Journaling

[Five Solas]

My mom recently sent me a compiled & bound history of myself, ~ 60 pages of material, as seen through her journals and letters stretching over four decades.  She’s doing one for each of her five children, my sisters and my brother.  Being the oldest--she did mine first.  It’s interesting, although almost as much for what she includes as what she elects to omit from the record. 

But it got me thinking—the very reason she has a wealth of material to draw from is because she was following the instructions of LDS leaders to keep a regular journal (she even quotes LDS prophet Spencer W. Kimball saying as much in the history she compiled for me). 

Now I would never say journaling is a waste of time or that it’s unique to Mormons or that Evangelical Christians never spend time this way—some certainly do.  But I think it is fair to say LDS, at least in decades past have put a particularly heavy emphasis on journaling. 

A related observation I’ll share comes from my wife, raised Evangelical Christian.  She’s observed my parents spend a lot of time talking about things past, indulging nostalgia.  By contrast her parents are inclined to focus on the present and on plans for the future.  It’s a fair observation, I think.  And she was a little taken aback that my mom had complied such a volume—devoted to me.  Preserving family history just isn’t worth that kind of time commitment, from her point of view.  Her parents don’t keep journals, nor does she. 

Curious what folks here think of keeping a regular journal.  Do you do it?  If so, why?  Do you see benefits from it?  Is there any downside, e.g., your time could be better spent other ways? 

--Erik

 

Edited March 6, 2016 by Five Solas

[Calm]

There are definite benefits to keeping a journal so one can remember how one responded, etc.  helps to keep one from rewriting history too much.

I wonder now how I felt about my mom when a child, teen and college kid because our relationship has changed so much since I got married.  Am I imposing my current ideas on what she is on what she was like back then?  I am positive I am, but I wonder how much.  Is it so much that Iwon't benefit from trying to work out old baggage.

Most psychotherapists in my knowledge are verypro journal keeping.

[Storm Rider]

I have fallen out of the habit of keeping a journal.  I used to journal almost every day.  Many, if not most, of my entries were focused on my children - advising them, talking about their futures and bearing my witness to the love of our Father in Heaven even when trials seem overwhelming.  The journals I have kept remain in their same condition that I wrote them.  I have never thought of breaking them down into relative comments for our children.  It is a wonderful idea.

On the other hand, I am an avid genealogist.  You never know who will appreciate what; it could very easily be your descendants several generations in the future that will find the most value in your journals.  

In many respects journaling is the same concept as writing scripture is/was for the first apostles.  If they were soley focused on the present and the future, as you said of your folks-in-law, where would we be today?  Histories, family histories, personal histories have great value.  They are not intended as a world in which to dwell, but to create a story of faith and love for our family members.  

[CV75]

1 hour ago, Five Solas said:

Curious what folks here think of keeping a regular journal.  Do you do it?  If so, why?  Do you see benefits from it?  Is there any downside, e.g., your time could be better spent other ways?

While I've kept a journal for over 40 years, I would be more conscientious about it some years more than others. For the last 7 years at least, I've kept a journal almost daily, and at one point while transcribing it onto Word, also compiled our children's records from it (up to age 18) and gave it to them.

I began doing it because I thought it was important to document my testimony and development in the Gospel. Also to record my experiences as a teenage exchange student. Once I joined the Church I learned more about keeping a witness of the Lord's blessings in my life, how to solve problems with His help, etc.

I don't think i spend enough time on it, as many entries are very short and uninteresting. If I want it to be something valuable for others someday, I need to put more of myself into my entries. I think it is a great thing to do; the benefits are touted in many sources, both Church and secular.

[BlueDreams]

3 hours ago, Five Solas said:

Curious what folks here think of keeping a regular journal.  Do you do it?  If so, why?  Do you see benefits from it?  Is there any downside, e.g., your time could be better spent other ways? 

I've kept a regular journal most of my adult life and an intermittent one through my childhood (moreso as I got older). I've done so for various reasons. Keeping a record, mission journals, therapy writings assigned to me, art journals, etc. I also keep writings and poetry on my USB. I've been pondering starting a new one for lessons I've learned during my work as a therapist. 

The reasons I like journals is because it helps organize my thoughts and examine what's happened to me...that's the main benefit. It's also why therapists often suggest it. I've had several clients write what I describe as burn journals (journals I don't expect them to keep filled with their pains) or thoughts based on a question I give them to help externalize what's happened to them and understand/slow down what's happening to them. I've also had it be a source of spiritual reminders, particularly in my recent journals because I bold spiritual answers in them. Sometimes when I've been troubled I'll look back and remember this or that answer and it reassures me again about my current struggle. Plus I want to have my kids have them at some point. My art journals/sketch books are pertinent for keeping ideas for later works. I just recently finished a painting that I made the preliminary sketch while on my mission. 

I can't think of an immediate downside. It usually doesn't take me longer than 30-40 minutes to type up an entry, unless I have a lot on my mind (my main journal is electronic). I often write half of that during commercial breaks while I watch a show. 

It's interesting to think that it's not worth the time commitment to maintain a family history. For, me my family stories are pertinent to understand my heritage and to have a better appreciation for where I've come from. My mother's side is the mormon end and they have a rich amount of stories so I feel like I understand that end fairly well. My step and bio-dads don't. Their histories were hidden from me in a lot of ways. As I've learned a little more of their past it gives me a better understanding of who they are and connects me to peoples that have come before me. I feel more connected and have a deeper respect for them. The present and future are great, but it feels a little incomplete to me without a past. 

 

With luv,

BD

[sunstoned]

I have kept journals since my mission.  I hold no pretense that will ever find them interesting or even read them, but I do occasionally refer to them when trying to remember the details of prior events.

[Calm]

I think if I had known the drugs were going to play havoc with my memory, I woul have tried harder.  But writing for just myself tends to focus on issues (family habit growing up) and raises anxiety.  I am thinking if I went to an answer questions wookbook rather than free form, that might help, but haven't found one yet I likeenough to keep at it.  I think I am too smug about already knowing the basics and feel it is a waste of effort.

[Avatar4321]

I don't journal daily but I'm fairly regular. I find it useful

[VideoGameJunkie]

I don't journal. I don't want any evidence that can one day be used in court.

[Bobbieaware]

14 hours ago, Five Solas said:

My mom recently sent me a compiled & bound history of myself, ~ 60 pages of material, as seen through her journals and letters stretching over four decades.  She’s doing one for each of her five children, my sisters and my brother.  Being the oldest--she did mine first.  It’s interesting, although almost as much for what she includes as what she elects to omit from the record. 

But it got me thinking—the very reason she has a wealth of material to draw from is because she was following the instructions of LDS leaders to keep a regular journal (she even quotes LDS prophet Spencer W. Kimball saying as much in the history she compiled for me). 

Now I would never say journaling is a waste of time or that it’s unique to Mormons or that Evangelical Christians never spend time this way—some certainly do.  But I think it is fair to say LDS, at least in decades past have put a particularly heavy emphasis on journaling. 

A related observation I’ll share comes from my wife, raised Evangelical Christian.  She’s observed my parents spend a lot of time talking about things past, indulging nostalgia.  By contrast her parents are inclined to focus on the present and on plans for the future.  It’s a fair observation, I think.  And she was a little taken aback that my mom had complied such a volume—devoted to me.  Preserving family history just isn’t worth that kind of time commitment, from her point of view.  Her parents don’t keep journals, nor does she. 

Curious what folks here think of keeping a regular journal.  Do you do it?  If so, why?  Do you see benefits from it?  Is there any downside, e.g., your time could be better spent other ways? 

--Erik

 

If the family Lehi hadn't kept journals and then passed the habit of devoted and diligent journal keeping down to future generations, we wouldn't have the Book of Mormon. And though he thoughts and ideas contained in the Book of Mormom are mostly more than two-thousand years old, they are as pertinent and important to the spiritual health and happiness of the people in our day as are the teachings of the living prophets. The Holy Bible is a journal of the lives and teachings of the apostles and prophets of old. Do your wife and in-laws not rely on the very old writings contained in that "holy journal" to teach them how to live lives of vibrant faith toda? And as the philosopher Santayana said, "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." (And mauthor I expand on Santayana by saying, 'those who aren't reminded of what made them happy and prosperous in the past are doomed to forget it.')

Edited March 6, 2016 by Bobbieaware

[halconero]

I can give at least two recent examples where journaling either by myself or a family member helped me think in the present or plan for the future.

The other day I was thinking on a personal matter while reading the scriptures and praying. It wasn't particularly stressing me out, or worrying me, but I simply didn't know how to proceed. After a time I felt a strong impression from the Spirit that I should write in my journal. For the life of me I couldn't find it, and spent the next 20 minute going through my small apartment searching for it. Finally I decided to grab an old journal off the shelf and write in there. I flipped to the back to see if there was space and the last entry, written on my mission 5 years ago, addressed the exact same problem I was having now, with its solution and testimony of how to fix it. Had I not written that down 5 years previously, I'm not sure I could have answered it now.

With regards to journaling from other family members, I recently acquired the records of my Great-grandfather's brother's records, who died on a submarine in WWI. As I read through the circumstances of his death, just a few weeks after his marriage, I was struck with a mixture of heartache, aspiration, and other feelings I'm sure were experienced by his family. It made me reflect on my plans for the future, what my goals were, and steps to reach them.

[rpn]

It is a great blessing to be able to go back and read that you've already made it through awful things.  Reminds you of the right prospective, so you neither idealize nor over dramatize your past.  

It is also great fun to remember historical events and your own take on it.

[Five Solas]

You've been reading some old letters
You smile and think how much you've changed
All the money in the world couldn't buy back those days

--The The, "This is the Day"

Appreciate all the replies.  Back when I was a kid (and Spencer W. Kimball was LDS prophet/president) journal keeping was a big deal and "everyone" was expected to do it & to do so regularly (yes, I had one too--still do).  But judging from the poll--most LDS respondents are no longer following Kimball's many admonitions on the topic.  I'm guessing it's been a gradual decline as Kimball's successors emphasized their own priorities.  Any thoughts on this?  Anyone else surprised to see how few LDS still keep at least a weekly journal? 

--Erik 

 

[halconero]

Don't make the decline sound so drastic! Out of those Latter-day Saints that responded, roughly 50% are journaling frequently or semi-frequently.

[Five Solas]

7 minutes ago, halconero said:

Don't make the decline sound so drastic! Out of those Latter-day Saints that responded, roughly 50% are journaling frequently or semi-frequently.

Drastic or no, have you seen any shift of emphasis yourself, halconero?  Were you around when Spencer W. Kimball was the LDS prophet? 

[Calm]

I was.  Not many were doing it from what I saw, including in the dorm (late 70s).

[pogi]

I practice daily meditative prayer and keep a prayer journal.  I have found it to be an incredible tool in preserving delicate spiritual impressions, guidance, revelations, and answers that we can so easily forget about.  I review previous entries almost every Sunday, and am filled with the spirit in remembrance of sacred experiences that I had all but forgotten about. 

[Garden Girl]

When my TBM mom died (August 1995), I had been inactive for years although I had been receiving promptings to return to Church for some time, particularly after watching April gen conf.... So I stayed with my dad for a month so I could go through all of mom's desk/papers/closet, etc.  I attended Church with dad, the first time in years.. and worked with the bishop and RS pres in disposing of her things like boxes of quilt fabric, sewing machine, etc etc.

At this time, the emphasis was on writing one's life story as well as journaling, to leave for family members.  In my mom's papers, I found a sheaf of handwritten pages telling of a number of her childhood experiences that I had never known about, but which provided some insight into some of my mom's attitudes and behavior... One, when I was growing up, I just took it for granted that my mom simply liked these lovely lace curtains that she always had that hung behind the drapes and looked so pretty when the sun shone through them... imagine how I felt  when I read in my mom's writings that when she was a little girl, she would sit in the middle of the living room floor putting on her shoes and socks... Her mother always had lace curtains, and the sun shining through them would make patterns on the carpet.  This gave Mom a warm and comfortable feeling as she sat there... so, all her life she had lace curtains, which I grew up loving,  She kept them sparkling white... so pretty... but now I know her feelings behind them...

Another experience she wrote about that I didn't know about but which affected her all her life was her phobia of being closed in or in tight spaces.  She could barely ride an elevator without tears coming into her eyes... imagine when I read her words telling about the time as a little girl when she and a brother used to like to run and hide from a younger brother who would always come after them wanting to play... they lived on a farm with lots of acres... her father had built a new farmhouse but the old one was still there.  On the porch was an old trunk... so mom and her brother ran to hide, and little brother followed.  They ran to the old house, deciding to hide in the trunk... laughing they opened the trunk and got in... they closed the lid... the hasp fell down and locked... they tried to open the lid and it would not.  They beat on the lid, screaming... no one could hear them... the new house was some distance away.  Mom said they were exhausted from yelling... the little brother was too young to understand the seriousness or what to do.  Then mom could hear their dog sniffing around the trunk and the lid, whining... the dog must have used his nose to lift the hasp and the lid flew open.  Mom and her brother climbed out of the trunk, wet with sweat, and fell on the ground gasping for breath and throwing up...  Now I finally understood Mom's fear of tight places or being closed in... Not only that, but I believe a miracle took place that day... and that guardian angels were watching over them... If mom had not written "her story" I would not have known about these events, or numerous others... some quite comical, like the first time she tried to give her new baby, my sister, her first bath... that was priceless.  I typed up the pages and made a booklet, with family pictures, and gave to my sister and her children... we laughed and cried as we remembered Mom...

GG

 

[flameburns623]

I have tried to keep journals. I have kept journal-like collections of poems, sayings and quotes. I tend to wax and wane in faithfulness.

I have been keeping a food and excercise journal for weight loss purposes. I'm using an online app for this. Your post makes me wonde if there are phone apps for personal or spiritual journaling, and how private such would be?

[mfbukowski]

36 minutes ago, flameburns623 said:

I have tried to keep journals. I have kept journal-like collections of poems, sayings and quotes. I tend to wax and wane in faithfulness.

I have been keeping a food and excercise journal for weight loss purposes. I'm using an online app for this. Your post makes me wonde if there are phone apps for personal or spiritual journaling, and how private such would be?

Just use Word or Google docs.  Accessible from any device, can be backed up, and printed as desired, no app necessary

Facing the blank page is the problem, not the app.

[flameburns623]

6 hours ago, mfbukowski said:

Just use Word or Google docs.  Accessible from any device, can be backed up, and printed as desired, no app necessary

Facing the blank page is the problem, not the app.

This wasn't helpful. Thanks anyway.

[flameburns623]

Since no one seems familiar with journaling apps I went ahead and googled the topic. There are apparently dozens and sorting out the optimum features is daunting. One called JRNL caught my eye as they apparently allow you to buy a hardbound printed copy of the journal entries if you elect.

Anyone have other preferences?

[Rain]

I do mine in my word perfect. Well, that's where I keep it. A lot of my journal entries start out as an email, blog post or forum post. I just copy and past them with a date into my journal. Sometimes I add more personal information. Sometimes I don't . These are interspersed with regular journal entries and goal journal entries (things having to do with the 100 goal list I am making and accomplishing  (I haven't written down all my goals yet)

I also journal in the addictive recovery notebook with a pen. 

I didn't answer your poll because I'm not sure how to do it. Sometimes I am journaling every day. Sometimes I go much farther in between. I will never be a regular journaler, but more of an incident journaler. If nothing unusual happened then nothing will be written about the day -except the year I kept a gratitude journal.