Does Anyone Else Have a Hard Time Journaling?

[Backwood_tilt]

I have no idea what to write, and i have no audience i want to write it for, so it feels quite meaningless to me.

 

[Broken Chimera]

Yeah. I used to journal just to blow off steam, but it stopped working for me. Like I didn't even have the motivation to write anymore.

 

[Backwood_tilt]

Yeah. I used to journal just to blow off steam, but it stopped working for me. Like I didn't even have the motivation to write anymore.

What would you write about? Who would you be writing to?

 

[Broken Chimera]

It'll just be about where I am mentally that day or what happened that day and it would be for me to keep a record for me to look back on, not for others to read.

 

[Emily_Numb]

I wouldn't write a journal as I wouldn't really want anyone to ever get their hands on it but I would say just write it in whatever way you feel at the time. Some days might be in the first person, other days might just be you writing 10 things that piss you off or something. Don't feel it has to stick to a format, just decide on the day and never feel pressured into writing it every day if you don't want. Pick up and leave off when you feel so inclined.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

I use journaling as a tool to externalize things. I don't set any rules like doing it daily or following a certain format. I feel pressure if I try to serve the journal rather than it serving me.

 

[Backwood_tilt]

I use journaling as a tool to externalize things. I don't set any rules like doing it daily or following a certain format. I feel pressure if I try to serve the journal rather than it serving me.

What is the nature or purpose of the journal, then? Just to externalize and presumably describe things?

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

What is the nature or purpose of the journal, then? Just to externalize and presumably describe things?

I use it to sort things out when I can't do it in my head. I use it for problem solving and planning.

 

[mesohappy]

I started to keep one around Thanksgiving last year,as I was alone during the holidays and really struggling..I was writing to try to sort out my thoughts I guess.Or see what was going on in my mind on paper so I could put it in perspective maybe? Around Christmas time I found that I wasn't writing to myself,I was actually writing to whoever would find me or the journal in the event of my demise.I wanted them to understand what brings someone to that point.A long ass suicide note.A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in my backyard having a fire and I read it to myself.I felt stupid and embarrassed by what I read and I threw the journal in the fire.

 

[TheEndof]

I have no idea what to write, and i have no audience i want to write it for, so it feels quite meaningless to me.

Yeah, could never get into it. Always tried. Definitely not gonna happen now because I have zero desire to put effort into anything.

 

[Final Escape]

No lol! Ok if I haven't done it for awhile or if I'm tired or having brain fog than yes. But yea it's not fun really especially when u are not used to it. It doesn't come easy at first and u almost feel embarrassed what u write lol! I notice how immature my thoughts are on certain things. I really notice my stunted development when I journal. I keep repeating the same stuff too. Often the same shit comes up over and over lol! It's very hard at first to see on paper what's in your mind. It can be scary.

Yeah, could never get into it. Always tried. Definitely not gonna happen now because I have zero desire to put effort into anything.

Sounds like you are blocked for some reason. I'm not saying everyone desires to write but I'll bet u have desire to do things, but some thing has hindered it.

 

[a.n.kirillov]

Yes! It works out for a while, but then I feel the urge to destroy or edit it after a while. My explanation for it is basically that it's an issue of self hatred. For the same reason I have literally destroyed or deleted any art I have ever made; even if people almost exclusively told me I was talented and what I've created was good. In some ways I could see it myself only after gaining some distance to it, i.e. after a few months I could appreciate my own creations (the few that have survived my impulse to destroy them). But I have deleted a lot of projects that had, retrospectively, a lot of potential.

It's the same way with journals. I just can't help but have contempt for anything I do, say or write.

 

[Soulless_Angel]

I don't journal with pain and paper, but I do my version of a journal on a online blog,
Whether it helps or not is still to be decided, even though it's been going for a while, I do it, as I keep getting told I need to talk, but talking is bullshit to me, so in that instance writing is good for me.

 

[k75]

Well, journaling isn't for everyone, so don't beat yourself up if you can't get into it. Usually you journal for yourself, so you are the audience. A lot of people just write things that happened in their day that they don't want to forget or things that really bothered them that they just want to vent about but can't tell anyone else.

I have heard of people pretending to write to somebody else, as if they had an audience and that helps them. You also don't have to actually write it in a way that addresses anyone at all. If you want to write about specific topics, there are all sorts of journal prompt websites that just give you random crap to write about.

But you know what? This post you just made could have been a journal entry. Stuff like you would write on here. It's kind of just like thinking out loud or talking to yourself. Sometimes it just helps to actually see the words that are bouncing around in your head. Lets you organize it so there's not so much chaos.

And it gets easier the more you do it. So you could find like the first thing you write to be incredibly short and awkward, but the more you write, the more you want to write, and the more you find you have to write about, and then maybe it turns into something you find really helpful.

I found that a lot of things that I write down about how I'm feeling, I forget. And when I go back and read them I'm like, holy crap! I was actually living through that?! But some people never even read their old journals. They just write it down and get it out of their head and then destroy it or forget about it.

I use a journaling app called Journey. It's really convenient because it's on my phone and always with me, and it really helps me a lot. I like that I can dictate to it so I don't have to actually write anything or type, and you can also include extra details like what your mood was like and where you were and even what the weather was when you were making the entry. It helps me see patterns in my suicidal ideation and stuff like that.

 

[Conflicted Cat]

No, not really... Funny thing is, I know just how to word my feelings in my journal, but the second I'm actually telling someone else, the words just aren't there.