Unsolicited Advice: Keep a Journal

source: here

One of the best things that I've done for my personal sanity and happiness in recent years is to keep a handwritten journal.  I've offered this as unsolicited advice to just about anyone who will listen.  Whenever that advice falls upon a fellow journal-keeper there's always a hushed moment of recognition, followed by the sort of gushing usually reserved for Chicago sports fans.

I actually use two journals at the moment.  The first one, hardcover and neatly tucked in a drawer, is used when I am feeling inspired enough to carve out time at home for intensive journaling.  I carefully date each entry and can imagine reading it years from now.  The second is more petite, found at Albertine (a French-English bookshop, hidden away near the Met).  I keep in my bag at all times.  It's covered in blots and coffee stains at this point, but is always on hand for the long train rides and unexpected waits that are staples of New York living.

I try not to overthink either journal.  The former, however, tends to take on more of a narrative structure.  "We tell ourselves stories in order to live," as Joan Didion said.  There are also evenings when I just want to dig in - record a beautiful day or adventure, wrestle with frustrations, save anecdotes for later, recount every moment of some entanglement.

The latter journal is on hand for any fleeting notion throughout my day.  I've never bothered to date any entries; they just flow together.  I think that's because I appreciate the chaos of it.  There are no standards for what's written down, which invites me to consider everything. Being in communion with pen and paper, with fewer distractions than normal, allows me to engage mysterious parts of my mind and to catch seeds of ideas before they vanish into gray matter.

Personal journals have taken on added benefit in an age of social media.  So much of our lives are laid bare and despite our best intentions, it's difficult not to consider how they will be perceived.  I believe that it's healthy to consider your life warts and all, and to be able to embrace half-baked ideas without judgement.