Journaling is a great way to monitor and think on the results of your actions and improve over time. I've seen that, I've done it, I know it works. Yet I still can't bring myself to suffer through the act of writing down my thoughts. I don't like to belabor what is already done, I'd rather call good enough good enough and move to the next problem.
That said, I do establish systems to record efforts and results, they just aren't handwritten. Tables can be quickly searched and summarized.
It sucks they violated your privacy, but there's nothing wrong with therapy. Did it for a couple years myself. Good to get it out and get someone else's perspective on things.
Of course, I did that on my own volition. It would've been better if you had that choice too.
That sucks. Parents don't understand what privacy means when it comes to their children. My diary/journal got exposed by my mother in front of the entire family. That memory just got into my mind by reading your comment. Time to forget it again. 2024 resolution is to try keep things written down again.
I use mine to freewrite. Just mental dump everything and anything that comes into my mind for three pages. It's cathartic and often comes up with nuggets of useful information I didn't know I was burying.
Oh hell no! Because it's stream of conscious it's very, very personal 😂
But whatcha gotta do is set a fixed goal (time or pages - I recommend pages) and then write down everything that comes to mind without judgement or fear. Sometimes, when I'm having a dark day, the first page is just me complaining and moaning. But for three pages? It's hard for the brain to get stuck in that rut for so long so it starts exploring solutions, options, or simply other things.
Give it a go! Don't stop writing for three pages, don't worry about quality, reader, or anything! Just write whatever comes into your brain. Like meditation it takes practice but is well worth the results (imo).
Here's an article for writers that I found helpful for my journaling. I don't do it creatively, I just write what comes to my mind about life and the day ahead and the day finished.
My friend had a hard time journaling until I told him to format it like greentext. I meant what are greentexts but stylized journal entries? Just write greentexts about your day. Your emotional state. Shit that pissed you off. Notable things that made you happy.
You can look back in 6 months and see what your life was like compared to now.
I used to, but they're pretty easy to crack if they're easy enough to be kept in your head (well, my head lol).
And ya never know when laws might change, or some bitter ex decides to steal shit, or whatever. Critical in terms of dangerous in general, obviously not, but sensitive, yes.
Considering the way the US has been lately, nobody should be keeping any kind of personal information available where state or federal governments can access it. People have been fucking arrested for having a miscarriage. They've been arrested for having an abortion based on Facebook information.
All it takes is the wrong law being passed, and we can all be fucked.
Also, there's absolutely no reason for you to be an asshole about it. If you can't partake in a conversation without that kind of behavior, it may be that you really would benefit from some therapy.
Bullet journal. Leave a few pages blank at the start for an ongoing index. Then use it for writing whatever you feel like and adjust the index as you go.
It'll end up being a mishmash of grocery lists, shower thoughts, reminders, sketches, goals, bad poetry, and evidence for tax fraud, and you'll still be able to find what you need when you need it.
For me, my most valuable journaling has been stream-of-conscious thoughts as they come in. Good. Bad. Whatever. It all gets written down. This ain’t archival biography writing. In fact, it’s super liberating to throw out old journals sometimes. They’re all just thoughts.
Journaling has been the single most valuable tool in my mental health journey. It’s baffling how bad a day can be when I haven’t had my morning brain dump.