The Value Of Journaling

Journals are a great way to remember things. Certain events or feelings may have been forgotten had I not journaled about them. Mama made journaling a part of our everyday schoolwork. It is one of those things that start out as a chore, but then becomes an enjoyable habit. I am glad Mama encouraged us to journal every day, because now not only do I have accounts of things that went on in my younger years, but I can see that my penmanship has improved. I now have established a good solid habit of writing regularly.

There are a lot of additional benefits to journaling. It helps to establish self-discipline, by making yourself do it daily. It helps you to learn how to put your thoughts down on paper. That did not come easily to me at first, but, as it always goes, the more you take the time to practice something, the easier it becomes. It sharpens the memory, too. The hand-brain coordination required to write in your journal stimulates cognitive function. Journaling also encourages the achievement of your goals. It primes your brain to categorize the things you care to write about as important, thus prompting you to be more receptive to the opportunities that bring fulfillment of your goals.

Many, many famous people kept journals. For some it is what made them famous. Anne Frank kept a journal while living in hiding from the Gestapo. Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the beloved “Little House on the Prairie” series, kept a journal, writing with pencil in a five-cent memorandum book. Leonardo da Vinci kept a journal and today there are 7,000 of his pages surviving. Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, often started a new journal every time he went on vacation, writing down good ideas for stories that would spring from the new sights that he saw. Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, and Beethoven are just a few of the many famous people who maintained journals. Recently, I checked a book out of the library called “The Journals of Lewis and Clark.” It told of a lot of the wildlife and flora and fauna that they encountered along the way. The Indians, the canoe that flipped on them, the bear, the landscape, their fears and their happenings- it was quite interesting to see how much everything has changed in the last two centuries.

While my journals may never become famous or published, I still have something special for my children and their children and maybe even their children’s children to see. I have gained a lot of good habits. I have an essay that my great-great grandmother wrote, and I cherish it. Those kinds of things are so special. It is my hope that I am outlived by my journals and that they will be enjoyed by the generations to follow me. They can then see how things were done in the “olden days.”

~Jayla