I have regularly kept a journal since I was 10-years-old. I used to keep my journal on a very old computer in my bedroom: one of those CPU computers that look like they came out of some late ‘90s PBS show. It was so ancient, but I spent so much time on it because it didn’t have Internet and I could just write my silly little 10-year-old thoughts on Microsoft Word.

Now, I write my silly little 30-year-old thoughts in my hardcover Papier notebook and here, online, with you. If you haven’t been able to tell yet, I really love journaling. And I truly believe everyone in the world would be so much better off if they kept a journal.

I feel most at peace when I’m reflecting on a past memory or something I’ve learned, or how I’ve changed, or how I’ve grown, or things I’ve experienced (even if it’s something small like a new song I listened to). I think in a world with so much distraction, overconsumption, and noise that’s always telling us how to be, and what to think, and what to do, I can easily get lost and lose sight of my ideals and who I’m trying to be. I often find it difficult to find my place in the work and social settings. I’d find myself adapting and changing to meet the expectations of other people. But I am always my most authentic self when I’m journaling. I can slow down, no one can judge me, I don’t have to be anything for anyone, I am bare and open. My thoughts and creativity are flowing and free. It centers me and reminds me who I am.  

I’m also very nostalgic and have to document all my memories, otherwise I’ll forget them. In a digital age where I have no choice but to be online, I feel my memory getting worse and worse. (How many of us can’t remember what we had for breakfast yesterday morning?) And, I really can be such a pessimist sometimes. Writing about nights out with my friends, vacations with my family, solo dates to my favorite D.C. museums reminds me “Okay, yeah, wow, life really is worth living.” We all need a little more whimsy and romance in our lives!! Even when society is feeling a lil bleak.

Also, to look back and reflect on what you’ve done, how you’ve changed, how you’ve grown! It’s so fulfilling! To see how your life has been made up of tiny little moments that seemed insignificant at first but then grew into something larger to make you who you are today. 

I think that’s the point of all this. You’re writing your own story and your own narrative. You’re taking in moments of joy, peace, sadness, grief, hope along the way and letting all those emotions coexist freely to understand yourself a little better. You see where you’ve been, and where you’re going.

So, that’s why I love journaling. It does not have to be deep or polished. It does not have to be some long, profound Joan Didion essay. It doesn’t even have to fill up a whole page every single day. Most days, I am writing little sentences in bullet points of what I did or learned that week that stuck out to me. To me, It’s really about getting it down, so you can reflect on it later.

Write it out, type it out, your story is worth remembering!