3 Reasons to Keep a Diary, No. 4

Once again, I return to that recurring question:

Why write a journal?

I've shared some evidence for health benefits, talked about successful people who journaled, and shared some silly reasons. And today I want to to talk about Superman.

Notice I said I want to talk about Superman... But I'm actually going to talk about kryptonite. 

   by  andertoons 

Kryptonite, if you don't know, is Superman's weakness. Whenever he's around this fictional element from his home planet, his strength and abilities are weakened. Not only does it affect Superman, but it also affects humans. In some cases it harms humans, but in other cases humans are actually strengthened.

I'm sure you know you have weaknesses. And no, I'm not talking about a little sweet tooth or a love for kittens. I'm talking about a legitimate weakness, something that keeps you from living your life to the fullest. A fault, something that puts you at a disadvantage, an Achilles heel.

One thing that journaling has helped me with is discovering and understanding my weaknesses. For example, I'm a people-pleaser, and I hate real confrontation. While I live with the mantra and intention of being true to myself and not caring what others think, I've discovered that deep-down, I'll willingly sell myself out in order to keep the peace and please others. 

If I have a problem with a friend, I'll write out exactly how I feel and exactly what I want to say to them to stand up for myself and do the right thing. But when the opportunity arises for me to say what I need to say, I back out. I choose not to say it, and I go into damage-control mode instead.

I ignore my own feelings and my own needs in order to prevent confrontation, and I allow the other person to be comfortable while I am miserable. 

Notice what I said there: my fear of confrontation allows others to remain comfortable. As in, it puts the other person at an advantage. And when it's a matter of right and wrong and I chicken out of being bold for the right thing, it causes harm to those on the other side. Like kryptonite, folks. It poisons one, strengthens the other, and kills the third. 

Since I've realized my desperate need to please others and my desperate fear of confrontation, I've been able to work on those problems. More and more, I've been able to be bold and stand up for the right thing. Yes, I still struggle with confrontation, and I'd much rather have everyone just be friends. I love when everything is all rainbows and unicorns and puffy white clouds!

Through journaling, I've also been able to outline my strengths and what makes me unique. I've discovered that my weakness can also be a strength when it comes to volunteering and serving others. And more than that, I've been able to work on my strengths in more inconsequential ways like trying to not care what others think about my clothing or my likes and dislikes. I've been able to focus on who I really am, and what God can do through the real me, without worrying as much about whether people think my love of poetry is weird or my "hairy potter" tee is too obscure.

So for a quick recap, what can journaling help you do?
1. Discover Kryptonite (weaknesses)
2. Overcome Kryptonite (weaknesses)
3. Discover Strengths

Thoughts, concerns, quips, stories, questions, random facts about Superman? Comment below!
-Cailey

Disclaimer: There are many different kinds of kryptonite that all have different effects on Superman and his human counterparts, and I'm not getting into that. I'm just giving the general explanation in order to illustrate my point, so if you're a comic book junky and you're offended by my lack of detail, I apologize. Just be impressed by the skill with which I relate superheros and writing a diary.

3 Reasons to Keep a Diary, No. 3

Once again, you ask, why keep a journal?

Because, my friends, life moves too quickly. I think we all know that the world lives at a faster pace and with a tighter schedule than ever before. This has become a world of instant gratification, instant consequences, instant fame and instant anonymity, instant communication, and instant connection. Unless you feel like leaving everything and everyone behind and becoming a hermit, I'm afraid you're stuck in this cyclone of work, school, family, friends, and enemies.

It can be hard to keep track of your thoughts, ideas, and goals in the midst of this swirling vortex of busy.

Did you know that John Quincy Adams, Louisa May Alcott, Lewis Carroll, Kurt Cobain, Fyodor Dostoevski, Bob Dylan, Ralph Waldo Emerson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Anne Frank, Frida Kahlo, Soren Kierkegaard, Stevie Nicks, George S. Patton, Beatrix Potter, Theodore Roosevelt, Sir Walter Scott, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Henry David Thoreau, Queen Victoria, Andy Warhol, and Virginia Woolf (I could go on...) all kept diaries? I don't mean to appeal to fame, I'm just saying that surely if many of the most successful and widely known writers, politicians, and artists all have journaling in common, maybe there's something to it. Maybe (possibly... probably... almost definitely!) keeping a journal helps to organize thoughts and ideas and helps in making and tracking goals.

Most of the men and women I listed have passed away. Almost all of them lived in earlier times, when the world was not quite so fast-paced. So if they found it beneficial to keep a journal in their own day and age, how much more might journaling benefit your life?

I'm not talking about fame here. I'm talking about success (which is very different from fame!). I'm talking about doing every little thing you can to make your life as productive and joyful as possible, for your own sake and for the sake of those you love. Each person in that list had/has a passion and a purpose. My passion is using my God-given creative talents to help others, and my purpose is to bring glory to God, so one reason I keep a diary is to store and organize my thoughts, creative ideas, and goals so that I can better use my passion and fulfill my purpose.

I'm not saying keeping a diary will make you as famous as Bob Dylan, Tchaikovsky, Anne Frank, or Virginia Woolf. And I'm not saying it won't! That's not the focus. You, like all the people I listed, have a passion and a purpose (whether you realize it or not). Don't you think you could stand to have your thoughts organized a little better and your goals tracked a little more easily, so you can get on to those bigger and better things?

Honestly, I could go on and on about this, but I think you get the point. 

So, as a quick review,
Three Reasons to Keep a Diary, No. 3:

1. Organize thoughts and ideas (in order to strengthen and pursue your passion)

2. Make and track goals (in order to fulfill your purpose)
and the fun third reason:
3. Have something in common with                     (fill in the famous name you admire from the above list)

That's why you should keep a journal.

Has this given you any new thoughts, ideas, or goals? Got someone else to add to the list? Unsure about your passion or purpose? Share your thoughts in the comments!
-Cailey

P.S. a quick copyright note, because while I usually use my own pictures or public domain images, I strayed from that just slightly in the photo collage above because I really wanted to include pictures of Kurt Cobain, Bob Dylan, Anne Frank, and Stevie Nicks (and honestly, who can blame me?)
"Nirvana Around 1992" by P.B. Rage from USA - More Kurt -- too rad. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. "Bob Dylan - Azkena Rock Festival 2010 1" by Alberto Cabello from Vitoria Gasteiz - Bob Dylan. Via Wikimedia Commons. "Anne Frank" by http://www.noobpeople.org/various/anne.jpg (Note: same version at Gettys [1]). Licensed under Fair use of copyrighted material in the context of Anne Frank via Wikipedia. "StevieNicks2" by StevieNicks.jpg: Matt Beckerderivative work: Elsa Baye - StevieNicks.jpg. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. All other images are in the public domain. 

3 Reasons to Keep a Diary, No. 2

Again, why should I keep a journal? I'm not a 12-year-old girl. I don't see what the benefits are.
Okay, so you're not a 12-year-old girl (or if you are, congratulations!). Neither am I (though I was for about a year one time). Journaling is not only for preteen girls--keeping a journal can help everyone. And when I say it can help, I really mean it. Try typing "benefits of journaling" into your search engine. I got 1,080,000 results. Even if 99% of them are crap, that still leaves 10,800 results!

In my research for this post, I found a boatload of information about the emotional and psychological benefits.

"The act of writing accesses your left brain, which is analytical and rational. While your left brain is occupied, your right brain is free to create, intuit and feel. In sum, writing removes mental blocks and allows you to use all of your brainpower to better understand yourself, others and the world around you." (Maud Purcell, The Health Benefits of Journaling)

However, I was somewhat surprised to find that there is growing scientific support for the idea that keeping a journal has physical benefits, as well. According to Purcell, research shows that because keeping a journal helps a person process stressful events, it then relieves the physical impact of that stress. For example, it strengthens the immune system and improves the symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. This makes perfect sense to me. Any illness or medical condition is going to aggravated by stress; that's just the way the body works. So relieving stress is bound to bring some relief to medical symptoms!

So, according to Maud Purcell's article at Psych Central, why keep a journal?

1. You'll literally feel better. Your joints and airways will thank you, my friends!

2. Say goodbye to mental blocks. Say goodbye to the power struggle between the left brain and the right brain. Say hello to efficient brain-use.

And a random bonus reason because I love when things come in threes:

3. You can make up new words. Dr. Seuss hardly used any existing words. William Shakespeare made up 1,700 new words. Who knows, you could be the next Dr. Seuss or Shakespeare!

3 Reasons to Keep a Diary, No. 1

So you're selling journals now, eh?

Yes, indeed I am. I added the first few journals to my shop just over a week ago, so they're very new.

That's great. Journals. Diaries. That sort of thing. Woo. But... Why should I be interested?

Great question! Why should you be interested in little unwritten books? Here are three great reasons:

1. To keep a record of what's going on in your life. 

I can't tell you how rewarding it is to look back at my old journals and see what I was doing a year ago. Every time I look at my old journals, I'm struck by how much has changed in my life. In June last year, I was trying to decide where to go to college, and I was far too painfully aware that time was running out on that decision. On a happier note, however, I was getting more familiar with the exciting world of Etsy, and that is definitely a plus! 

So much has changed since then, and it's awesome getting to compare my life right now with my life one year ago, two years ago, five years ago. 

2. Relieves Stress

You know that best friend who almost knows you better than you know yourself? You know how great it feels to have a listening ear for you to unload all your problems? If you do, a journal is the next best thing, you know, for those rare times when your bff is unavailable. And if you don't have that best friend, a journal is the next best thing, so you should go unload all your problems on paper immediately, before you explode or something!

The cool thing is, journals never interrupt, judge, or question your logic. Though they won't give you advice, either, unless you happen to be writing in Tom Riddle's diary, but I'm pretty sure Harry Potter destroyed that pretty thoroughly. And if you're looking for advice from Voldemort, you've got problems even a journal can't solve! 

3. Historic Value

One day when our entire civilization is gone and the future archaeologists are digging through our houses and towns, trying to discover who we were and what our lives were like, our ancient journals will be absolutely priceless to them. You're welcome, future archaeologists.

Of course, they probably won't be able to read your handwriting, unless you're like my mom. I know they certainly won't be able to read mine; my handwriting is a messy half-cursive scrawl. I've been told I should have been a doctor, just because of my handwriting. Sorry, future archaeologists!

(These are just some of my journals from over the years!)

I'm not saying you should go out and immediately buy my handmade journals (although I wouldn't complain if you did). I'm saying you should just start writing! in a composition notebook, on post-it notes and napkins, in a moleskine book, or in the most expensive diary money can buy. Write with a cheap ballpoint pen, a pencil, a hot-pink gel pen, your favorite fountain pen, a quill pen, you name it. None of that matters. Just write, because it really does make life deeper, richer, and more rewarding.

-Cailey