Journaling

Journaling

To me journaling is proving to be an extremely rewarding experience, and exiting to realize to be able to see my thoughts, to be able to read and reflect on my own ideas, that give rise to even more ideas. And therefore I enjoyed reading what other people wrote as well. It was pleasing to realize my belief that nobody is stupid, just some people are more knowledgeable, proves to be true. I felt like reading the different journal entries written by people were also interesting in their own way, and had some sort of insight.

            I found it particularly hard to be able to pick two journals to analyze. I first wanted to pick journal writing by Hitler or Stalin, Or any famous hated figure, and compare that journal to a famous humanitarian, and than try to find a manner in which they are similar to one another, but unfortunately wasn’t able too.  Instead I just randomly picked journal entries that did something for me. I first picked a journal entry from Kurt cobain, prior to reading his entry I did not know that he was, but found his entry quite fascinating. I like the way he was blunt with his language. It seemed like he was just writing what he was thinking. Maybe the appeal to his journaling style was that I find my self-journaling in the same way.  Here is a piece from his entry

“I kind of feel like a dork writing about myself like this as if I were an American pop-rock icon-demi God, or a self-confessed product of corporate-packaged rebellion, but I’ve heard so many insanely exhaggerated stories or reports from my friends and Ive read so many pathetic second rate, freudian evaluations from interviews from my childhood up until the present state of my personality and how I’m a notoriously f—ed up heroine addict, alcoholic, self destructive, yet overtly sensitive, frail, fragile, soft spoken, narcoleptic, neurotic, little pissant who at any minute is going to O.D. jump off a roof wig out blow my head off or all 3 at once. Oh Pleez GAWD I can’t handle the success! The success! And I feel so incredibly guilty!”

I am not quite sure what it was about this passage that I liked, but after reading this I went and looked him up. I enjoyed reading his entry.  From reading the many journal entries –to try to find the one- I found one genre convention of journals was, that most of the writers were talking to themselves through their writting. It is interesting how people will call a person that talks to himself crazy, but if someone journals instead, they are being creative and productive. Even though, in both cases the person is pretty much doing the same thing, releasing your own thought to them selves.

Another genre convention of journaling is letter writing. In many journals people are writing to some one else. Words or thoughts they have not, will not, share with the person they are writing too. I personally did some journaling when my father hurt my feelings, and I was not able to tell him he hurt me. So instead I wrote to him in my journal, and I felt better. The next journal I picked was from a random person, who is presumably writing to a former love.  

Many journals entries I read were like these, a note to someone that is not intend to be shared, I assume.

Another convention of journaling is observation. For me this is one I enjoy quite a lot, although I do also enjoy the other conventions. However, there is something very therapeutic about observation.  And often in journals people write about some random observation, and then go deep into the thought. I enjoy keeping my journal with me as much as possible- even though I do not have it as often as I would wish- it is rewarding keeping it next to me.  When there is a quick observation I make, I like to just write it down, and when I have time, dive into it.