Well, I've got some Bruce Springsteen playing in the background as I write (or type rather) tonight, so I'm feeling extra inspired to relay to you a very special post on --- you won't believe this ---: journaling!!!
Yes. 'Booksbybecca' really is obsessed with the whole "writing thing".
And so we begin. Just moments ago, I put down one of my many notebooks, my "Journal through Highschool". I've been keeping it since freshman year, and I don't write in it every day (although I've willed myself to try many a time), but I write in it often enough. I just finished an entry about my day today and how slow these summer days seem to be passing by and then I decided to flip through the pages of my "journey" and relive some memories. It was actually quite interesting I have to admit. And I noticed something interesting as I turned the pages.
When I first began this journal, I wrote a lot less often than I do now. When I did write, (maybe a few times each month), I only wrote about a page, if I really wanted, maybe two pages. But that was it. Seeing the way I write now, I can hardly believe it. These days I actually have to keep myself from writing every day (as I am running out of pages, and do not wish to begin using another book until September)…and my entries. Are they long. They can lead to four pages sometimes. And I have a tendency to want to write more than just once a day. My being the lover of reflective abstraction that I am, I took it upon myself to feel some awe at this great change in the relationship between my "journal" and I.
And I realized that's exactly what it is. The relationship I have with my journal. -- My journal is like a friend. When we first became acquainted I was shy and awkward. I didn't really know what to say --- should I trust it? Will it give away the details I store away in its pages? I didn't know my journal very well. We hadn't experienced much together. At least not yet.
But that changed. My journal became a confidante that would guard my somewhat obscure musings as best it could. I trusted it. So I spoke more often. Came and waved hello with an air of ease as our conversations lasted longer, dug a little deeper and our bosom friendship was solidified.
A journal is like making a new friend. You may not be your full self at first…but when you start to trust the universe enough to reveal yourself, you'll realize, there's no need to hide.
So maybe try keeping a journal? There's not much to lose in a paper friend after all, is there?