’s much better as manage small bits of content dynamically over a period of time. That’s why I decided on writing a private journal.

I decided to start writing a journal. I started it a week ago on Saturday, 2019 Dec 21. It doesn’t need to be fancy, expensive, or even made of paper. I don’t need to draw any pictures, or charts. I only want to express myself in words. My journal entries are a simple text file that only lives on my computer. I’ve started by keeping it simple, and write about what happened earlier that day.

Keep in private

The key to keeping this journal is total honesty. If you want to lie to your friends about stuff? Fine, as long as you’re not hurting anybody. You want to lie to women, so you can get laid – well that’s not very nice. The one person you should never lie to … is yourself. That’s when things go bad. You tell yourself a little lie, and in the short term it feels good. You do it a few times and it becomes a habit. Before you know it, you’ve compromised yourself, and now you’re on a different path than the one you could have been on, if you were honest with yourself from the start. However, if you stay honest with yourself, you can take the actions you need to take. As a bonus, you gain the strength you won’t feel the need to lie to women or your friends.

Keep your journal private. Write it for yourself. Write to learn about yourself, and to remember how you got to where you are. Everyone needs a place to call their own. Don’t to forget to look back once in a while, to remind yourself how much you’ve changed.