People have kept journals and diaries for as long as the written word has existed. Some do so just to recap their day; some work out their emotions through what they write; some simply chronicle their hopes and dreams. There are multiple benefits of journaling. Journaling not only helps people keep track of what is happening in their lives on a day-to-day basis but also allows them to work through internal issues that they might not be comfortable discussing out loud with other people. Therefore, journaling can be an extremely therapeutic tool for any person who is dealing with issues that trouble her.
Dear Diary…
Keeping a diary has long been a common habit, especially among young females. In their diaries, they discuss what happened during the day, the boys they have crushes on, how their parents are getting on their nerves, and anything else that might come to mind. Many people consider writing in their diaries or journals every day as a standard part of their routine…it is something that they just do, sometimes without really knowing why or the purpose that it serves. It has been shown, however, that the process of journaling actually serves some very important functions (Horneffer and Chan 612).
Journaling as Recounting, Remembering, and Potential Warning
Journaling serves the purpose of putting down on paper the things that a person does during the course of the day—things that are mundane, things that are important, or things that might one day be seen as extraordinary (Hayman, Wilkes, and Jackson 27). Not everyone journals, although perhaps they should. It would have been very helpful if some historical figures had decided to keep journals of their daily thoughts and activities…for instance, if Hitler had decided to journal “Dear Diary, today I decided to eliminate all Jewish people from the face of the Earth,” or is Judas Iscariot had journaled, “Dear Diary, I’m thinking about betraying Jesus today. I wonder what that would take—maybe 30, 40 pieces of silver?” these two tragedies might have been prevented. While by nature journals and diaries are meant to be private, had other had access to the private thoughts of many people over the course of history, a great number of bad things might have been prevented from happening (Hayman et al. 29).
Journaling as Therapy
Perhaps the most important benefit of journaling, however, is that it allows the person keeping the journal to work through issues that are troubling her without having to make those problems known to others. This can be especially important if what is bothering her is embarrassing or something that she does not want anyone else to know (Horneffer and Chan 614). Thinking about one’s problems is all well and good, but actually writing them down requires giving them more attention than merely considering them. The act of actually committing thoughts to paper not only takes more time and effort, but allows the writer to go over what she has written as many times as she needs to, giving her the chance to better understand the issues she is going through (Hayman et al. 28). Writing requires thought, and the more thought a person puts into addressing her issues, the more likely she is to learn to understand and perhaps even resolve them (Horneffer and Chan 618).
How Journaling Can Be Comforting to the Person Keeping the Journal
A great many counselors and therapists recommend journaling to their clients who have experienced a traumatic event in their lives (Horneffer and Chan 613). Trauma can be something that is with a person every minute of every day, and counseling does not allow them to express their negative feelings whenever they emerge. However, in the majority of cases, people who are feeling anxious, depressed, or angry about something traumatic that has occurred in their lives have the opportunity to record these feelings whenever they want. Therefore, journaling can act as a type of temporary counseling when the person is not in the presence of her actual counselor (Horneffer and Chan 613). What she writes in her journal can also act as a reference point the next time she actually visits her counselor so that she can remember any triggers or experiences that reminded her of or exacerbated the effects of the trauma since her last visit (Horneffer and Chan 613).
Journaling as Testimony
In addition to the benefits that journaling provides to the people that engage in it, the written accounts of people’s lives can help those who live long after them. Students and professionals alike have learned a great deal from the written autobiographical accounts that people have left behind; through these works we can learn important lessons about history, human nature, and sometimes how to anticipate disasters before they happen. Many autobiographies currently commonly studied by students, such as The Diary of a Young Girl, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Ni**er: An Autobiography of Dick Gregory, and The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin have the ability to teach everyone, not just students, important life lessons about the lives of people very different from them (Hayman et al. 29).
The Diary of Anne Frank
The Diary of a Young Girl, most commonly referred to as The Diary of Anne Frank, is possibly most young people’s first and most compelling introduction to the living conditions of Jewish people living during the time of the Holocaust. Teachers can talk about the horrors of this period of time for weeks or months on end and not come close to making students truly understand what it might have been actually like to be a Jew in Europe during that time period. The autobiography, written by a young girl, goes far further in actually conveying the message that lectures themselves do not have the ability to do. Facts presented by teachers are dry and students have little context to help them relate to them, while when they read the words coming straight from the journal of a girl their own age who was actually experiencing what they are learning about, it tends to resonate with them in a much stronger manner.
Conclusion
Journaling helps not only the person keeping the journal but those who can later learn from the journals left behind. While obviously not every diary or journal will have historical significance, those that do can make a huge difference in the average person’s understanding of certain people’s lives and periods of history (Hayman et al. 29). The truth is that what officials record about certain events and periods of history are not always accurate but self-serving or “spun” to present them in a more favorable light. Autobiographies, on the other hand, as they are inherently meant to be kept private and not shared with others, have no reason to be deceptive. While people reading them must remain aware that there will always be a certain amount of subjectivity in any autobiography, there is less chance that there will be deliberate deception intended in what is written. For this reason, autobiographical accounts tend to be more honest and accurate than other accounts of people or historical events: if you do not expect anyone else to ever read what you are writing, you have no reason to lie about it or present it in a light that is either more or less favorable than it actually is. For this reason, journaling is an excellent activity for anyone to engage in—one never knows if she will be considered important someday.
2019-2-16-1550360422