Why you should keep a journal

In different forms, journals have been around for centuries. From 56 AD early archived Chinese documents, to the 10th century The Pillow Book, to the Diary of Anne Frank (1952) and the waves of modern day bloggers (as cited in Stevens and Cooper, 2009)

 

I used to keep a journal when I was a kid. I think until I was in 4th year high school when our Values Education teacher actually required us to submit one at the end of the school year.

Towards my young adult life I still wrote in journals but not as often I used to do. Until last year when I've started doing my Counselling course at Keele. The student are again required to keep journals. But what's really the reason we should keep and maintain one?

 

 

My current Journal

 

So what could be the benefits of journal keeping for you?

• Journal keeping is a therapeutic way of pouring your heart out
• Some research show that this practice gives better health through reduction of stress
• Allowing you to reflect on your thoughts
• Improved awareness and writing skills

I love words and being reflective. I love the fact that I can just pour all my feelings on a sheet of paper and feel better afterwards even though I cannot necessarily solve a certain problem/concern straightaway. I love to keep memories via journal writing too. It's just so therapeutic and I recommend keeping a journal to everybody.


Reference: Steves, D. and Cooper, J. (2009) Journal Keeping. Virginia: Stylus Publishing LLC