I miss writing in my journal

[Citygirl]

Hi, since destroying my journals a few months ago now, I don't regret that action as I have them scanned so can look at them if I want to (which to be honest I hardly ever do) but I do miss writing my journal in the way of writing my feelings. I do keep a visual diary which I enjoy using, aswell as adding pictures I also write but don't put anything too personal in there. I do miss writing freely about anything as and when I want to but I surely don't want to start up journalling in hard backed books again, having them piling up and worrying about them being read, yet journalling on the computer doesn't seem to be the same. My visual diary is in exercise books that take up little room and I find it much better to do that on paper, its not private so I have no worries about it being seen, unlike my personal journals. I miss having a book to write in freely in cafes or wherever I am but its not something I want to keep like I will keep the visual ones.

Any advice please?

[SteveinMN]

Do you have a smartphone or tablet? Some of them have apps that allow you to write on the screen (with a stylus) and save the file; some can convert the writing into text. You can password protect the device, for sure, and maybe the app as well.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Why not just write on paper, in a paper notebook or whatever, and then scan if you want to keep or BURN (literally burn with fire) if you don't want to keep at the end of x period of time so noone can read them (some would say a good shredder would do the same thing, haha but burn came to mind! :devil:). Yes some electronics feel a little like paper (what the kindle was designed for for instance) but nothing actually IS paper. And I like paper too.

[Gardenarian]

Hi - I got rid of all my old journals too. I still write on paper, then I go through the journals and pull out anything that I think is worth saving. Then I shred the rest and put it in the worm compost.

[Citygirl]

Hi, thank you for your replies. I do have a smart phone but I don't know about writing on it with a stylus as its not a very big screen. I have tried using a Word document on my laptop but its not the same. I think writing on paper and destroying afterwards is a good idea as that way I am getting things off my chest without having the writing hanging around later to possibly be seen. Gardenarian, do you find destroying your writing is the same when you are actually writing it if you know what I mean? When I used to keep my hard backed journals, I wrote with the idea that it would be permanent so it felt good to write as at the time I didn't think I would be destroying any of it, it was also good to go back to the previous entry and start writing the next, with gaps inbetween, it made it kind of mysterious and I loved having the pretty notebooks but then once I decided to destroy them the pretty books didn't matter because I was uncomfortable with what was written so out it all went. I am wondering if I will be able to write freely on paper knowing it will be destroyed straight away, will it be the same? How do you feel about this? All I know is that I need to journal to get things off my chest but I don't want the personal stuff hanging around afterwards, it makes me too uneasy.

[Citygirl]

Hi, thank you for your replies. I do have a smart phone but I don't know about writing on it with a stylus as its not a very big screen. I have tried using a Word document on my laptop but its not the same. I think writing on paper and destroying afterwards is a good idea as that way I am getting things off my chest without having the writing hanging around later to possibly be seen. Gardenarian, do you find destroying your writing is the same when you are actually writing it if you know what I mean? When I used to keep my hard backed journals, I wrote with the idea that it would be permanent so it felt good to write as at the time I didn't think I would be destroying any of it, it was also good to go back to the previous entry and start writing the next, with gaps inbetween, it made it kind of mysterious and I loved having the pretty notebooks but then once I decided to destroy them the pretty books didn't matter because I was uncomfortable with what was written so out it all went. I am wondering if I will be able to write freely on paper knowing it will be destroyed straight away, will it be the same? How do you feel about this? All I know is that I need to journal to get things off my chest but I don't want the personal stuff hanging around afterwards, it makes me too uneasy.

[Gardenarian]

Yes, I do feel I write the same way. I might hold onto the journals for a year or so; I'm not thinking as I'm writing that it's going to end up in the compost. I guess in the back of my mind is the thought that I can keep this if I want to - it's not like I HAVE to throw it out.

This is separate from my fiction writing, which I do keep. My journal writing is usually more of a brain dump, and is often the same old thing - "Too much to do, not enough time, blah blah..."

Occasionally I'll do some sketching or poetry, or something like a yoga routine that worked for me, that I think is worth keeping, but 99% gets tossed.

[ctg492]

I have never written a journal. Guess it would be nice to look back to years ago and read where my thoughts were at.

[puglogic]

I have 40 years worth of journals and I don't care who reads them. I would not part with them for the world, and I share your desire to write things down on real paper.

If someone finds my journals from a couple of decades ago, they'll see I was in a terrible romantic relationship that hurt a lot. Thirty years ago, they'll see that I thought my sisters were a huge pain in the butt and I hated them. Forty years ago I really liked Jim Saulsbury but wished he'd quit hitting me. Who cares?

You might ask yourself why you have so many bad things to write about? And can you get yourself away from the negative influences in your life, so the good eventually replaces the bad, and you have nothing to worry about finding? (unless you're an axe murderer, in which case that won't quite work out, but you don't seem to be)

I can tell in my journals when I was in situations where I didn't belong....where I needed to make changes in my life, get rid of toxic relationships, do something different. The things I wrote were a huge neon road sign saying, "Get the hell out of here and find a better life." Just a different way of looking at it.

Good idea ApatheticNoMore....the tactile pleasure of journaling without the paper trail :D

[Gardenarian]

My journals do tend to be negative; often it is the bad feelings that drive me write, to sort things out in my mind. I think that is another reason I like to get rid of them. They are not a true reflection of my life, just what was making me sad or mad or confused at a particular time.
When things are going well I tend to channel my writing energy into fiction.