Do you keep a journal?

[Jenn]

I'm just curious, I keep a cycling journal thanks to...(a fellow rider on here) that lead me to biking forum. However, I know it sounds cheesy, but I noticed in the news they were releasing President Regans journals. I read some of his enteries and it brought me back....
My freshman year for college I had an English teacher that told us I want you to keep a journal for the semester, it will be 80% of your grade. She told us of her Grandmother who kept a daily journal and when she passed, in her basement, journals lined the walls in bookshelves. She said that she read of the depression, WWII, her love life with her Grandfather...a WHOLE life...not just gone, but left for her family to cherish.
So, Fall semester October 2001...then yep 9/11 happens. I read back on my journal....Ironically I remember driving to work that day at 6:30AM Arkansas time, what a beautiful morning...then the world changed. I wrote everything I felt in that journal and pulled it back out tonight. The emotions came pouring back like it was yesterday. I also have written the day I found out I was pregnant (SURPRISE)...how and when she was born...DH deploying after that.
I just think a journal is a wonderful thing, not only to give "you" time, but you will leave something behind for your loved ones and may even leave answers to questions if you go before your time is up.
Oh, and I'm not talking about blogging or computer data, I'm talking old fashioned "Composition" binder journals.
Am I the only one that does that?

[Kimmyt]

I have kept various hardcopy journals in my past, but I inevitably lose interest in them. I may have filled one or two, and those I did keep. I like to record my thoughts, though, and find that when I get in a groove of writing that my thoughts flow better. I keep an online journal now, I guess you'd call it a blog, but not many people read it so it is more private than the typical blog. I enjoy reading things I've written in the past, it takes me back there and it's a good way of reconnecting, I think, to a different way of feeling and of realizing how things have changed. I was thinking tonight, though, that i should maybe back my online writings up, but I'll probably forget and lose them. I like to type things as opposed to writing them, because it seems that I can type much faster than I can write, which means my hands can keep up with my brain.

K.

[teigyr]

I'm like that friend who only calls you when there's drama in her life. I want to keep journals, I really do! Unfortunately, I only feel the need to write in those situations of extreme stress or unhappiness. When life stabilizes, I then lose interest because I'm off doing other things.

I admire those who do it though and I guess it would be really interesting to read 10-20 years from now! Part of me keeps thinking every day will be like..."home from work. I'm tired. Nothing else going on."

[Grog]

I've written in a journal quite a bit in my life. I've got over 50 notebooks (most of them the same size and make etc.), I've written since I was given a diary for my 11th birthday by my godmother I think. I love the act of writing with a fountain pen with ink on paper, it's a treat for me.

I've slowed down significantly these days because most of my writing goes to my Ph.D. work, including to my research journal. I write all first drafts by hand (yes, that's hundreds of pages) so it quenches my need to use my pens.

[han-grrl]

I love to journal, i don't do enough of it though. I love going back and reading about previous races. I laughed when i read my little entry on my first mtb race.

I encourage my clients to journal their workouts, including how they feel, and any data they would like to keep track of. It helps getting things rolling.

[li10up]

I keep a journal of my rides...more like a log. I've started journals before and then tossed them out. Can't keep up with them. I guess it's because I always think, "What's the point. Nobody will ever be interested in reading them anyways." I don't have any children of my own to pass things down to. I guess that's my only regret in not having children...can't pass anything on to future generations. It ends with me. This is making me kind of sad. Must go find chocolate...

[SheFly]

I never kept written journals in the past - always liked the idea of them, but could never find the time to sit down and actually write. I think I was also intimidated by the blank page.

And now, in the electronic age, I have started blogging. I find this a great way to chronicle my life's adventures. Granted, I don't write my deepest, darkest secrets here - it's a public blog. But it does allow me to look back and see what we have done.

And while I don't have children either, it is a great way for my niece to get to know me, and for my friends and family to keep abreast of what DH and I are up to.

SheFly

[pooks]

I have always been paranoid about writing my real feelings down where others can read them. I'm not sure why, because I'll talk about them to others, but I guess I don't want the raw emotions captured in a bottle to be uncorked later and misunderstood -- or worse, understood all too well!

So I haven't been able to keep a journal. I do blog, though.

[RoadRaven]

Nope.

Not since I was a teenager.

But my daughter does... always has since she was about 8.

She gets several journals every birthday and every Christmas... and she fills them all up!

Mind you, she is a prolific writer... short stories, poems etc etc...

[Daydrummer]

I keep journals, online and in writting. Most of the time, it's online at my Livejournal site, but there are times I break out the notebooks and let 'er rip. But then I start writing my stories on paper (always my first choice there instead of typing), and then I don't journal as much as I write.

[dellafalls]

I have kept a journal on and off for about ten years. Occ. I read back in them and I am amazed at the personal growth and change. I will inspire to keep writing daily.