JOURNALING THROUGH NEW JOURNEYS

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Texas chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Near the end of the summer, while I rummaged through family memorabilia to take to my dorm, I came across a journal from the 1950s. Clustered between endless baby books and keepsakes was a collection of my grandmother’s diaries. Among them, I picked up a small box that was labeled with her name and a note that read “Private!! Do not open.” Given that she had passed away and I wanted a way to connect with a relative I’d never met, I opened it.

Inside, I found the cutest booklet covered in autographs from friends with their own version of “H.A.G.S.” What really caught my interest, though, was the second booklet. This one was filled with little notes from every date she went on in high school and college. As I flipped through, I finally came to the last filled page, which described the day she met my grandpa. Although it only had a few sentences, the last one said, “He seems really great so far, we’ll see what happens.” It was enough to get to know a little bit about them.

This beautiful piece of my grandparents’ story motivated me to start documenting everything. Beginning my sophomore year, I bought a brand-new journal. Every time I’d journaled before, it had been digital, so I wanted to switch things up. To motivate myself to actually use it, I bought a book in my favorite color, covered in embroidered strawberries. In the past, I had never been able to have consistent journal entries, and if I missed a day, I wouldn’t come back to it for a while. Now that I’m even busier with academics and life in college, I’ve realized that you don’t need an entry every day. Or any specific word count. There are actually no rules at all!

My main goal in journaling is to pour out all of my overthinking, as well as for it to be a souvenir of my college past, when I want to look back. So, missing a day means nothing, and I think it’s important to just enjoy journaling while feeling like you’re getting something out of it.

I bring my journal almost everywhere, so when I have brief moments, I can pull it out. I’ve realized that changing up the style of my entries has motivated me to stick with it. For example, when I don’t have much time, I’ll jot down different categories such as the song, the drink, the book of the day or week.

So many things happen in a day, let alone in a week. Once it’s the weekend, I love to list out bullet points of brief moments that I really appreciated. It can be absolutely anything. I would say, if it’s something that crosses your mind again, it’s worth writing down. New people you meet, small interactions, something you learned, and so on.

The entries I typically get the most out of are my rambling streams of consciousness. These help me slow down my thought process and get a clearer picture of whatever it is I’m thinking. It won’t solve all of your problems, but at least when you’re done and close the book, you feel a little more composed.

Whether you’re doing it for yourself or anyone in the future who finds it in a pile of relics, I believe there’s so much importance in pasting bits of thoughts and moments into a journal. I’ve learned so much about myself, and I’ve seen growth merely by putting pen to paper.

Just remember: there are no rules. Make it your own.