Journaling // Leuchtturm 1917

About a month ago, I was feeling pretty down in the dumps. I was hitting that end of the semester, Junior year at university blues. Between existentialism and homework-induced stress, I was not sure I really sure what I was wanting to get out of this whole “life” thing. Around that same time, I had a coworker/friend encourage me to start journaling. She’s a hardcore optimist, the kind who is always happy (but not in the obnoxious, make you want to vomit kind of way). She firmly believes that journaling is beneficial for mental health, and there are numerous people who agree. Deciding I didn’t have much to lose, I bought a journal. I was originally going to go for a Moleskin journal, but they ended up being painfully expensive. Ultimately, I went with a journal from Leuchtturm 1917, because the quality was similar to Moleskin, but the price was significantly lower. (I’d highly recommend them. I love mine.)

I’ve been journaling since then (on and off, but I’m trying my very best to do it nightly). I have a reminder on my phone to write each night. If I’m too tired, busy, or I forget, I almost always write the next morning. I try very hard to be as detailed as possible, because I’m one of those people who fears forgetting things. The fact that life is simply the combination of memories of the past and hopes for the future frightens me, but that’s a story for another time. The point is, I started journaling and have been since the beginning of March.

I found it especially useful and fun to do when I was on spring break down in Texas. It was a way to relive each day after it happened and record what happened so I can always go back and read about what all I did, in case I do forget any details. In fact, down in Texas was the first time an entry I wrote exceeded a page, which was an amazing feeling.

So: What do I think? A month on, how do I feel about journaling? Has it helped my mental health? Yes, it definitely has. That’s not to say I don’t still have the occasional existential panic (it’s a virtual inevitability when at university), but I feel better about my life on the whole. I feel like each day is memorable, even if nothing much happened. It also ends up being a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy: I feel like each day is more memorable because I’m writing about it, then I end wanting to do more memorable activities each day so I have more to write! It’s an upward spiral that feels amazing. Even if I still have no clue what I want from the future, I feel a lot better about my life.

So that’s me, saying what many people have already said: you should journal because it’s good for you. Until next time. (Which will hopefully be next week. I know I’m really bad at this, but I’m moving my day of the week to Saturday in attempts to give myself time to write these posts.)

I’m Michael, and this is my life.