What Is A Journal?
What, exactly, is a journal?
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It's been a long time since I've written in this online journal, or any for that matter. I've given it alot of thought since sitting down and typing in the URL. I've come to a few conclusions.
A journal is a way of keeping track of intimate thoughts, feelings, and desires; along with failures, wishes, dreams, and the things we need to cope with. A journal is a personal profile of everything we've encountered in our lives, and it's kept for one reason: the very same reason history books are written. So we can look back upon our lives, and see, feel, and even taste what life was like at that point, and tell ourselves how well, or how badly, we've progressed since then.
Which brings me to why I'm writing this rendition in the first place. I've been keeping a journal lately. For the last six months, and I realized, after browsing my old journal entries here, that they are written completely differently. Everything I've written in my online journal is carefully chosen and written in the most interesting way I can think of, at the time of writing. Conversely, writing in my journal is sloppy, sometimes has alot of misspelling, and is a much stronger emotional outlet. It's much more...personal. Somehow, I'll never write in an online journal anything I'd write in a journal.
A journal is a history book for your own life: a way to come into deeper touch with your nostalgic feelings and emotions. A way to learn from past mistakes to not make them again.
What, then, is an online journal? Is it a similar outlet? Perhaps. Most likely, it is the inspired writings of those of us in the world who like to write. We hope, sometimes outwardly, sometimes somewhere hidden in our hearts, that others will read, enjoy, and perhaps--maybe--learn something from our writings. Most of the time, writing in this online journal, I find myself trying to be more intersting; but, in reality, I find my personal journal far more interesting: whereas others may find my online journal more interesting than my personal one. Perhaps.
Perhaps, again, I'm just talking out of my ass? God only knows. But perhaps I'll start writing more often in this journal.
----------------------------
It's been a long time since I've written in this online journal, or any for that matter. I've given it alot of thought since sitting down and typing in the URL. I've come to a few conclusions.
A journal is a way of keeping track of intimate thoughts, feelings, and desires; along with failures, wishes, dreams, and the things we need to cope with. A journal is a personal profile of everything we've encountered in our lives, and it's kept for one reason: the very same reason history books are written. So we can look back upon our lives, and see, feel, and even taste what life was like at that point, and tell ourselves how well, or how badly, we've progressed since then.
Which brings me to why I'm writing this rendition in the first place. I've been keeping a journal lately. For the last six months, and I realized, after browsing my old journal entries here, that they are written completely differently. Everything I've written in my online journal is carefully chosen and written in the most interesting way I can think of, at the time of writing. Conversely, writing in my journal is sloppy, sometimes has alot of misspelling, and is a much stronger emotional outlet. It's much more...personal. Somehow, I'll never write in an online journal anything I'd write in a journal.
A journal is a history book for your own life: a way to come into deeper touch with your nostalgic feelings and emotions. A way to learn from past mistakes to not make them again.
What, then, is an online journal? Is it a similar outlet? Perhaps. Most likely, it is the inspired writings of those of us in the world who like to write. We hope, sometimes outwardly, sometimes somewhere hidden in our hearts, that others will read, enjoy, and perhaps--maybe--learn something from our writings. Most of the time, writing in this online journal, I find myself trying to be more intersting; but, in reality, I find my personal journal far more interesting: whereas others may find my online journal more interesting than my personal one. Perhaps.
Perhaps, again, I'm just talking out of my ass? God only knows. But perhaps I'll start writing more often in this journal.