Do you keep a journal?

[rubysoho]

In the past I have blogged about various projects. About ten years ago I also used to keep a day-to-day journal. Recently I have had the urge to write about my running/cycling so today I picked up an old notebook and did just that.

Do you keep a journal? What do you write about?

[Tri Girl]

In my early teens/twenties I kept a daily journal. Now I blog. Kinda the same, but more visually appealing to me.

I love re-reading all my old journals. I was such a silly, silly girl...

[GLC1968]

In my early teens/twenties I kept a daily journal. Now I blog. Kinda the same, but more visually appealing to me.

I love re-reading all my old journals. I was such a silly, silly girl...

This. Except that I hardly blog anymore either....no time.

[rubysoho]

tri-girl, I know what you mean. I reread my journals from high school and college. Oh man...

I have had a couple blogs online but for some reason paper and pen felt right today. I enjoy blogs because it is so easy to incorporate photos. Here was my most recent that I kept before my promotion to a desk job (computer work is just not as interesting as birthing piglets or other farming!): http://farmgirlnextdoor.wordpress.com

[Veronica]

I write in a journal, keep workout notes in another journal and I blog. My journal is really for me. Currently I'm using a really nice leather bound journal for the personal stuff and a cute teddy bear one that a student (Tyler who's now a junior!) gave me. The blog is public and gets edited differently.

Veronica

[NbyNW]

I've kept journals at times but then at some point my routine gets interrupted, or my reason for journaling takes a backseat. I have sometimes journaled to work through a problem, or kept a sketchbook in my nightstand to jot down ideas that won't let me sleep or dreams that I want to capture as soon as I wake up. I've tried occasionally doing a daily writing exercise a la The Artist's Way. But can't say I've been consistent.

Right now I'm keeping a food journal, because I'm curious to track if I'm consistently getting a good variety of foods and balanced nutrition.

[OakLeaf]

I should .... but I rarely crack it open unless I'm in crisis. Maybe if I were more diligent about journaling, there'd be fewer crises.

[roo4]

I used to keep a Trip Journal in my younger years. One trip occurred when I was 22. I went backpacking with some college pals. In the evenings, we read selections from our writing.

Friend: As the sun went down I reflected on the wonders of nature and the elemental feeling of oneness with the world. The amazing colors on the horizon led me to blah blah blah....

Mine: Trail peters out at mile post 6. Try going right toward shore to find it. Good water source 100 yds right of large rock formation.

I was mocked for writing a "fact book" not a journal. But as I reminded my friends, in 5 years when we return, whose writing would come in handy?

[shootingstar]

In my teens and then tried to restart in my early twenties. Stopped.

Then when I started cycling again, I took it up a combined cycling journal which included trip notes and what I had seen. Then stopped for about 10 years.

Now blogging replaces journalling for me. I think for me, to have some decent pics forces me to write a readable article instead of me just rambling. But I don't blog every day, maybe once a wk. across several different blogs in total, not with same posting at all.

[Crankin]

As a former writing teacher, and one who included journal writing as part of my class, I just can't make myself sit and do it. I used to journal when my students were writing, but it seemed like I wrote about the same stuff over and over; which kids were doing what, just stuff about the day. Boring and mundane.
I have no desire to keep a record of my day to day stuff. I'd really like to sit down and write, as in fiction, but I can honestly say, that will never happen. I know I could do a decent short story, but I am not disciplined enough to sit and do it.
Blogging, meh. No one wants to hear what I do. To me, it's like Facebook. I hardly ever post there, because unless I tell you something personally, I don't need you to know about it.
And, I am glad I don't have a written record of my teenage years .

[OakLeaf]

My teenage journal turned out to be incredible validation for me. Sure there was the usual teenage angst ... and I can't imagine how my journal survived years that my memory couldn't ... but I can't even begin to describe how powerful it was for me to learn that I was remembering correctly as an adult, how I had experienced things at the time.

[Crankin]

Yea, my problem is that I remember everything I did as a teen quite accurately.
Let's just say my own kids could have never come close to anything resembling my exploits. While I'm not embarrassed and I don't really regret anything, there are just some things I don't need to have in writing! As in, anyone interested in going down the Boston Common to .....???

[Catrin]

In different periods of my life I've kept a journal. When there is a lot going in there is something wonderful about sitting down with a nice little journal with good paper and a good pen...not scratching on recycled paper with a cheap pen - it is as much about the act of writing as it is the actual writing.

At this point in my life I would like to take this up again, but my hands aren't what they used to be. Sometimes I can write, sometimes I can't. Electronic writing isn't quite as satisfying, but am considering making the switch. Just for me, not for the internet

[shootingstar]

I don't really treat my blogs like a journal at all.

They are focused on specific main themes of: cycling, art, travel and food, with cycling as the running thread. Each blog post has a theme or subject to get me to stay focused.

There are whole sections of my life that won't appear in the blogs. One of them is job/career related.

I know that people use their personal blog to vent their anger and frustration such as one would use a journal. But for myself: is that the sort of imprint I want to leave behind on the Internet? So cycling is my catharsis and to think about stuff off-line.

[Bethany1]

I used to keep a journal when I was a teenager. Now I don't. I mostly blog about quilting stuff with my quilting friends and have added cycling entries as well.