I still remember my first journal. It had a tiny lock and key (which every movie I’d ever seen had advocated, so as to protect the very private thoughts contained inside). On the front was a drawing of Mickey Mouse, and inside was a sheet of Disney character stickers, all with different emotions (very handy, I figured, in showing how I was feeling when I wrote each entry). In my first entry, appropriately illustrated with a sticker of Goofy holding an umbrella and looking glum, I described how it had rained that day so my mom made us cookies. The following entries were similar in content. But after three or four days, the excitement over my new journal began to wear off, and my writing became sporadic – maybe an entry every month or two.
To add to my lack of diligence in writing, I don’t think I really understood the point of keeping a journal. I still remember proclaiming my love for Ryan Gregerson in my journal in third grade. In fourth, when my undying love (infatuation?) had faded – it turned out that Ryan would rather play kickball then spend every single recess with me – I went back and crossed out every entry that mentioned him. What if, by some horrifying twist of fate, my diary was published one day? After all, it had happened to Anne Frank. And if it happened to me too, which, to my nine-year-old mind, seemed dangerously likely, the whole world would know my embarrassing secret. Good thing my posterity likely won’t be interested in my elementary school romances. (Or lack thereof).
To this day, I remain a truly unimpressive journal writer. I don’t write every day (or even every week or every month), and when I finally decide that I should, so much time has passed that I have to pen a small novel just to summarize the events that occurred since my last entry. Clearly, I am hardly the person that should be writing about the 5 Minute a Day Journal. But Louise Plummer had several suggestions that actually motivated me to start writing again, and that’s quite an accomplishment on her part. I decided to share what in my opinion were the top four:
1. Descriptive writing. This one is fairly self-explanatory. Describe your day in detail. Plummer also suggests describing yourself once a decade, mostly for the sake of your grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc., who might never know what you were like when you were young. I haven’t even attained two decades yet, so for once I’m not too behind.
2. Make a list. This is possibly my favorite suggestion, because it’s so easy and still tells a lot about you.
3. Write down your dreams. If I ever remember mine when I wake up, I’ll be sure to do this.
4. Write letters you never intend to send. They can be to someone you’re angry with, someone you admire, someone who died before you had the chance to meet them. (I suggest reading the letter by Dessie Thomas contained near the end of the “5-Minute a Day Journal” article).
I probably won’t become an impressive journal writer solely as a result of reading this article. But it did contain many suggestions that could help me improve. I think I’ll start tonight; I’m feeling inspired. Hopefully my grandchildren will someday appreciate finding a list in my journal entitled “25 Reasons Top Ramen Should Not Be Eaten For Every Meal, No Matter How Inexpensive It Is.” If that doesn’t give them a glimpse of what my life was like as a nineteen-year-old college student at BYU, I don’t know what will.
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I don't keep a journal. The last time in wrote in mine was probably in 2005. I'm horrible at it. This is partly because the only time I write in my journal is when something terrible (or terrible in my opinion at the time) happens. For instance, the last time i wrote in my journal was when my family and I moved to Utah in 2005. I thought that was the worst thing that ever could have happened. My journal was full of hatred towards my parents, and longing to move back to where I lived before. I look back on that now and laugh. How stupid was I? I don't want my future posterity to look back at that and think I hated life. I want my journal to be a representation of what my life was like at all stages, not just when I was feeling like crap.
ReplyDeleteI have had, for years, problems in maintaining a daily journal -- like others, it was just a sporadic thing when I was feeling guilty, or when I really needed to translate my feelings onto paper. I think I was daunted by writing for the future -- I didn't want to write unless I was going to put down something particularly important or profound. But then I discovered that my descendants will be interested in even the little things about myself that I consider insignificant: What's my favorite book? Favorite color? Who was my favorite teacher and why? What were my best friends like? I think this essay reminded me of the importance in just writing something, even things I think silly. And I don't have to go about writing huge essays, just a little paragraph would suffice. Now I am keeping a daily journal, and keeping it full of my personality.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this article. Journal writing can be a little intimidating, especially with a busy schedule. The idea of limiting it to five minutes every day is much more realistic and manageable than having monthly journal catch-up marathons.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to consider what my descendants would be interested to know about me. My paternal grandparents are deceased, and I have spent hours wishing that I could know them better, to have a glimpse into their daily lives. I have looked through old yearbooks, talked to their living contemporaries, and tried to piece together a portrait of who my grandparents were. This article inspired me to provide my descendants with the information I wish that I had about my grandparents.
I used to have a problem writing in my journal too. I think it's a common occurrence. Every time I would feel guilty and decide to write, it was too overwhelming to try and remember what had happened since the last time I wrote. Then I started to enjoy myself. Now I write every week for fun. It's a relief to write whatever I am stressed out about, or worrying about, or excited about.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this article as well. It gives lots of creative suggestions for how to start, and proves that unconventional writing is more fun, less boring and makes journal writing a hobby instead of a chore.
While I have not always been perfect at keeping a journal, I am now a firm believer in keeping a detailed record not only of the things in your life that happen, but of the spiritual battles you fight and the trials that you go through. While doing this will bless you in the present, I am much more impressed that it is a sacred responsibility that will bless your posterity in the future.
ReplyDeleteRight now, we are living in the last of the last days. Prophets have long referred to our generation as the "Noble and Great" group of our father's children who would be sent forth to combat Satan when he was at his strongest - just prior the the return of Jesus Christ.
What is the significance of this in relation to writing in a journal, you may ask? Well, my friends, our children will want to know everything they can about us. Why? They may very well be raised after the return of Christ in the city of New Jerusalem - a city where no evil is known. They will be very interested in how we lived our lives (yes even our elementary school romances), for when everyone else fell to Satan's vast dominion on the earth, we stood strong! When Satan was at his very very best, even after six thousand years of experience he was not able to bring us down. The records that we keep now, during this final and great battle - no matter how insignificant the details - will be of infinite worth to our children during the millennium.
You know, for a lot of people, the word "journal" elicits a guilt trip. That's how it was for me for awhile; I'd hear about how I should be keeping a journal, feel incredibly guilty, and resolve to be better. However, most of the time I'd give up before even starting because I felt like I had to catch up on everything at once. One day I was finally fed up with my own lack of commitment and just started. I didn't worry about writing everything I'd missed the first day; I just wrote. Better an imperfect journal on paper than a perfect one not written at all.
ReplyDeleteI've kept a journal consistently for years now. It has been my experience that at first the trick is to write something--anything--every night until the habit is established. Of course, then you have to be careful not to get stuck in a rut of boring entries. This is where the article was useful for me; it suggested different ways for me to make my journal more interesting and useful.I'm a firm believer in the value of journals--looking back, a lot of times I just realize how much of a dork I was, but even so, I have been better able to see the hand of the Lord in my life.
Habits are hard to form and so easily broken! When I was a freshman in high school, I had a seminary teacher that wrote in his journal every day. He had something like 15 journals full since his mission, because he never missed a day since then. He inspired me. I decided that I would write in my journal every single day.
ReplyDeleteAfter 1 year of doing this, I went back and read my entries. They consisted of: "I woke up, ate pancakes for breakfast, went to school, went running and felt like crap, came home, did homework, and went to bed." While this may be cool to read, it is only cool for so long. When it is day after day of this, it becomes a boring read. So to remedy this, I decided I wouldn't write in my journal everyday anymore. I figured once a week would be perfect.
Then I learned a very valuable lesson: creating a once a week habit is very difficult...almost impossible. I have never (although it is years later) been able to write consistently every week.
I used to think of it as a chore, but now I try to think of it as something fun. An outlet; the one thing in this world that I can tell everything. Even my deepest, darkest secrets and desires.
I am also a very lazy journal writer as I think all the other commentators have said. It just takes too long and I'm always too tired or too bloated or too busy or too excited or too stressed or too annoyed, there is always some excuse.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I hate is when something really exciting or sad or weird happens and you tell yourself, Oo I have got to record that in my journal! but by the time you actually get out your pen and your journal you forget that event or it doesn't seem as much of a big deal anymore. I absolutely hate that because it feels like my life is being wasted away in meaningless days that are forgotten three days after they occur. It's terrible!!!
Because I hate this catastrophic occurence so much, I've come up with my own cheat diary. I use an agenda everyday to write down my homework in and the things I need to get done for everyday. In that agenda, I also make a list of everything I did that day and who I did those things with so I don't forget later on. For example, if I have a date one night I'll record what we did and who it was with in my agenda on the specific day that it happened and I'll add in whether it was fun or not. This makes it much easier to remember things that I wanted to include in my journal and it reminds me of the chronology of events, because I tend to forget the order of events I've participated in. This really has proved an effective and easy way to journal write, since my agenda serves as a mini diary and I would recommend it to anyone who is as lazy as I am.
I would also recommend keeping a scrapbook. I know that for me, I'd much rather look at pictures of my mom when she was a teenager rather than take the time to read her sloppy teenage handwriting. A lot of times, pictures can say more than words. Therefore, if you're worried about your children and grandchildren and distant descendants not knowing a lot about you because you didn't write stuff down, also remember that they will love to see pictures.
In addition, keeping a scrapbook is fun!!!!!
I'm not trying to make journal writing seem inferior, because it too is extremely essential. Journal writing is a great way to vent and express your feelings of anguish, hope, desire, despair, etc. with a confidant (your diary) that will never judge you.
Whenever I'm sad or hurt or angry, I write in my journal...it helps significantly.
This article was very inspiring! I actually really enjoyed reading it. It was so inspiring, in fact, that i even took notes about it...in my journal of course.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite form of journal writing mentioned would have to be the cathartic writing. Thats definitely what the majority of my journal is made up of! And it makes for quite an interesting and comical read when i go back through it. Though i'm a little worried, my journal with all my deep dark boy drama was lost in my move to the dorms! I can only hope that my mom didn't steal it!
Keeping a journal can be very therapeutic. I recently made an online journal because i was getting frustrated by how long it takes me to write all my dreams down with a pen. I felt like it was pretty productive and would suggest it to everyone! It can help you paint a picture of what you want your future to look like and keep you on track with your goals without over stressing about it.
Keeping a journal has been one of the best things I've ever done. This summer, I bought a thin, small notebook and wrote in it pretty regularly. I had an hour long public transit commute everyday to work, and I passed the time by musing about public transportation, the people I saw, or the little kids I worked with. Sometimes I simply listed all the things I needed to do that day, or drew little sketches of the things I saw. I had the little kids I worked with draw me pictures when we had nothing else to do with them, and taped in the little pictures they drew me during classes. My friends and I recorded their funny quotes and word-slips.
ReplyDeleteMy journal writing peaked at the end of July, and then as my job ended and I busied myself with college preparations, my journal turned into long lists of things to do before I left Portland.
Its funny looking back at it now, just about a month later. The physicallities of my life have changed so much. My life this summer, my blue room, my job, my friends--everything is different now. But being able to thumb through the pages makes it all come back. Like a little personal time machine.
To me, this is the value of recording your life on paper. Every day passes without the hope of being able to return to it. But with a physical record, not all is lost.
love, lyse
Um. I don't keep a journal. I really should though. Prophets and Louise Plummer have told us to do so. My problem is finding time in the day. I do not think that my life is particularly interesting enough for someone to want to read. My writing is horrific. My journal would be a gigantic book of complaints. There are numerous reasons for me not to keep a journal. In my Book of Mormon class, we are supposed to keep a journal. We are to record our thoughts and impressions as we read from the Book of Mormon. I have taken up this challenge. Although it is not a journal pertaining to my life experiences, it will be a journal recording my spiritual progression. This will be the most beneficial to me in an eternal prospective. This one reason trumps all the reasons not to keep a journal. I think I will start writing today.
ReplyDeleteI have often found myself writing a journal only when something exciting is going on. For example, two summers ago I went with a humanitarian group to the Philippines. There we built out houses, hosted medical clinics, and remodeled an out patient building of a hospital. Every night I wrote in my journal, cataloging the day's experiences, my thoughts, and my feelings. I treasure the things that I wrote in my journal and am glad that I kept it.
ReplyDeleteFor whatever reason there was a month during my senior year that I wrote in a journal almost every day. I found that by writing this journal my thoughts were much more organized. The things that I learned about myself from writing this journal were priceless. As Latter Day Saints we have been encouraged to keep journals. It is said that one day our journals will become "personal scripture." Except for the two occasions I have mentioned I have always blown this idea off. I often thought to myself that writing a journal was a lame thing to do, so I didn't. I regret this attitude almost everyday. There are now some things in my life that I can no longer remember and know I could if I had only kept a journal. After reading this article I am determined to keep a journal even if it means only writing "5 minutes" a day.
When I was in Junior High, I saw The Princess Diaries for the first time. I loved, and still love that movie. I thought it was so cool how Mia wrote in her journal like she was talking to a real person. Shortly after watching that movie, I started keeping a journal. I tried to make it conversational so that it would at least be semi-interesting. Over time I grew tired of writing in my journal. I thought there was nothing worth writing about in my journal. No one cared what I ate for breakfast or what I wore to school. So I gave up. Since coming to BYU, however, I have started a journal of sorts that I hope I can maintain. I started with a brand new journal and at every Tuesday devotional (only one so far) I take notes about what pertains to me on that day. By the end of my time at the Y, I will have a very extensive collection of all the BYU devotionals and what they meant to me at that time in my life.
ReplyDeleteHa I actually really enjoyed reading this article. Funny story about my journal entries when I was a kid: when I was little, I used to start my journal entries with "Dear Kids," and end it with "love you kids!" and then I would sign my name at the bottom. ha... I am completely serious. It’s so funny to look back at. I really wonder where I got the idea from. I never was good at writing in it though, entries are all really sporadic in my journal. My impediment was definitely always time. I love the 5 min a day idea. Make it a game! Ha I think I might try that.
ReplyDeleteI also have been very fascinated by dreams! I love the sentence from Plummer's article that says, "It is interesting to know that the subconscious is at work while I'm sleeping". I wish that I took time to write down some of my dreams. My roommate tells me that I sleep-talk quite a bit...in fact, she just started keeping a log on her computer of what I say in my sleep. It’s hilarious. I would love to know what I was dreaming about at the time.
I thought it was interesting when Plummer mentioned the time when she stayed up with her sister and talking and reminiscing about old memories. I LOVE doing that with my family! Now that I think about it...I really wish that some of those memories were written down somewhere. I’m taking a family history class right now and have been reading a bunch of stories from ancestors. It is so fun to read! It’s sad to think that my life might not mean anything to my future posterity –I really need to write stuff down. I feel like it is also a way to be happy for life and see all the good around you. I really think this is my new goal – not to write about everything...just to tell myself to write something down. Maybe a dream, and embarrassing moment, a funny instance or just something I took the time think about that day.
I have kept a journal mostly daily since I was 9. With that experience, I have noticed two benefits of journal writing.
ReplyDeleteThe first is the help it gives me in thinking through my problems. Lots of times, after I record a bad day, my troubles seem smaller and I can see what I should have done differently. When I have a big decision to make, I find it very helpful to discuss it with myself, in my journal, even more so than talking with other people. It helps me to organize my thoughts.
The second benefit is that I can read and reread my spiritual experiences. It is a huge testimony builder to read about all the times I was having trouble, and God helped me. Quite often I read something I had completely forgotten about, even though at the time of the experience that would have been unthinkable.
Right now we feel we are at the ends of our lives, or at least I do, but I bet that in 50 years we'll think differently. I bet we will be especially interested then to read about this critical period of our lives.
Journal writing can be hard, blah blah blah. I actually appreciated this article though and suddenly my unenthusiasm for journal writing seems a little less justified. I'm not just saying this for the sake of something to write but I actually want to write in my journal like right now. The thought that my life up to this point is pretty much undocumented is discouraging, but I guess it's never too late to start and my life is pretty dang exciting so I think everyone will want to read about it. I have to say that the girl's dream about being pregnant made me laugh hysterically. Journals can be funny, especially if you are pregnant.
ReplyDeleteI used to be pretty good at journal writing, but then I started high school. With that came all kinds of extra-curricular activities, homework, and other excuses not to write in my journal. Since then, I haven't ever really gotten back on track with journal writing. I've gone through a few phases when I would write pretty much every day, but then there always comes a day when I have too much homework or I'm too tired. Once I miss one day of journal writing, it may take me a few months to even write in my journal once. Then I'm playing catch-up and trying to remember everything that's happened since the last time I wrote. I hate that feeling.
ReplyDeleteThis article gave me some suggestions for how to remedy this problem. Writing for five minutes a day doesn't sound nearly as intimidating or time-consuming as making one entry every few months that covers way more than what I have time to write. This article gave some pretty amazing suggestions for journal-writing and it made me think about all the reasons why I should write in a journal regularly. I will definitely use some of these journal-writing techniques to help me start keeping my journal again!
When I was younger I always thought that only girls kept journals. So I purposely never kept a journal in fear of being made fun of by my friends. Then one day it just hit me, it would be so sweet if I could remember perfectly what I did yesterday, last week, last month, last year, and even further back than that. So getting into a habit of writing in your journal every day is hard. Since you're not uesd to it you hardly think about it when you're super tired crawling into bed. So what I did was I kept my journal on my desk and I never tucked in my chair at the desk when I left. So for me to get in bed I would have to crawl over my chair, and then I would see my journal so I would sit down and write in it. Now I have written for 2 years and 3 months straight in my journal, not missing a day. Although I do try and bring my journal with me on trips, I have forgotten it a few times. Just because you left your actual journal at home doesn't mean you still can't write down what has happened during the day and then transfer it over when you get back. Write down spiritual promptings and feelings you have because if you do the Lord will give you more. It also helps you with your testimony when you go back and read your own testimony and see how you've progressed. It's really awesome. You can also look back in your journal and remember all the good times. Keep a journal, it's not only for women, I promise. =D
ReplyDeleteI loved the “make a list” suggestion from the book. Whenever I have too much to say and not enough time, I settle for a list of memorable moments or highlights from my week. Other entries from my journal include lists like “Top ten worst days of my life”, “Favorite words”, “Comprehensive list of crushes”, “Why I should get out of bed this morning”, and various quotes by topic. I love collecting quotes.
ReplyDeleteI do a bit of the descriptive writing too, but as boring as my pathetic life is, I kind of avoid it. If I omit descriptions of classes, homework assignments, and long days at work, there’s really nothing left.
And the never-going-to-send-this-letter style entry. I have a million of those. To my best friends, parents, boyfriend, teachers...everyone. I don’t know what that says about me, but as far as an exercise in cathartic writing goes, this method has got to be my favorite.
I've been very off and on with my journal writing. I've written every day for months on end, then gone months without writing (which was the current case, until this week).
ReplyDeleteIt's easier to write in a journal when it's on a consistent schedule. If it's daily, the habit comes really quickly.
Unfortunately, not every day is worth writing about (maybe I should change that?). Looking back through my journals, most of what I have written about is meaningless to me. However, there are important things in there as well. When I stopped writing in my journal every day, I failed to write down many significant things that I just can't capture quite fully several months later.
I have always actually been very good about writing in m journal. I have written practically everyday since I was twelve. However, since I write everyday, it is hard to come up with exciting things to write about for each entry. Each entry then turns into a "travel log" of my day. Usually I say where I went and what I got done that day. Reading this article made me feel better about my journal writing because my posterity will want to know the day-to-day things that I do. The author is right-I would love to have a journal of my grandparents when they were growing up. I would love to see what they were like and what they would do on a day-to-day basis. So even though my travel log writing turns into a sleeper for me to read, someday maybe my posterity will treasure it.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the suggestion to describe yourself, your likes and dislikes and physical traits, every once in a while. Actually, I like to do this in the beggining entry of each new journal that I start.
It seems like a lot of people have a hard time keeping a journal. Why is that? I think it is because we feel like it takes to much time or we don't want to write. I feel both of these. I have never been good at writing and don't want to "waste" my time keeping a journal. These were my excuses to not keep a journal. The one thing that does excite me about keeping a journal is that I can go back and read it later. We forgot a lot of stuff that happens and this would be a way to remember all of the important and un-important stuff that happens to you.
ReplyDeleteAaah! I'm horrible at writing in journals! I always tell myself that I'm going to and that there's NO WAY that I'm going to forget and then next thing you know, I open up my journal and it's been three months since I've written a word. I honestly don't try anymore because I feel like I don't have anything worthwhile to say.
ReplyDelete"Dear Journal,
School is still kind of lame.
Love, Sadie."
I don't think that's what they want to hear.
But this is a great article and response and I feel like I know how to write a better journal now! I'm going to go try it and I suppose we'll see what happens.
I really liked the suggestions Louise Plummer had for writing in our journals. I like the idea of journaling but never seem to find the time.
ReplyDeleteDuring junior and senior year of high school I kept my journal in the glove compartment of my car. I would rush to my car when the final bell rang and hope I could get out of the student parking lot before the busses left. Once the busses started leaving we, lowly students, were forced to wait until they passed. This was the perfect opportunity for me to write in my journal. That was the longest stretch of time I have ever kept a journal regularly. I was very proud of myself.
I really enjoyed this article. I've never written a journal before now (sorry I'm such a sinner). I've just never gotten into it. However, after reading this, I've really given it thought. Hopefully when I leave on my mission next month I'll finally get into that habit.
ReplyDelete