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Journal keepers of Lemmy: Do you go back and re-read old entries? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 year ago by captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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It's one of those things I've never talked about with other people, the most I've really been exposed to journal keeping in pop culture is Doug Funny. People don't talk about their personal journals.

Ever since I was a teenager I've sometimes felt compelled to write about major events, and over the years this has become the habit of keeping a journal that I write in almost every day, and sometimes I go back and read old entries. "What was I doing this time last year?" I also sometimes keep notes or such intentionally for future reference.

So, if you keep a journal, do you go back and read it? Why?

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[–] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago

I’m a Thelemite, and journal writing is kind of a big deal in our religion. Not only do I review my own journal for insights about myself, but I also occasionally have other trusted Thelemites take a look at it to give me feedback. It has been one of those tools that I originally thought wouldn’t be useful, and then turned out to be invaluable.

That isn’t to say that I journal constantly though. Sometimes I’m good and do it all the time, but then I may go several weeks to months with nothing. Remembering to write tells me something about my mental state, and not writing also tells me something about my mental state, and all of that is a useful tool to understand yourself better.

The times that my journal has become fuel for my own self loathing, I have found it useful to talk to other people about what they’ve been writing in theirs. Once you take a peek into another persons interior world, you realize that we all have our own struggles and all fail sometimes—that realization, that you are no better or worse than anyone else, can be extremely powerful.

For anyone who is interested and doesn’t know what Thelema is, here is a useful link. There are dozens of us! Dozens!

https://www.thelema101.com/intro

And 93’s to my fellow weirdos who do know what it is.