What is Diary/Journaling?

Keeping a diary is a habit of a lot of people but the fundamental question here is why do we feel the need to write down our thoughts, memories, dreams, worries, joy on? Is it because of the need of leaving behind something that captures the highlights of our existence or that we need a tangible record to be remembered by. Diaries were kept by many great people, including presidents and authors. Oscar Wilde a 19th-century writer, observed. "I never travel without my diary," and he also said” On the train, one should always have something exciting to read."
Others said the following about diaries: -

Keeping a journal has made me a happier and more confident person. And it can do the same for you! Throughout history, many well-known people have kept Diaries. Others have become well-known for their journals, which provide personal accounts of what it was like to live through moments in life and history. Francesca Minsky

Marie Curie was a Polish scientist who discovered the element radium, which has been used to treat cancer. She kept diaries about her work and her personal life. Today, the journals are so radioactive, they’re kept in a lead box! Marie Curie

His diary from his voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle includes notes and illustrations that helped him develop his groundbreaking theory of natural selection. Charles Darwin

Perhaps the most famous diarist, ever. Frank started by detailing everyday concerns like crushes and friendships but wound up creating a powerful document of life in hiding during World War II. Anne Frank

The Mexican painter, famous for her self-portraits, kept extensive diaries filled with poems, love letters, paintings, sketches, and whimsical doodles. Frida Kahlo

How to keep an online journal/diary?

Keeping a journal is an art of love. It makes you aware of your surroundings, cognizant of your actions, and open to adapting to all the changes around you.

1. Don’t worry, just write

Your only audience is you, so it really does not matter if what you write does not seem very exciting or inspiring. Over time, you will find it becomes easier to write, so it is important to just put fingers to keyboard and simply get started.

2. Write as if you were writing to a friend, or even your future self

This will encourage a more informal writing style and help you to share information about your feelings and deepest thoughts. This is important if you are to get the full benefits of journal-keeping. Some people even find that it is helpful to give their diary a name.

3. Your diary does not have to be just a written record

You can also add pictures or video from events. Anything that takes your fancy, really. It is all about having a personal record, and that can be as personal as you like.

4. You can be negative, but remember to be positive too

A diary is a good place to vent about things that have upset or annoyed you, but it is also important to record the positives. When you look back, there is a reasonable chance that you will have forgotten quite a lot of it, and you don’t want to read your diary to be a completely negative experience, dragging you down. Instead, you want to be able to read it to feel good about the things that you have achieved.

Benefits of keeping a Diary/ journal

There are many benefits to keeping a diary. Probably the three main ones are:

● Keeping a diary has been shown to be good for your mental health
     The reason is thought to be because it allows you to process your experiences safely and review events in a less stressful way. Writing your personal story appears to play a part in this, and it seems to be important to focus on both thoughts and feelings, and not just feelings.

● Keeping a diary helps to improve your writing
     The best way to get better at anything is to practice. Writing a diary allows you to focus on your writing without worrying about your audience or what anyone else will think. And doing it regularly helps to improve your thinking processes and can even help you become more creative in how you think.

● Keeping a diary can help you to remember events and activities
     This can be important for several reasons. For example, when you are applying for a job, you often must describe times when you have demonstrated a skill or done something particularly well. A diary or journal can be a good way to record your successes and ensure that you have a ready source of examples for job applications. It can also be a way to reflect on your experiences and learn for the future. Writing about positive events, and looking back on them, can also be a good way to boost your self-esteem.

References

https://choices.scholastic.com/issues/2019-20/040120/dear-diary.html
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary

By Dana Salem /Product development officer at MyDiary Notebook

What is a Journal and How Keeping a Journal Affects Mental Heath?

A journal or a diary is a record with discrete entries organized via way of means of date reporting on what has occurred over the path of different periods. A diary can also additionally consist of a person's experiences, thoughts, and/or feelings, the writer's direct experience. Someone who maintains a diary is referred to as a diarist. A diary is a place where you record events, experiences and other personal things that interest you. You can write about whatever you like, free of outside judgment or criticism. It should be an extension of your mind: safe and free.

What is diary and journal?

A diary can be whatever you decide and should be a place where you can be honest. The word 'diary' comes from the Latin diarium ("daily allowance," from dies, "day"). The word 'journal' comes from the same root (diurnus, "of the day") through the Old French journal (the modern French for 'day' being jour.When you had been a teenager, you would possibly have stored a diary/journal hidden below your mattress. It became an area to admit your struggles and fears without judgment or punishment. It probable felt accurate to get all these mind and emotions from your head and down on paper. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary

How do you journal effectively for mental health?

The global appeared clearer. It's virtually writing down your mind and emotions to apprehend them greater clearly. And in case your warfare with pressure, depression, or anxiety, maintaining a Dairy may be a notable idea. It assists you to benefit manage of your feelings and enhance your intellectual fitness. Journaling blessings Woman writing in her Dairy One of the approaches to cope with any overwhelming emotion is to discover a wholesome manner to specific yourself. This makes a Dairy a useful device in handling your intellectual fitness.

What Medical Reviewers said about journaling?

MSN RN L Renee Watson, MSN RN Marianne Fraser, MSN RN Paul Ballas MD from medical reviewers’ emphasis: -

Journaling assists you to manage anxiety, reduce pressure, and cope with depression

● Journaling is a highly recommended stress-management tool. Journaling can help reduce anxiety, lessen feelings of distress, and increase well-being.

● It's not just a simple technique; it's an enjoyable one as well.

Keeping a Journal or having a diary enables manage your signs and enhance your temper as it

● Assisting you in prioritizing problems, worries, and concerns.

● Providing a way to effectively self-communicate and figure out bad thinking and behaviors by tracking any indications daily so you can identify triggers and learn how to better control them.

● When you're having a problem and are feeling anxious, keeping a diary might help you figure out what's causing the tension. Once you've identified your stressors, you may devise a strategy to address them and reduce your stress.

Relieve stress.

● Writing down your sentiments in a journal allows you to "brain-dump" your worries, disappointments, and pains.

● This might assist you in reducing and releasing any tension that has built up over time.

● Writing in a stream of consciousness manner first thing in the morning, referred to as "Morning pages," is a wonderful technique to relieve tension.

● Overall, writing in a journal is an excellent approach to let go of any tension that is keeping you from being joyful.

Allow yourself to self-reflect

● As Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves fast. If you don't stop and look around occasionally, you could miss it.” Our fast-paced lives can become even more hectic as we start shouldering on more responsibility, making us feel the pressure as others place high expectations on us. This results in us getting frenzied as we are easily caught up with day-to-day routine. Keeping a journal (real journal or online journal) is a good way to help us to stop, pause, take a step back and reflect on ourselves. We can self-reflect on gratitude or what we did today and write it in our diary. Daily reflection can also be done at night before bed. We can look back at our life in a journal and think about how we've changed and what we can do to improve ourselves.

Boost your memory.

● Information that you have written down in your journal is likely to be stored in your brain. After you write down the knowledge you've learned in a diary, your brain will develop stronger connections with it, making it simpler to recall in the future.

Journaling benefits

Keep in thoughts? that journaling is simply one thing of a wholesome lifestyle for higher handling pressure, anxiety, and intellectual fitness conditions. Try to write down each day, but it is Ok to skip some days. Set apart a couple of minutes each day to write down. This will assist you to write down on your diary regularly. Make it easy. Keep a pen and paper reachable in any respect times, or keep an online journal.

Online journaling

You can access anytime from your smart phone; this will build on the security of your smart phone. Then whilst you need to write down your mind, you could. Write anything feels right. Your diary does not want to observe any sure structure. It's your personal region to talk about and create anything you need to specific your emotions. Let the phrases and thoughts glide freely. Don't fear approximately spelling errors (Online Journals can have spellcheck) or what others may think. Use your diary as you notice fit. Keeping a diary enables you create a plan while your global? looks like it’s a chaos. You get to understand yourself with the aid of using revealing your maximum personal fears, mind, and emotions. Look at your writing time. It's a time while you could de-pressure and wind down. Write in an area that is enjoyable and soothing, perhaps with a cup of tea or coffee. Look ahead in your journaling time. And understand that you are doing something accurate in your thoughts and body.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diary

By Dana Salem /Product development officer at MyDiary Notebook

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