I do not, other then notes on calendars that only I could decipher.

I did find my diaries from 7th and 8th grade recently. A very fun read when I spent a few days with my 7th and 8th grade (still) friends.

I don’t, but I often wish I had kept one in 2020 (when I had all that free time?!) because in many ways, it’s a blur to me now.

I kept a diary when I was about 11 or 12. My little red plastic-covered Barbie diary woth a little lock and key. Then, on family vacation with cousins, my guy cousin and my brother found it and read it. That was pretty much the end of journaling for me. Although I’ve tried to keep a ”quotes” journal, and I did keep a good diet diary when I was dealing with an issue, but otherwise I have been pretty much convinced that people do not respect my privacy or feelings, not even, or espeically not in, a private journal.

Nope!

We have acquaintances who have a young daughter that is recovering from brain surgery. The mother has been keeping a journal of this time in their lives. They were interviewed on a radio show and somehow after she mentioned the journal, she was contacted by a publisher. Plans are now in place for her to write a book featuring her journal.

I've been doing a little bit of "journaling" on my phone notes when we travel. Just blurbs of interesting things that happened. Then I share the note with my travel companions when the trip is over.

Here are a few from a trip to the Keys with my family:

Buzzed by a seaplane

Shopped with Judy Blume

Saw baby dolphins

Harrassed by roosters

Nothing intense or time-consuming, just little memories.

I don’t journal daily, but i keep records of minor medical issues like awakening with a bloodshot eye or mysterious things if they recur a second time, extended family matters like when my relatives, cousins etc. had babies or got very sick and/or died, and daily records of what we do and ate on vacations, expenses, major home repairs. I also have wine notes-very important!

A year or two after my brother died in 1995, I couldn’t remember the date. My brothers couldn‘t remember, either, and I didnt want to ask my still grieving mom so I called my aunt. Because she journaled daily she was able to tell me quickly. That’s when I started keeping track of important events.

Following her method, each subject has its own book. I have six Moleskine books.

eta that i also have a gardening book of everything ive done that worked and didnt work over the years, but it isnt a Moleskine.

I used to, but it swayed more to the negative, as a way to vent. When I went back to readcp some of it, it would embarrass me if someone found it. I got rid of it.

I know Oprah suggests a gratitude journal, but it is just not my thing.

Wait. Shopped with Judy B?

We went to her small bookstore in Key West. She was working behind the register and we asked her a question about a book. She was super cute and chill. So, the note was a bit of an exaggeration but still an excellent experience!

I don't journal but I'm not a very deep thinker. I envy those who can write about things that bother them and analyze it and who can also be grateful for people and events.

Heck, I can barely string 2 sentences together to post here!

We travelled quite a bit with our kids when they were younger and every night I would have them write something about their day in a notebook. What did they do, what did they see, who did we meet, etc.

My older son journals through photos and every year he will do up a couple of different photo albums with captions showing the highlights of the year. One of them might be Family events and another might be hiking/skiing trips. He's been doing this for years.

I've journaled during difficult events in my life, but I don't keep them. It was just therapeutic, but very helpful.

I did the gratitude journal thing, which helped me understand the power of gratitude. I no longer do it in writing, just as a mental practice.

I've done a series of journal-like intentions as part of a goal-setting project.

I enjoy the act of writing, and make written notes to myself and family all the time. But they're usually just on post-its or scraps of paper. I plan on doing some sort of journal project for grandkids some day, if they come along. But unless they can interpret cursive writing, I'll probably have to type it.

I have done in the past, but didn't find it particularly helpful to keep an ongoing journal. It has helped me to write out thoughts during difficult passages of life, but once it was out it was "out", ya know? I do, however, wish I still had the diary I kept as an 11-year old, in which I wrote gems such as "Speaking of Valentine's Day, I wish Desi Arnaz, Jr. was still around." I have no idea what that meant -- I think I saw him in something on TV and just thought he was a cute boy. Because he was. ;-)

I’ve journaled when I’ve needed to work through a particularly difficult time or experience, but I always destroy the entries later as they aren’t meant to be read by anyone else and I certainly don’t want to revisit the experience.

I tried to start a 5-year digital journal last year with simple entries like weather, appointments, purchases, visitors. That lasted about a month before I started to forget to make the entry for days at a time. Then, I started the whole buy-a-house-move-sell-a-house journey and gave up the journal completely. It is said that it only takes 21 days to form a habit, but clearly I need a bit longer.

An artist friend kept jounal calendars-- the kind with a 2” square for each day. He’d draw a picture of the significant event of the day. Those calendars were so much fun to look at!

I’m enjoying reading this thread! Interesting responses.

I don’t journal. I did have a diary as a kid, I think my dad has it now.

The last daily journaling (for an entire year) I did was on Care Pages during my late husband’s very long hospital stay. So much was happening on a daily basis that it was too much to call everyone about, so lots of people joined the page and could see updates, as well as respond. It helped in a way — having an outlet to write things down. I kept it mainly info-only, but some days emotions crept in.

I tried reading it recently, but the link showed my last entry first, which was his funeral details. I closed it …. I’m just not ready to go back in time to those horrific months, even after all these years.

Yes, I keep a journal, in ordinary and good times. I cannot keep a journal when things are extremely hard. As a child, writing teachers encouraged us to keep a diary and I found the whole idea too ponderous. Then I came across F. Scott Fitzgerald's Ledger diary and thought that was easy enough. Write one or two sentences per day. How hard could that be? Ha!

Aside from improving my writing, the journal helps me remember events in more detail, and see patterns I may miss when just speed running daily life (patterns about what I do, or others or how situations play out.)

Also, because I really despise hearing myself whine, I find the journal keeps me better discuplined. There are only so many times I can write things like, I really need to sort those pictures, submit that proposal, lose weight, clean out the storage room, practice the piano more, before I get pretty disgusted with myself. And as someone who focuses a lot in the present (not in some brilliant Zen monk way, just in the gets too busy, focuses on the wrong things way,) writing gives me perspective, I see around corners better when I take the time to write and think clearly about my life.

I do not write much about my excrutiating times. Living through them is enough. I will note with gratitude when they are over and what my mistakes were in dealing with them.

For my latest hard time, you know you are all there in my journal. Your support overwhelmed me and helped me more than imaginable. From sharing stories, advice, encouragement and noting you were checking in on the thread every few hours-- that one still puts a lump in my throat.

I have run with the same group of women for years and at some point we have been and continue to go through hard times.....and good times. When one of us is going through hard times we instituted "gratitude minute". At the end of a run we always chat for a few minutes and part of that is mentioning something for which we are grateful. Sometimes it's just our friendship or the trails that we all live within walking distance to but it really helps getting us through those tough times.

I wrote long thoughts out nearly every day from my early pre-teen years through parts of high school - it was very helpful for me to work things out.

A few years ago I found them, read some of them and didn't like that walk down memory lane. It also occurred to me that someone else could find them and read them and that thought horrified me. I ended up burning them. It was therapeutic. Their creation helped me when I wrote them, and their ending was a nice sense of closure.

I have another version of a journal that I've kept for roughly the last 10 years or so. That one is more like what Dee and Jilly were talking about. It's an easy way for me to keep track of important dates or events/thoughts/whatnot. I write a few sentences when the mood strikes, to remind me of things/feelings/excitements I don't want to forget, etc.. That one doesn't feel deeply personal to me, and I can't imagine anyone else finding it very interesting. It's useful for me, likely boring to everyone else.

I started writing a journal for my granddaughter (five years old now) last year and will start journals for her twin sisters when they turn four next July. I was really good at the start about writing something every day, but now it is not a daily journal. I hope the girls will be as enthralled as yours are, rhizo! I am including poems, thoughts, ordinary day musings, recountings of activities we have done together or that she has done at school or with her family, and little stories starring her or our pets. I do date each entry and the covers of the journals are just so beautiful. I really should set aside time every day to write to her.

Cyn, what a good idea. The twins started first grade today. This would be a good place for me to start joting things for them to read later (provided I can get my minimalist daughter to not throw it away 🙄)

bbstx, here is a link to the one I bought for her, but there are so many from which to choose and they add new ones all the time-which I wish they wouldn't because I see ones that I know the girls would love now, but I chose ones I think they will love when they are older. Fingers crossed.

The company is Peter Pauper Press.

Journals

Rhizo, I always think about your sprites but I see you post. High school. How is that possible?

Rhizo - You have built such a great connection with the sprites and they are going to carry that for the rest of their lives. Creating a journal was such a great idea.

Cyn, thanks for the link. That is a beautiful journal. Before you posted, I jumped out and ordered Moleskine with a color appropriate for each child. If I shilly-shally, I’ll never get it done,

It is marvelous that the above woman can share her journal with her husband. I hope it brings them both comfort.

The summer I turned 30 I quit my job and travelled until my money ran out (6.5 months as it turned out 😆). I did keep a travel journal but recently re-read it (30+ years later), and disposed of it. On one hand it wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be, and on the other hand I didn’t want anyone else reading it after I’m gone and couldn’t explain or elaborate. I have no regrets.

My nightly dinner log is also a form of a journal, I guess. I keep track of what we ate, who was here, recipe source, and comments about the meal. It does bring me joy to look back through that. As a practical note, it is helpful to remind me of menus when I’m out of ideas. I’ve been doing this since 2010. Sometimes I wish it were digital, but I don”t see the point of changing now.

I keep a gratitude journal where every night, before I go to sleep, I write down 3 things I was thankful for that day.

I have never really consistently kept a journal, with one exception. After my husband died I found an unused small notebook and started jotting things down. It took an effort because I didn't feel like recording my sorrow and longing. Nevertheless, I tried to write something, anything, every day. After about a week, the words flowed. Stuff I couldn't express out loud to anyone, even those closest to me. Then it became my refuge, somewhere I could go and let it rip. Dreams. A psalm of lament. I eventually moved from the notebook to my computer where the words could flow faster. I soon had a binder of handwritten and typed entries.

Eventually I felt better and journaled less frequently. Now and then I would go back and read what I'd written, to see how far I'd come. There were places where I barely recognized myself. Was that really me?!! Was I there? I was, but now I was different, stronger.

Last year I decided to destroy my grief journal. It had served its purpose and I didn't want anyone else to find it and read it. It would just be upsetting to them and I didn't want that.

Bunny, my mother kept a grief journal, too. I found it after she died. The second I realized what it was I closed it and taped it shut. I still have it five years later, unread. I will never read it, and i don’t know why i keep it. It’s too private, too heartbreaking, too personal to read someone else’s story.

@sheesh Yes, you get it. It's just too raw and personal.

I do keep a journal when we travel. It helps me keep up with what we did day to day, what we enjoyed and would cisit again, what we could skip, etc. I’ve been a bit lax about doing it lately, and towards the end of a long trip, I tend to fall off a bit.

I’m just now going back and reading the posts. We’re out of town helping our oldest granddaughter move into her first ’adult’ apartment in Kansas City. I tell you all this because it feels like such a milestone and we’re also able to celebrate my birthday with her while here. I need to journal this.

Rhizo, your post brought a tear to my eye! Hard to believe your sprites are nig girls now.

And Zalco, your post did too. We gain support from so many here for a variety of reasons and times in our lives.

For those of you who keep journals for your children or grandchildren.... it reminds me of an idea I saw recently (FB maybe) - a woman said when her son was born she created a gmail account for him. Now she often sends emails to that address detailing milestones, trip memories, special events, class/sport photos, etc. which he will be able to read through when he's older.

SmhSMH, what a good idea.

I have made attempts to journal, but never kept itup. Like others, it was a record of my problems.

I also had diaries when i was younger. The entries started Dear Diary. My mother found them and read them. I was furious when she confronted me about some things. Never wrote another word after that.

I recently came across my mother’s journal of her trip to Paris with friends. She recorded everything including every meal.

My photos from trips serve as memories for me

I do journal, in a way. I journal in a planner, usually a Happy Planner mini, which doesn't have much space to write. I write down events, happenings, notes about my health, etc. By using a planner, I'm able to keep track of upcoming appointments and events in one place. Right now, I'm using a MintGreen planner, which I love; it has much more space for writing, and I like the feel of the recycled paper. I wish I could do a real journal like Ali Brown does, and add artwork and photos, but I'm not there yet.

A diary and a journal are two different things, or they seem so to me. I never wanted to keep a diary, because it seemed like a place where you would write secrets and your deepest feelings, which is not something I'd want to do. A journal is just a recording of daily, or almost daily events and happening. One thing I like about a journal is that you don't have to write in it every day.

When scuba diving, we have log books. I write down who I dove with, what we saw, lenght of the dive, location(dive sites have names). I also took psychology 100 & 101. We were asked to journal for class credit. The instructor read our journals, then graded them on content. I often write people emails on the computer, without an address and save them as a draft. I go back later and read them, making changes, working through how I feel about what's going on. I later delete them. For privacy reasons....a paper version...a daily journal....isn't in progress.

The journals for the grands have arrived. They came yesterday. I already have writer’s block! Does anyone know where I can find a list of prompts? Although it is true, I can't just write "I love you" every day. I also don't want to write about the jerk who pulled out in front of me. Most things seem trivial or trite.

@bbstx ....Link to 61 journaling ideas.

In my experience you have to write some of that trite, uninspired cliched stuff before the more nuanced and thoughtful writing comes out.

Memories of you at their age? Of your daughter at their age?

Memories of major events that they will hear about over their lifetime but didn’t experience but you did, like 9/11?

Memories of the first time you met their father? First time you saw them?