Do you keep a Diary/Journal?

[Jeena]

Do you?

I just recently started mine. (It is late, but it is better late than never.)

[sir octepus tea]

having really really bad memory, I find writing things down to be a good practice.

[Musical Articuno]

I have a journal. Writing helps me organize my thoughts as well as release any unpleasant emotions (kinda like therapy). I don't write in it every day, though. Just when I'm inspired by something or feeling bad enough to prompt me to write.

[Antihero.]

Nope.
My mum gave me one when I was a toddler in elementary school. She said writing a journal is a good way to reflect ones day and keep oneself aware of the own feelings.
I however didn’t really know what to do with it. I thought it was boring to write everything I just did into this book. But that was literally what I did. I chronologically wrote down everything I did in there in detail with the times when I had done it. My journal had no emotions or thoughts in it, it was a list of things I’ve done, every little thing perfectly in order. I did this for one week, then went up to my mum with it and asked her to check if I had done it the right way. She first refused to look into it because a journal is considered a personal thing (what I didn’t understand at this time). I was confused and insisted that she would check if I was doing it right for I was keeping this journal just because she suggested it. I also told her that I found it extremely boring to list everything in there. She then took a look into it, looked at me and said:”You don’t have to do that if you don’t like.” Because she didn’t want to tell me that I indeed didn’t use it the way it is commonly used and that this was a little odd in her eyes. I abandoned the journal and never had the urge to start one or thought it could be profitable for me in any way.

[Hiraeth6]

I don't currently own or write a journal - however it is something I've been thinking about.

Maybe I should just try it and see, though I'd be terrified someone would find it and read it!

[dissolved]

No, but I wish I did.

[poindexter]

No, it's a habit I don't have. Not sure what I'd do with it if I did, do people read their diaries back?

My older sister keeps a diary though, and I must admit to having had a peek once or twice :P It's pretty much the duty of younger siblings, right?

[FerlynnGoldbeard]

I downloaded a journal app on my phone. It's useful for sleep when my active brain won't shut up.

[WinterWanderer]

I used to keep one as a kid, and recently I've picked up the habit again.

The problem I've had with diaries before is that only my negative thoughts tend to come out. So with this diary, I'm making an effort to include both positive and negative things. :)

[ace11]

I do and i write in it practically every day. I don't tend to remember much about my life unless i write it down. Also, i have sort of a compulsion to write about everything i experience that is beautiful. which is mostly just things that are generally considered boring, like how the clouds looked or how the air smelled on a particular day. I think it goes back to the way i was raised, in a family that moved somewhat often. I have this ingrained fear that the beauty that surrounds me could all be taken away at any time, so i need to have a way to remember it when it's gone.

[ace11]

I used to keep one as a kid, and recently I've picked up the habit again.

The problem I've had with diaries before is that only my negative thoughts tend to come out. So with this diary, I'm making an effort to include both positive and negative things. :)

Funny, i have the reverse problem. I don't tend to write about anything i'd consider negative, i guess because i never really considered it to be worth remembering later on. But recently i've been trying to present a more whole and accurate picture with my journals, so i've been covering the more negative aspects as well. It feels weird to write that stuff down but it can also be therapeutic. I think a balance is great :) and that the negative things really are worth remembering because it's a part of the ocmplete picture just as much as the happy stuff.

[Andiamo]

I'm saying yes. I sort of have two, though neither of them are written in daily in any way. The first one is really a notebook, and I write whatever I feel like writing in it, with no rules. The second is more of a diary meant only to help me discuss myself with myself. I really started it when I first experienced romantic attraction in 7th grade and wasn't comfortable enough to talk to other people about it, but I even have one entry from 5th grade. Reading back, I can see all the signs that I was ace and my entire path of self discovery.

[Busrider]

I had a phase, when I was 15 or 16... And later they forced us to fill a page about each week of our apprenticeships :(

I hear you, Akace:

I don't tend to write about anything i'd consider negative, i guess because i never really considered it to be worth remembering later on.

Thats my problem when I am supposed to call my parents... Without good news to tell its no fun.

I think I'd rather blog than scribble a diary that I won't recheck or enjoy to decipher.

[oldgeeza]

I only keep a diary for work, in my line of work, you have to be able to justify your every second of the working day as management will question you over something that happened 2 years ago, you have to have the answers, it's the same with the authorities, we need to have a memory for up to 6 years, it's too easy to get locked up in this job, I have a terrible memory so I write everything down, even toilet stops

[fuzzipueo]

Depends. I find it helpful if I have a weird, confusing dream, or on occasion, nightmare, to write it out. Gets the recurring images out of my head and down where I can study them more easily. As for a diary proper, I'm really bad about keeping up with it, though I will write in it once in a while.

[gracefullyace]

Yep! I've technically kept a journal since 2nd grade. It's a decision I definitely don't regret. You'd be surprised at all the little details you forget over time. I love looking at past entries.

That reminds me, I need to write in mine tonight. I'm a little bit behind. :)

[Jeena]

Yep! I've technically kept a journal since 2nd grade. It's a decision I definitely don't regret. You'd be surprised at all the little details you forget over time. I love looking at past entries.

That reminds me, I need to write in mine tonight. I'm a little bit behind. :)

Lucky! I really wish I did that way back when to see how I've evolved.

[yomo]

I've kept a journal on and off, my abusive dad went through one of them once while he thought I was sleeping :/ jerk.

I really should start keeping one again though, it definitely helps me decompress at the end of the day and if my depression starts acting up, it helps a lot with that too if you don't want to talk to someone about it.

[Vega91]

Once or twice when I was a kid I tried.
They usually ended up being about two entries of "I went to the pool. It was fun" before I stopped because there wasn't enough worth commenting on in my life and I was never one to write anything about emotions. (Also, no way would I want to reread my angsty teenage crap.)

[Xavy]

Yes, I keep mine in the Notes app on my iPad .

[Tanzanite]

I tried starting when I was a kid, but there wasn't really enough to comment on. Now, I use my voice recorder app on my phone for that. I don't record every day since most of my days I feel pretty neutral/just go to school and not much else. I think I threw away my old diaries, but I doubt I want to reread those since I was about 8 years old when I wrote those entries.

[EnterCreativeName]

I've tried a couple times. I just get embarrassed, worried that someone will find it (as it has happened before...), or I don't take the time to write in it every day. Only a few entrys in, I usually end up scrapping it and throwing it away.

[Kuebiko]

I stopped because writing things down made me remember things that I wanted to forget. Like I usually don't intend to write them down but I end up doing so anyway and then when I re-read them I feel awful. Also I had like zero privacy and all my thoughts are safer in my head than on paper. And I have absolutely no time now.

[Momoo]

I had one when I was younger but I stopped since there was nothing interesting to tell.

[SpaceDustbin]

I don't, but sometimes think I maybe should. I do occasionally write entries in my ~travel journal~, but it's very rare for me to keep on writing the entire duration of a trip. I am very easily distracted and tend to forget keeping up on things, so a daily journal would probably abandoned very soon

[deltaX]

I used to in middle school, back when I thought I had a shot at being a writer. I don't anymore though, because it became too time consuming.

[SpeedinThroughSpace]

I write things down as it helps me think (musings and reflections on whatever is on my mind at the time). As I write creatively, too, a lot of the time when I feel inspired to write though, it ends up in a story.

I voted no in the poll, because while I sometimes write down what would be a journal entry, I don't do it frequently enough to qualify as a diary.

[WhenSummersGone]

Used to. I make notes and To Do lists now but that's pretty much it.

[PerformativeSurprise]

I have tried this about three different points in my life and failed spectacularly each time. I always end up writing faithfully for a couple of weeks, then I forget and just stop. Also, mine end up more like daily reports than typical diary entries :lol: .

[LightningCharm]

I used to when I was younger. Nowadays I'm usually too busy or just too exhausted to jot my thoughts down coherently. :p