Journaling

     Journaling is not a word, but I like to verb things, so I am using it. 
     I am obsessed with notebooks, so it's only appropriate that I'm also obsessed with journaling. Do not call it a diary because I will passionately correct you. A diary is for 3rd graders who write, "Dear diary, Jake smiled at me today. Best day ever!" A journal is an organized keeping of your life and thoughts. It's a good idea to keep a journal, because you can establish your opinions and keep memories. In 5 years, I'm not going to remember that my friend frantically yelled, "JO WILLIE COME BACK!" as we chased a car that had the license plate "Jo willie" and two attractive men in it down the interstate. There's no way I can laugh at that sometime in the future if I don't remember it. I always write the date and sign my name at the end, just in case my hometown happens to be destroyed and people from the future want to know about life in 2016. Or maybe my great grandchildren will find it and read it. Who knows. Anyhoozles, keeping track of memories and how you felt or thought about certain things can show how much you change over the years. In my first diary (it was a diary then, not anymore) I had when I was 9, there are a couple stab marks from when I was mad at my brother because he wanted to go to Grandma's instead of letting me stay home to watch Disney channel. Now I'm the one who always goes to Grandma's while he hangs with his friends. That wasn't a very good example. 
     Something that I usually do is use different color pens so when I look back through it I can tell when the day changes instead of constantly searching for a date. It's very effective, but I just spent $12 on a box of really good black pens, so I use those in my new journal. 
     I have a friend who has always written in her journal religiously. I always liked the idea of keeping a journal, though I didn't really start until 2014. The reason I started keeping a journal is because I had a lot of frustration and I didn't want to keep it all pent up. Now I know that if I ever forget something I can just look back in my journals and find it. If it's not in my journal, it probably doesn't matter that much to me. Writing things down can bring out the good things that happen and get the negative things out of your system, so it's a win-win situation :)



-Dakota