For the first time, I am repeating a trial I’ve done in the past, a daily journal. There are a number of reasons that I wanted to try this again, but today I wanted to dig into a concept I’ve seen frequently, creating a record of a certain time in life.
An Autobiography of Sorts
A creator I follow recently discussed some disappointment he had that there was no concrete record of certain points in his life. For him specifically, no videos he could look back on. This made me think of when I read the biography of Ben Franklin. So much of what we know about him comes from his journals. His autobiography captures how he reflected on his life, but his journal gives us the moment. A journal for anyone can capture the instant far clearer than retrospection.
Something I’ve thought of doing recently, was to try and write up an autobiography for the first 25 years of my life. I don’t know if I’ll go thru with it, how much work it would be, if I would ever release it, or the answers to a variety of other questions. I like the idea of trying to capture what my 25 year old self thinks about his life so far. Keeping a journal going forward, can hopefully help a future me remember what these times were like.
Journal Format Doesn’t Matter
The last time I tried journaling, I mostly focused on trying a variety of different methods, but so far I’ve been purely writing free form thoughts as they come from my mind. Not focusing on a format or structure has allowed me to express the exact thoughts passing thru my mind at the moment.
This has helped me to process what I think were the biggest parts of my day and the emotions that I still need to process. Rather than let them boil around in my head too long, getting them on paper makes them feel more concrete and tangible.
Next week, I will dive deeper into this emotional expression, another major reason I am giving journaling a try once again.
Trying Out Before Buying In 
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