Day One: Breaking my barriers to journal writing

[catherine]

Just want to share a great app I've discovered.

I've been a lifelong diarist (since 1964). I weathered the transition from hand-writing to composing on the computer, but once blogging and writing on boards like this became an option, I really fell off the wagon with my own personal journal writing.

A little while ago I realized how much I missed it. Writing for others cannot replace writing to yourself as meditation and expression, so I tried to figure out what the barriers were to my losing the consistency and the will to write. I identified two barriers: A) I don't think of it on a daily basis and B) even though opening up my Word document is maybe two steps, it was two steps too many. So I started researching apps.

My research led me to choose Day One (http://dayoneapp.com/). It breaks down the specific barriers I had. First of all, it's a very, very simple app. It's simply a dated page, really. No fancy schmantzy tags, links, video, audio blah blah blah. Just a page, with a motivating quote, if you choose one.

It breaks down Barrier A (reminder) by popping up at the time of day I'm most likely to be able to write. You can set your own time. I've chosen 8am. You can snooze it by an hour or a day, or skip it completely. There's also a little box for a "quick-journalling" option, so you don't have to even press one button to start writing. (Barrier B) You can also password protect your entries.

I know there are a lot of people here who are inclined to journal, or do already--so thought you might be interested

I use it on my Mac, and it's available for Mac and iPhone. It's $10, but I really think it's worth it.

[Gardenarian]

That sounds great.
There are so many fun apps that would be appropriate for PCs.

[BarbieGirl]

I think it's great that you are trying to carve time out of your day to do something creative and enjoyable for yourself.
Do you look at your journaling as something for you alone, or is it for sharing or leaving to posterity? Either way, I'm glad you are taking steps to make time to write!

[catherine]

At first I thought it would be for posterity, but then when I had kids I really had to think about that. There's the dilemma of writing how you really feel and using the journal as a dumping ground vs. editing yourself to "protect the innocent." I was talking to my DS about that the other day, and he said, "So, you're telling me now, when you die, we should just trash your journals?" I told him yes--just because that's the safest thing. I assured him there is no real dirt in there--I've never cheated on their father, I never prostituted myself for crack. I really have nothing to hide except typical occasional negative feelings at certain points in my life. And I did do some pre-editing as I was writing. There is nothing that they would be devastated to read--IMO anyway. But better to be safe than sorry

But if I can wrangle time, I want to go through and pull out the things that I think the kids WOULD enjoy--some old funny things about my teen life they might laugh at, and recounts of the days they were born, started, school, etc. If I could just edit them down to what I think they'd actually be interested in, that would be the best of both worlds, but it would be quite an undertaking.

[BarbieGirl]

Catherine,

i understand that there may be some things that you don't necessarily want your kids reading. However I love your idea of going through your journal to pick out snippets they may really enjoy about their childhood happenings.

I guess the problem is finding the time to pick out the snippets and make it into a little book. Maybe take a journaling session once a month to pick out and arrange these snippets for posterity? Schedule it so it gets done slowly but surely.

Barb

[BayouGirl]

I have kept journals off and on during my adult life. My most precious ones of my pregnancy and my son's childhood were lost in Hurricane Katrina. For some reason I just love buying blank journals (the dollar store has really cute ones) so I have quite a few that haven't been written in yet. I write them because i enjoy writing and because it helps to capture things in my life that may someday be of interest to my son or grandkids.

My post Katrina journals are exceedingly precious to me because they are the story of me and my late fiance falling in love and building a life together in a city that had been destroyed. We lived on a cruise ship 6 months that was there to provide housing for first responders and essential personnel. Then we lived in a FEMA trailer which was a nice one, small and cozy, our snug little home in a city of chaos. He was a New Orleans firefighter, and he saw the worst of it during Katrina in the Superdome and in the months after as he recovered bodies from homes where people had last been seen. My job was simply to be there for him, love him unconditionally and create a world of our own in our small space, a safe haven from all that he encountered in his job. I loved him so dearly, just adored him and often told him that. I know how much he loved me to and he took such good care of me, spoiling me with small gifts, cooking or me. Basically we spoiled each other in the 2 years that we had together. How blessed I was to have had him, even if it was only for 2 years.

I suppose my journals will go to my son one day. I would hope that they give him insight into my life and the life I led and the choices I made and the fact that I have always adored him and thought he was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me. There is nothing in the journals that I would not want him to read. Often they are just amusing anecdotes about life.

Thanks for starting this thread because it prompts me to begin writing a journal again. BayouBoy and I just got married and so that is a new beginning in my life which has had many new beginnings. I find it mildly amusing that BayouBoy is also a firefighter and we fell in love during hurricane Gustav and the aftermath which hit our region hard and we worked side by side doing relief efforts for weeks after. What are the chances of finding love with a firefighter during and after a hurricane TWICE in a lifetime?

I much prefer writing my journals by hand in store bought journals rather than writing on my computer. Not sure why but I like my little stack of journals, each neatly labeled and dated.