How can a journal help you? mentally?

You will learn to understand yourself better. When you write things down, you take a better look at them. You choose to think about issues, rather than let life fly past you everyday. It helps you become slightly more responsible and learn some logic. Journals are an excellent treatment for depression and anxiety. They help you to develop a sense of purpose in life, becoming more aware of your surroundings and your inner feelings.

Keeping a daily journal of ideas, plans and interesting articles often

proves to be extremely valuable to many people, including those engaged in

writing, researching, scholarly work or a professional practice.

Keeping the journal helps focus your mind on important ideas and plans.

For some people, a detailed journal of ideas has stimulated new ideas that

proved to be significant career boosters.

You can keep your journal on any media -- steno pads, notebooks, scraps of

paper -- but there are certain methods and ways of doing it that ensure

maximum value from your journal.

They can be like a diary, and help you to write about your feelings and thoughts, kind of like self analysis and affirmations.

Many people keep journals as a record of the happenings of the day and their feelings about them. Writers use journals in a different way. Instead of recording what happened each day, they write in a journal on a regular basis to find out more about themselves. They use their journal as a place to polish their voice and keep it strong.

You can do anything you want in your journal. It’s your own space. There are no rules or structure except what you decide on. The main purpose of a journal is to help you get used to putting ideas on paper.

Ways to Get Started

* Take time at the end of each day to record images, events, and scenes that have stuck with you

* Write down details you recall

* Make notes about other images or events the day’s images and events suggest to you

* Explore what the things you remember tell you about yourself

* Write freely for ten minutes using an image, event, or scene from the day as a starting point

* Reread what you wrote on other days and develop ideas that strike you

Experiment

Use your journal as a place to

* play with words or phrases

* tell stories from different points of view

* compose a brief autobiography

* express opinions on issues

* apply different tones (for example: humorous, tragic, animated, dry, somber) to your writing

* create dialogue

* copy the style of other writers

* write a letter to yourself, to someone else, or to no one in particular

* review books you have read or films you have seen

If you keep a journal faithfully, you will find that it is more than a place to practice writing. It is a place to store your personal experience. And every good writer knows that personal experience is the most valuable resource for writing.

i keep a journal and i love it. Everynight it helps me to examine my day. I see the positives the negatives the things i would and wouldnt change and i can decide over all how i can do better to live more christlike or more dedicated to friends. See how i treated others...its good for honest self examination...it keeps me down to earth and also its fun to look at and laugh

Sometimes it's good just to let all your emotions out, even if it's on paper. That way, you don't hold it in so much. I usually write stuff down and then tear it up and throw it away. It really helps me fight stress and manage anger.

You are able to reflect on the premesis of your own assumptions and see how true they are.

You can remember the good part of your life

Sort out and clarify your thoughts.