All of my friends/anyone who write a journal, I need to know why you jornal.

I started journaling to have a way of remembering my life or for others to learn about me years after I am gone say future decedents of mine to know who I was and what I believed and what life was like when I was alive. I think it's sad that most people seem to be forgotten moments after they die.

It helps everything be put into perspective. It almost lets you re-read it and see your own problem as if it's someone else's. Also, I journal because it allows me to look back later on in life, and see how I was thinking at that exact moment.

I journal for a lot of reasons. I have several different types of journals. I have a gratitude journal and a prayer journal. I also have journals for each of my girls where I keep track of things that happen in their lives, the funny things they say and do, their birthdays and Christmases. My own personal journal is where I write out my frustrations. If I keep writing I may be able to analyze a situation and realize what I have to do to correct something, or me. I have also looked back to see how depressed and angry I used to be and it makes me feel better to see that I am better than I was five years ago. I also keep a record of my daily life. My therapist told me it would be good for my kids to read (even if its after I'm gone) so that they can see that I went through some of the same difficulties and thoughts that they did (possibly). I also like to just ramble and get stuff out of my head and out on the paper. Sometimes when I do that I can walk away and it is forgotten. Basically, I just like to write.

I don't write a normal journal...I write what I call my Dream Diary =P A bit nerdy I know but oh well... I keep track of all my fun/unusual/cool/etc dreams. Some of them will make for good stories in the future, or if not, it's just fun to remember them. And also, in a long time, I can remember how crazy/weird my dreams were, even though I'll still be having the weird ones when I'm older lol.

Suggestion: head over to livejournal.com and search for the embodiment community. It's a year long paper journal project that was started in 2006 by dearcrissy.com - I think the reins have been passed since then, though, but I can't be sure. Anyway, there's a TON of journal keepers over there that might be able to assist you in your project. I keep a journal because it's a written extension of myself. I write several pages per day in conversational style because, to be quite honest, I'm along a lot (or with small children most of the time), so it's my way of *talking about things* and keeping myself from going completely insane from keeping things bottled up too long. I've been keeping a journal for ::coughs:: twenty-one years and the practice is just as addicting as it was when I first started.

Journaling is a good way to organize your thoughts. It helps you to get your emotions out and helps you work through your issues. Journaling is just good when you need to get something out and it would be better kept private.

The only time I used a journal is when I am away from my computer. I used it to vent my frustrations and to write parts of stories or beginnings of stories I might write later. Sometimes I put my goals in it, or something that really bothered me. I wish I could write neater, but my left hand along the outside hurts if I write too long, so I rarely use a journal and prefer to rely in my memory and my computer to record new thoughts.

I journal because I think I get more out of life and enjoy living in the moment more by doing so. I have my journal with me at all times and I write everything from good ideas I hear about to cute things my son does each day, to personal responses to articles I read. It is very much a catch all experience for me but I start a new one each year and it is a nice way to go back and look over happenings in my life. I admit, this all started because I hate to be stuck anywhere with out something to do so years ago it occurred to me that if I always had a notebook with me I would always have something to do..... at times like waiting in a doctors office and such.

Keeping a journal is fantastic for many reasons. I kept one when I spent time overseas during my teen years, then through my time in college and then during my post college courses in paralegalism. What is great about keeping a daily journal is you never know when telling the world your story will really hit home to those who need it to do so. We can definitely learn from one another and keeping organized with our thoughts through the use of a journal might just be the answer. Enjoy your journaling.

i write a journal daily to go over the events of the day and night sometimes i will put dr visits dentist visit results of those visits test results in it for example it makes me get out the entire day and night good and bad things and i will even pray right there in the journal for requests to the Lord i've been keeping a journal most of my life