Do you still write in a journal or diary?

@Bd200789 (2994)
United States
March 12, 2008 10:31am CST
I used to keep one when I was younger. I would write in it every day for a while, and other times I wouldn't write anything for weeks. I finally destroyed them about a year ago. Now I don't keep a journal. Do you write in one? If you do, how often do you write in it?
3 people like this
14 responses
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
12 Mar 08
I used to. I haven't destroyed the journals I had before I was about 12 or so, but the ones after that are gone. I used to only write about things like how the pets are doing, where I went, etc. Once you get older, it's not as okay if someone finds your diary. So I just don't keep one for security reasons. I don't want to be like one of those politicians where people dig up all kinds of dirt on me later. Not that I'm likely going into politics.
1 person likes this
@Bd200789 (2994)
• United States
13 Mar 08
I agree. I don't keep one because of that.
@ctrymuziklvr (11057)
• United States
12 Mar 08
I keep a journal - a journal
I've been keeping a journal for about 20 years and I write in it daily. I use composition books and have a box full of them. My kids know about them and I've told them when I'm gone I would like them to read them since they are mentioned many times in them. Lately I've also been journaling on my pc in my Word program and they know about that also. It's interesting looking back to see what I have been through and how I have changed.
@Bd200789 (2994)
• United States
12 Mar 08
Thanks for responding. I might start writing in one again, but not right now. Maybe in a couple years.
@jwfarrimond (4473)
15 Mar 08
I have been keeping a diary for many years. Apart from writing about day - to day things, I use it to remind myself of things that I need to do and I also note down what mail I've received and sent. I find that's very useful if I have to see when I sent a particular thing which happens sometimes.
• Malaysia
21 Mar 08
when i was younger i used to keep a diary and used to write in it like everyday. nowadays i jot down my feelings and significant happenings in my blog. i also have a daily planner where i jot down important stuff and happenings.
@swirlz (3136)
• Philippines
12 Mar 08
Why did you destroy them? They're good remembrance of your childhood. I used to write in my diary. Sometimes everyday, Sometimes whenever I just have news to share. I don't write in my diary now. I've stopped writing when the last one was filled up. I bought a new one to replace it, but it just doesn't feel right. It's as if my diary has become my good friend and the new one seems like a stranger. I've made that new diary into a journal of special text messages I've received last year. The ones I don't want to forget.
@Bd200789 (2994)
• United States
12 Mar 08
I'd rather not remember my childhood. I mostly wrote about what had happened in school that day, and I don't want to remember t h\taq4
1 person likes this
@Bd200789 (2994)
• United States
12 Mar 08
Sorry about that. My cat jumped on the keyboard.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
12 Mar 08
I started having a diary when i was 16 years old. At first it was a requisite in our values education subject, but as days went on i enjoyed making a daily input. It was sort of an extension of my emotions and creativity. When our teacher stopped the activity, i continued my writing. I had some entry of lyrics of songs that described what i feel on a particular day. Every page described my last year in high school. During my college days, i had a calendar notebook. I wrote the schedule of exams, presentations and peer meetings. But aside from the important schedule, i also jotted down important events happened on a particular day. The first page of my calendar notebook always contain the WHAT TO DO LIST for a year. Until at present i have a calendar notebook. Before i sleep at night i always reach for it, check my schedule and write down things i did for the day. It really feels good everytime i read my past calendar notebook. It sure does bring back memories.
@Bd200789 (2994)
• United States
13 Mar 08
I had to write in one for school, too.
@pitstop (12969)
• India
14 Mar 08
I occasionally maintained a diary in the past. Now I have a blog which I update once in a while.
@cripfemme (7698)
• United States
13 Mar 08
I keep an on-line journal for a subscription website. I think it's funny that people pay me to read about my, everday normal occurances. I wonder if has to do with that fact that I'm disabled and people find that interesting, unique, or different from their own lives.
• Philippines
14 Mar 08
Like you, before, I kept a diary. But, there was a point where I didn't get to write in it because I'm super lazy to do so. I still keep it today in my drawers and I read some of it when I felt like reminiscing. Well, my teachers used to oblige us to make our own diaries and write in them as a project. Well, it is quite enjoyable to write in a diary since it refreshes you with the things that happened and will also refresh you in the near future.
@eden32 (3973)
• United States
14 Mar 08
I've kept a paper journal most of my life, and an online one for the past 10 years. Wow, hard to believe I've been online for that long. I actually destroy my paper ones every few years, then a few years later I'll be sorry that I did. On the one hand, I want privacy in my journal today- I'd be pissed to find out my partner or one of my children read it. But on the other hand, perhaps I would want my children or grandchildren to be able to read it after I pass away.
@asgtswife04 (2475)
• United States
14 Mar 08
i do still write in a journal most everyday, unless my husband is home. he's currently overseas so i write alot about my feelings and stuff like that but i get rid of them before he comes home because he doesn't respect the fact that that is my feelings on paper and not to be read by him or anyone else. i don't write when he's home. i don't have anything to hide, but being a military wife and my husband being gone more than he's home sometimes gets me angry or sad and when i go to write about it i don't want to share those feelings with him. just helps me deal with him being gone to write everything i'm feeling down. goes in the trash though when he gets home. God bless
@jakesmum (154)
• Australia
13 Mar 08
I've got two diaries - one is for my personal family and work stuff, the other is for one of my volunteer things. I try to keep up with what I've been doing, and am supposed to be doing with these diaries. But in reality, I use my cell phone calendar more often to keep track of what the heck is up. When I was a teenager I kept a diary. I used to put all kinds of secret stuff in there. Once I got married though, I got worried my husband might find my diary and read some things I'd done when I was younger. So I burnt that diary. Now that I'm a writer, I could kick myself for getting rid of such a rich source of material. I think diaries and journals are fantastic things for getting in touch with what your head has been doing when you weren't paying attention. This is one of the reasons I love to write poetry - to connect with my head.
@klaudyou (501)
12 Mar 08
Well, I'm a man, but I can say that keeping a journal is a very good thing for a person. How? It's just very useful for someone to take a critical look back in one's own life, to help oneself get better and better as a person. It helps self development by getting to know yourself better. Now, I wouldn't keep a journal, of course, since writing in notebooks became so obsolete, but I would keep some records...like making films with myself on some special occasions and watch them from time to time, or discussing on social sites for a while (as myLot for instance ;), so to make a "history of self"... It's really useful, I'm sure of that...
• United States
14 Mar 08
I write in my journal to vent feelings about things, because if I don't I end up griping to friends way more than they would like, I'm sure. I don't really feel like I have anything to hide. I never re-read them, but I feel rather confident and reassured to know that they're there. I keep them because my mother has MS and is slowly losing her memory. I'm not sure if that's a usual side effect or not, but it tears her up that she can't remember things about her childhood, places that she went that my aunt & uncle will mention to her that she has no recollection of at all... I don't want to be that person in 40+ years, who can't remember if they -actually- had a rabbit, or if it was a dachshund.