Everyone expresses their opinions and feelings in different ways. For some, athletics is the outlet they prefer that represents their mood or thoughts. For others, different art forms allow them to express their day to day feelings. For me, I take to writing.

Journaling, for myself, doesn’t just mean having a notebook that you write in every single day, like a diary. I mean, yes I do write in a bound notebook when I feel like it, but more often than not I find myself typing out little thoughts and feelings on a document on my laptop or in the notes on my phone.

As for many others, life has a fast pace and it’s hard to sit down and eloquently write out thoughts and feelings on paper. I love doing that, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t limit journaling to just that one source. I try to get out my thoughts quickly whenever they cross my mind because the thought is only there for so long before I forget it. Typing it out just lets me mold the thoughts and feelings as I type it out rather than having what I write be permanent on the paper.

I think that’s why I like writing for the Odyssey so much. I get to write what I’m thinking about at the time and make it a journal entry that allows me to get what I’m thinking about out of my head. This platform is a type of journal to me, but truth be told it is more public.

Without the various types of writing that I try to do on a daily basis, everything that I think or feel would be crammed inside my head, without hope of getting out. It also just helps me settle my head and heart and lets me clear my thoughts so I can focus on important things in my life.

Writing helps me those most during the school year. Getting everything out of my head allows me to clearly focus on my school work and the people around me. Otherwise, my thoughts would seemingly consume me. I’m scatterbrained, to begin with, but writing and journaling help me sort out everything in my head.

Journaling is an escape that also just helps to settle every part of my life. Doing it at least a little every day brings some peace to my busy schedule. Having an outlet for your thoughts and feelings helps in so many ways, and it doesn’t have to be just writing or journaling. There are so many things that you can do to express yourself.