"Journal" Why the Practice Is a Problem for Me

Let's have a little look.

Word Origin & History

journal

c.1355, "book of church services," from Anglo-Fr. jurnal "a day,"from O.Fr. journal, originally "daily" (adj.), from L.L. diurnalis "daily"(see diurnal). Sense of "daily record of transactions" first recorded1565; that of "personal diary" is 1610, from a sense found inFrench.

Journalism is 1833 in Eng., likewise from Fr. (where it isattested from 1781).

Thank you, Dictionary.com. While I do keep a record of some church services I attend for spiritual growth, that's not exactly what I'm talking about here. I am TERRIBLE at journaling everyday. As a matter of fact I went and found some of my older handwritten journals and I'm pretty much lucky to have 1 entry per year. Forget every single day! Gosh. Overwhelming or what?

So what's the problem? Besides the fact that I'm super busy like everyone else on the planet?

1) Let's be honest here. I make it too complicated for myself. "Oh, I know! I'll buy a nice, neat looking journal and I'll only write really important entries in that one. Then, I'll write everyday entries in this other one..." Hello, if you can't keep up with one journal, how in the world can you keep up with multiple journals? I also feel like journals should be handwritten for some reason--as though modern word processing software like you see the product of here never existed. Why don't I just try writing them all by oil lamp too after my farm chores are done. So dumb.

2) I don't feel like there is enough vitally important stuff to write down. I always want to wait until there is a big occurrence and then write that down. No menu/chore journals for me! All the while, I know that the life that is happening occurs in the details and the mundane minutia of everyday life. Am I afraid I'm going to waste paper? Bore someone to death? Maybe. Maybe I'm doing that right now...

3) Caution about writing down the important stuff. I'm not sure if this is some remnant paranoia from years back or what. I'm worried that if I write stuff down people will be able to read it and find it. Well, no kidding. That's kind of the point, isn't it? At least so I can find it and read it later. I distinctly remember ripping out pages of a journal that had to do with an ex-boyfriend round about 9th grade or so. Embarassing now? Probably. Hilarious and of historical value? You bet. But now we'll never know because I disposed of that stuff like it had trace evidence sure to convict me of something heinous. Add to that my ridiculous refusal to get in front of a camera for about a 10 year period if my life depended on it.

I have to figure out a way to increase this skill. I am taking advice, hints, notes from anyone offering. If you ever even figure out that I've actually updated this blog since 2009.