I’ve been keeping one since the age of 11, when I started boarding school, to record my thoughts and experiences. It has evolved and changed since then, of course, and has gone through periods when I only write down the bare minimum of what I did that day, and other times when the entries are a lot longer. I’ve never missed a day, though.
It has also proven useful on occasion, when I need to find the exact date that something happened, for example, or that I first met someone or did something. I’ve also found that when reading through old entries from years ago, it’ll jog my memory of other things that happened on some particular occasion or other, even if I hadn’t written it down. In general, though, I don’t spend a lot of time going through it, unless I have a specific reason to, because there’s a certain sadness associated with it. Nothing extreme, just a feeling of a past that’s now gone, of people you used to know, but have now moved on, that sort of thing. I’m very glad I have it, though.
I have kept journals since about 14, but I don’t write in it every day. I have for certain periods, but never more than a couple weeks at a time, and I often go months between entries. When I do write, I don’t usually describe my days. I tried to do that at various times but it bores me and I could never keep with it. Most often I spitball ideas, not too different from what I post about on ILP. When I’m going through something I use it as a therapist and talk about my feelings.
During covid lockdown, I transcribed all my journals into a note-taking app, which was a wonderful experience. The process itself was deeply rewarding, like time-travel through all the versions of myself, particularly comforting in the midst of global upheaval. And now all my entries are searchable in an app I use every day, so I get weird moments of serendipity when I’m looking for something else and stumble on a related journal entry from 15 years ago.
I use my Notes or Docs apps for spitballing. And sometimes I have to write down crazy dreams or random jokes—or lists of things I like about someone that I do not want to forget. I have a collection of about 20-30 journals & sketch books & notepads that I wrote in throughout the years with ever decreasing regularity. Some poetry, doodles, prayers, suchlike. In the older ones I do mention stuff that happened during the day. And in some of the prayers, if they are issues of concern or gratitude.
I did a fair bit of diary organising too, during lockdown, along with various other things, such as stories that I never quite got round to finishing, ideas for novels, and so on. Some of which I’d completely forgotten about.