Ten reasons to keep a journal
The chronicler of boredom told us he was planning to start a journal. Having maintained a journal since we were 12, we can vouch for the benefits of journal-keeping.
1. Writing forces you to organize your thoughts so your life feels more orderly. In our case, writing something down makes it feel more real.
2. It’s an excellent forum for venting, and unlike Facebook and other social media, the things you say in the grip of strong emotion will not come back to bite you someday.
3. The physical act of writing on paper is very relaxing. There’s nothing like defiling good paper. When you’re young it won’t matter if you write your journal on the backs of bus tickets; as you get older you may find that you like having nice things. As Raul says, “Luxury is our revenge on the young.” (We do not approve of the young having too much luxury. They haven’t earned it.)
4. As Oscar Wilde said, you need something sensational to read on the train or during long voyages.
5. It trains you to hold a conversation with yourself. If you can do that, you will never be deathly bored or lonely.
6. You deal with your feelings directly, saving you the cost of going to a psychotherapist.
7. You can express all your romantic obsessions, declarations of eternal passion, and half-serious threats to kill yourself for love without making your closest friends throw up. (In which case you should keep your journal in a very safe place because if other people read it, you’ll want to kill yourself.) Years later, you can re-read your hysterical entries and have a good laugh.
8. Very important for people who write: You can pilfer your journal for material.
9. You’re less likely to forget something if you write it in your journal.
10. If you become famous, it would be of great help to your official biographer. If you intend to become famous, you might want to make your days sound more fascinating than they really are. Embellish. You wouldn’t want to bore your biographer.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
May 28th, 2013 at 09:55
I’ve started defiling good paper. It feels wonderful and I plan to do it often.
My conceit on inflicting my bad handwriting on expensive paper springs from my assumption that other people will read my journal. To paraphrase Le Divorce, the subject of the journal is not important. What is important is it is written sensationally.
May 28th, 2013 at 10:48
Hell yes to #3, #8, #10. And to most everything else, really. I’ve been keeping one, currently one of how many has it been, since 1999.
Muahness from Pasig Cirehhh!
May 28th, 2013 at 15:48
I’m now in my journal number 3. Number two took me more than two years to fill. Unfortunately, I discarded journal number one some years ago and I still regret it today.
May 28th, 2013 at 19:09
brilliant blogpost, further enhanced by this nugget of pure wisdom: “Luxury is our revenge on the young.” (We do not approve of the young having too much luxury. They haven’t earned it).”
deserves to be taught in school–from poveda to culiat, lsgh to ramon magsaysay, IS to peyups (kung saan nauubos na ang parking spaces)
May 28th, 2013 at 19:30
turmukoy: We should do The Collected Sayings of Raul Castro. Sabi niya rin: “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing!”
And hot guys who are bland: “May laban ang pastillas.”
May 28th, 2013 at 20:26
Di ko gets yung “May laban ang pastillas.” Gayunpaman ay “andami kong tawa” dian. Haha!
“Andami kong tawa.” Wala lang, nakiki-current lang.
Muahness from Pasig Cirehhh!
May 28th, 2013 at 21:20
Momelia: Masyado bang subtle.
A good-looking guy who is bland/boring is comparable to pastillas, which is essentially a bland milk product with sugar.
Ergo “May laban ang pastillas” = The pastillas is more interesting than the good-looking guy.
Huwag niyo nang ipauso, baka maraming layers of meaning.
May 28th, 2013 at 21:50
I keep a journal, too! It’s so gross and so sensational, yes it’s true. Sometimes I’m tempted to take a picture of an entry to post in my FB but my handwriting is ugly and girly.
May 28th, 2013 at 21:59
lestat: Sensational beats “walang nangyayari”!
May 28th, 2013 at 22:37
hahahaha pastillas! ba’t hindi yema?
mukhang maigi nga pong ilista ang mga salawikaing yan. tyak na tatabo ng benta sa pambansang bukstor.
May 29th, 2013 at 10:22
I used to keep one in college. It was all about my “conquests”. Xerex Xaviera had nothing on me. Hayden Kho was a little boy compared..
As a matter of safeguard I placed a strand of hair in one the pages. One day the hair was gone. I only had my Mom to suspect. Eew.
I thought of destroying it but instead I left it on one of the benches in SM Sta Mesa. I hope somebody got to read it.
May 29th, 2013 at 10:53
Ahhh, haha, yun pala yun! Ay, sige po, we’ll keep that to ourselves. I can only imagine the ramifications, beginning with the papel de hapon. But I lavet! Oh, and speaking of journals Madame, tuloy pa ba yung Burn Book?
May 29th, 2013 at 10:54
Kasi I called NBS last weekend, and they have nothing with my name on it.
May 29th, 2013 at 21:28
11. If, in the future, you come back to it and find it absolutely horrendous (the future can be anywhere from ten years to ten minutes), you can burn it. It is much more cathartic and means it is gone for good, unlike posting on the internet. Of course, it might mean burning a really good journal, but that’s an excuse to get a new one.
May 30th, 2013 at 01:42
Momelia: The notebook was delivered Friday, 24 May at 1430. Try giving them your full name.
May 30th, 2013 at 17:23
GREAT BLOG POST! I kept a journal back in high school. Then when I got to med school there simply was no time. Now I content myself by writing down favorite passages from novels and poems on post-its and stick them on pages of my textbooks.
May 31st, 2013 at 13:13
Especially agree with 3 to 8.
Timing na timing! Been searching for the perfect baul with lock for my journals. Futility! Saklolo!
Lest some unfortumate souls stumble on them. I can only hope my entries are so bad that they would read everything but then deny doing so.