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Re: my journal - a survey » octopusprime

Posted by Penny on December 19, 2003, at 11:29:16

In reply to my journal - a survey, posted by octopusprime on December 19, 2003, at 11:15:43

> * who keeps a journal?

I keep a journal - started keeping a journal four years ago when I first started therapy.

> * is there a specific writing routine (in terms of days/week) that is both sustainable and useful?

I tried to keep journals for years, off and on, thinking I had to write in them regularly - and that, for me, was a sure-fire way to ensure that my journal would end up not being kept at all...so now I write whenever I feel like writing. I usually take it with me to therapy and pdoc appointments, and gather my thoughts prior to those, try to write in it when there are important things I want to remember, things like that.

> * while i generally write whatever i feel like, is there any sort of useful program for guiding yourself through a series of questions?

I can't comment on this - I generally write whatever I feel like as well. I do know that if I'm feeling really really bad I shouldn't journal, even though that's the time I usually feel most like journaling. However, for me, writing down how bad I'm feeling makes me feel that much worse. However, if I were to journal in a way that helped me gain some rationality when I'm feeling down..that might be helpful.

> * am i the only one that keeps old journals but never reads them?

I'm sure you're not the only one, but I have read things from old journals, though not frequently.

> * is it helpful to read what i wrote 5 years ago?

Depends on what you're hoping to achieve. If you're trying to remember something specific that you know you wrote about, or if, perhaps, you are looking over old journals as a way of seeing how far you've come since then, then I recommend it. My problem when I read through old journals, however, is that I see the same complaints, the same problems, etc. etc. and it makes me feel (sometimes) like I really haven't made any progress at all! It can depress me too, so it can be dangerous.



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