I have been writing ever since I could remember. I could date the first journal I ever made when I was in fourth grade. Since then, I've had about 20 journals and still counting. Journaling is addictive, pretty much therapeutic. It surprises people when they hear that I write in a journal, for them it seems like extra work for nothing.I feel that school and society have made writing and literature a bad thing. They force it on their students so much that when people are assigned to write 500, it seems like 5,000 words. Writing has a bad representation with school and I want people to know that writing isn't that bad at all.
Writing helps with my memory. One of my greatest fears is forgetting memories and people. I came to this realization when someone asked me what I did over the weekend and I couldn't answer them. Maybe it was because I was tired, but I still couldn't answer the question. I couldn't remember what I did. Maybe that might be normal for everyone, but it opened my eyes.
Writing is my therapy. When I was little, I felt completely alone. I had friends but for some reason, I remember being alone with no one to talk to. This was one of the reasons why I started a journal, I needed to talk to someone. A journal has no judgment to the writer, you can write whatever your hearts desire. I have trouble with putting my thoughts into words and journaling helped me clean out the gears in my brain. After a horrible day, you can talk to a friend and let the air take your words. But what is better than actually putting the thoughts on paper! Then you can look back and read it and see how that problem is behind you now, that you have grown from it and worked through it.
Writing can be artistic! I love to write poetry. I have such a hard time actually telling a story, that I just write fragments which becomes my poetry! Keeping a journal can also turn itself into Bullet Journaling. Bullet Journaling is probably one of the most satisfying and beautiful ways to keep a journal and it requires minimal writing. I've done my fair share of Bullet Journaling and I recommend it to anyone who has an artistic thumb.
Writing helps me feel and express. Sometimes I just need to say what I want to say. If I miss a whole week of writing or even a day, I end up in a bad mood because of the stressful thoughts inside my head. However, writing isn't only for stressful events, it's also out of enjoyment and happiness.
Writing is my life! It makes me happy and it makes me who I am.