You don’t need to be articulate to keep a personal diary. You don’t need to have a flair for writing and you certainly don’t need to worry about how it’s perceived. Your journal is only for your eyes, if that is how you want it to be. It is Self Meditation.
To some, writing comes naturally, and to others, it requires effort. For some, keeping a diary can be a means to an end and for others it’s an outlet for their thoughts and emotions.
Many notable figures have kept personal diaries and done their bit of journal writing. Many of them never thought their journals would see the light of day. Anne Frank wrote for the sake of self-expression, for the sake of confiding her deepest thoughts and feelings. Fifty years later, a group of students led by their unorthodox teacher, Erin Gruwell, started writing their own versions of Anne Frank diaries as an indirect way of reforming themselves.
In fact, writing in a journal not only proves therapeutic but is also a means of building on creativity. It is said to tap your inner source of wisdom, which you probably aren’t even aware of. You can progress your emotional, mental and even spiritual growth through reading your own journal a few years down the line. Once you start writing, you will see it as an extension of you.
Since these are personal diaries, you can write about anything. You could write about day-to-day life or your travels. You could write about the people you meet or simply your thoughts on current issues. You could write about everything in general and nothing in particular.
Your diary can be swarming with questions or be a pictorial depiction of your life, if you’re artistically inclined. Your personal diary can be anything you want it to be.
All these incidents and instances of keeping journals and personal diaries have resulted in self-help and heightened self-belief. Journal writing and keeping spiritual diaries prove as an outlet for thoughts and emotions. They invoke ‘Vichara’ which can be loosely translated to introspection or self- enquiry.
Journalizing emotions can help to release blockages. It is better to write about these feelings than to take it out on the people around you or to keep them inside you. Life is a long journey and everyone has flaws. It is important you embrace and examine your flaws by writing about them in your journal.
1. Do I hold grudges?
2. Do I awfulise a lot?
3. Am I clingy, codependent?
4. What is the purpose of my life?
5. Do I constantly dwell on the past?
6. Do I care what others think about me?
7. What makes me happy, sad and angry?
8. Do I let other people’s negativity affect me?
9. I feel anxious or sense anxiety wherever I go?
10. Do I, invariably, blame others for my own failures?
11. I believe displays of emotion are a sign of weakness?
12. Do I care about my family and spend enough time with them?
13. I pull people toward me, but when they get close, I push them away?
14. I don’t have enough time for leisure and to take care of personal needs?
15. I value others’ approval of my thinking, feelings and behavior over my own?
16. I avoid emotional, physical, or sexual intimacy as a means of maintaining distance?
17. Do I feel that I have adequate inner resources to handle all parts of my life by myself?
18. What is the level of your commitment to handle, address and resolve your life issues.
Write down your journal… Your goals; include your physical, career, relationships and life goals.