by C. Elliot

Created on: July 16, 2008   Last Updated: September 03, 2009

In the midst of busy days, it's sometimes challenging to set aside a few minutes to write in a journal. But chronicling your experiences, thoughts, and feelings can be a rewarding venture. Just consider these five benefits of dedicated journal-keeping.

1. Journaling gives you a regular opportunity to reflect on your personal thoughts. Routine journal-keepers are often surprised by the words that emerge when they sit down to write. If you are working through a difficult situation, journaling can feel therapeutic (and potentially help you work through tough life issues). And on the flip side, if you are experiencing very happy times, journaling can help you revel in everyday joys. Sometimes writing and reading about our experiences gives us the objective perspective that keeps life in focus.

2. Journaling can help us preserve memories. We all know that, as time passes, we forget the little details of life events. When we look back on an experience, we may not remember exactly how we felt at that time; or, as an older person, we may view the past in a new light. That's why writing down your thoughts and feelings can be so meaningful - it's a chance to record your experiences in real-time.

3. Journaling can help you take stock of seemingly mundane things that make life special. Sometimes sweet life moments are disguised as ordinary events (like "a pair of birds nested outside my window today" or "I had one of the best cups of coffee this morning"). Keeping a journal will help you cherish and celebrate life's simple events.

4. Journals are like personalized, interactive time capsules. Today, you might write, "We went to see such-and-such movie this weekend and had a ball." And that sentence probably wouldn't seem like much now. But ten or twenty years down the road, you might look back and marvel at how you saw that "classic" movie in theaters. Or maybe you'll fondly reflect on the long-lost people with whom you shared your movie outing. Whatever your situation, a journal is a fun way to explore the unique time and place in which you live.

5. Journaling can help you discover your voice. Some people don't keep a journal because they wonder, 'What would I write? I have nothing to say.' But if you take a stab at journaling, you'll invariably discover that we all have something worthy of saying. In the course of writing, we unlock parts of ourselves that we never knew existed. Suddenly we may view our lives with more sympathy, anger, curiosity, or delight. Journaling gives our inner voice a platform for expressing itself, and, in the process, it can shine a light on our hopes, fears, and dreams.

So, the next time you have a spare moment, consider pulling out a pen or keyboard. Journaling could help you reflect on your past and present, and - who knows? - you might also discover new and wonderful paths for the future.

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