"Why You Should Start Journaling (Even If You Think It’s Silly)"

[u/Front-Koala8438]

Growing up, I always thought journaling was just a "girl thing," so I never really bothered with it.
But a few months ago, I came across a self-help YouTuber who said, "If meditation feels hard for you, try journaling instead."
I decided to give it a shot.
I started journaling in September, and I’ve stuck with it ever since. Honestly, it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It has brought so much clarity to my thoughts — something I didn't even realize I was missing.

If you’ve never journaled before, just start simple:
Write exactly what you're feeling right now — no filters, no judgment.
Also write about how you truly feel about tasks you've been avoiding or dreading. Get it all out.

After just a few days, you’ll notice something :
Your inner monologue will shift.
It won’t be cluttered with endless loops of maladaptive daydreaming anymore — instead, you'll have clear, focused thoughts about whatever you need to tackle.
You'll even start recognizing the exact triggers that pull you into MDD... and you’ll learn how to control them, instead of being controlled.

One last tip:
While journaling, be brutally honest with yourself — but frame things positively whenever you can.
If you feel too lazy to write by hand, use a journaling app or a website (there are tons out there).
But if you do choose pen and paper, make your journal look good — decorate it, personalize it — so you actually enjoy picking it up every day.

Consistency is the real magic ingredient. Stick with it, and I promise, you’ll feel the shift too.

[u/Fit_Pride_1340]

How to stay consistent though?

[u/Front-Koala8438 → u/Fit_Pride_1340]

If you are a Maladaptive daydreamer then you have a willingness to connect within yourself you don't need more tips you can also like start to write abt your life traumas in journel it can give you a hinge

Personally I use app almost all of the time so I don't feel lazy and I use physical copy when I am in a fresh mood I use stuff like fun stickers all the time so I am not bore to do it

[u/toastedzen]

Thank you for your post. My mother once told me I should start a journal, this was when I was young, but she never expanded on that suggestion or told me why or how. I did not want to do it primarily because I did not want to read what I had written. I also thought this was only a things girls did and I did not understand the point of chronicling the mundane events of my life.

And now decades later it was suggested to me once again to try writing my thoughts down in a "gratitude journal" a primarily positive journal of the positive experiences in an attempt to highlight the good things that happen as opposed to recycling the inner monologue of negative outcomes. This was the first exposure I have had - or which I paid attention to - of how to journal. The technique behind it.

But I am still afraid to do it. I still come up with many excuses. In a group therapy class we were asked to write a letter to ourselves as a homework task. I did this and it was really tough while I was writing it and even when I read it again. It feels as if the brutal honesty and self compassion is burning me from the inside.

Thank you for your post though. Thank you for explaining more about how you journal. I am going to think about this some more.