Journaling

[Creepy-]

I wonder whether people of certain types are more or less likely to keep a journal, or go about it very differenly....

Do you keep a journal, blog, etc.?

If yes:
- Why?
- How long have you kept it?
- What kinds of things do you write about most often [ie. is it mostly filled w your thoughts, feelings, and personal observations, or do you focus more on writing about actual events]?

If no:
- Why not?
- Did you ever keep a journal?
-- If you did keep one, for how long? What did you write about? Why did you stop?

[Creepy-male]

If yes:
- Why?
- How long have you kept it?
- What kinds of things do you write about most often [ie. is it mostly filled w your thoughts, feelings, and personal observations, or do you focus more on writing about actual events]?

A LiveJournal, originally because I was going through a lot. Then I stopped for a bit. Then I used it as a dump for random ideas, funny chat logs, and parodies of song lyrics. Which I had been dumping on my DeviantArt. What I put where is random, almost.

I've also started another blog, all about being a Nine and PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT and ooh shiny distractions!

[redbaron]

I've kept a journal almost seamlessly from the time I was 16. For many many years it was on paper. Then in 2003 I started a blog. Which I quit in 2005 and started back up again (a different one) in 2007 which I still have today. The journal I started because I needed to rehash what's going through my head and I didn't feel comfortable enough with any other person (not there's anyone in the world who would be interested in all of that anyway). It also provides a way for me to look back and make connections and to see how I've changed. To remember what I was like back in, say, 1987. ??? (yep, I have them that far back)

And I actually have a public blog and a private blog so I can just write whatever comes to mind without anyone seeing it in the private blog. The public blog is a more carefully constructed thing where I can reveal what I want to reveal. Much more controlled. The public blog is interesting because it's more of a persona and less of the raw me. It's the edited me.

[Park]

Do you keep a journal, blog, etc.?

No.

If yes:
- Why?

n/a

- How long have you kept it?

n/a

- What kinds of things do you write about most often [ie. is it mostly filled w your thoughts, feelings, and personal observations, or do you focus more on writing about actual events]?

n/a

If no:
- Why not?

I haven't found a reason or had a real desire to.

- Did you ever keep a journal?

No.

-- If you did keep one, for how long? What did you write about? Why did you stop?

n/a

[07490]

A self-perservation dominant Instinct will very likely keep old pictures/journal/memoirs as part of a preservation of themselves and their love one. According to a very good Enneagram site from Krae which I now lose the link.

[Gilly]

I sort of keep a journal. I used to make it a daily practice, but now it's mostly for my poetic upwellings and ideas for my book.

[Creepy-male]

(not there's anyone in the world who would be interested in all of that anyway)

Is this an IEI thing? Now I'm interested D:

[Creepy-]

A self-perservation dominant Instinct will very likely keep old pictures/journal/memoirs as part of a preservation of themselves and their love one. According to a very good Enneagram site from Krae which I now lose the link.

Interesting. I knew a girl who would periodically burn her journals and pictures, as a sign of "starting fresh." I wonder if this is type-related....

[crazedrat]

i used to have tons of scattered thoughts about things. i started writing all my thoughts down in a journal, and making myself make sense of them. i've been doing it for about 2 years. nowdays my thoughts are alot more organized than they used to be, and i attribute it partially to writing in the journal.

[Creepy-male]

i used to have tons of scattered thoughts about things. i started writing all my thoughts down in a journal, and making myself make sense of them. i've been doing it for about 2 years. nowdays my thoughts are alot more organized than they used to be, and i attribute it partially to writing in the journal.

Funny. The influence of journals has freed me to be even more scattered than ever.

[Krig the Viking]

I used to keep some manner of 'journal.' My reasons were because I enjoy writing, I'm very introspective, and I don't trust most people to speak about my deeper thoughts so I just journal to get in touch with them. Most subjects have dealt with the mind, personal philosophy, religion, repressed emotions, or else dealing with mundane matters (such as school or concert events which I am in the habit of participating in due to being aligned with several local organizations.).

This is basically what I do. I also use my journals as a form of backup memory -- I tend to forget (or at least forget to remember) about things that have happened to me, epiphanies and conclusions about life I've had, etc. Writing and reading my journals keeps me in touch with past versions of myself, helping me to see how I've changed over the years and how I've stayed the same, allowing me to put together a picture of my '4-dimensional self', i.e., the combination of the present version of myself and all the past versions of myself.

I find it difficult to understand the people who would burn their journals. If my house was on fire, my journals would be the second thing I would save, after my computer with all my files and projects on it.

[jessica129]

lol...I've posted here many times while drunk but no matter how far gone I am, always seem to form complete sentences with perfect grammar. Strange phenomenon.

Anyhow, I don't keep journals. I used to get into phases where I'd document everything that was going on in my life but that lasted a few days and then I got bored...and i was quite boring...basically did nothing for 25 years of my life so it consisted of things like "went to the store today....went to school today...played on the computer today..etc". I hated the idea of someone possibly reading it so I decided to stop. But I do think it'd be interesting to possibly keep a private blog now that I have some sort of life.

[Creepy-]

Anyhow, I don't keep journals. I used to get into phases where I'd document everything that was going on in my life but that lasted a few days and then I got bored...and i was quite boring...basically did nothing for 25 years of my life so it consisted of things like "went to the store today....went to school today...played on the computer today..etc". I hated the idea of someone possibly reading it so I decided to stop. But I do think it'd be interesting to possibly keep a private blog now that I have some sort of life.

It would be interesting if you did that. And every once in a while maybe you could pick something that you don't feel is too personal, and put it into a public blog for others' perusal. That's what I do, though I don't usually tell people I have a blog so no one really peruses it, heh.

I think there's something to the idea crazedrat brought up that by writing regularly, which forces you to organize your thoughts as you put them down, you develop more clear ways of thinking. I took a class in college where we were learning to teach writing, and it was a semester-long assignment to write [by hand] for thirty minutes every day, without editing or censoring yourself in any way. There's a theory that you get into a certain mental state when you do that, where it's almost like meditation. And actually, it was very calming, and I did find that it helped me relax as well as organize my thoughts. I haven't done that consistently in a long time, at least not daily, but I may get back to it, at least for a while....

[tereg]

I kept hand-written journals starting when I was in high school, however, I was not consistent in how often I would contribute to them. The pattern would always be me putting in several entries in a short period of time and then slowly contributing less and less over time. Then something would prompt me to make entries with some frequency and then I'd contribute less and less again. I eventually filled two small journals and starting a 3rd over the years, but I lost that journal like 3 years ago when I was in between jobs and moving around. I still have the two other journals on my bookshelf, though I never read them or anything. I guess I just keep them for nostalgia's sake. Similar to how I keep all of my birthday cards/letters from friends and stuff.

The only blog I kept that had any sort of depth was on Myspace. It acted as an extension of my journal. I think I started that in 2005, and I deleted all of my entries earlier this year. About 80 or so entries I think. I think there was a feeling that my writing was somewhat fruitless and that I was kind of talking to a brick wall. I went back and forth between making it a public blog and private to only my friends (not a big friends list).

I wrote when I was really inspired by something or when I was really depressed or stressed out. The majority of those writings were of the latter (which includes the few entries I've contributed to the blog on this forum). I considered other blog platforms as well, like blogspot or livejournal, but I never started them because I didn't feel like I could contribute consistently to them. Earlier this year I considered designing and developing my own photo-blog, but that project has gone nowhere.

So, that's my blog/journal history.

[Blaze]

i've started journals about 4-5 times in my life. and they all have one or two entries. lol. can't ever think of anything to say...i'd rather talk about stuff with somebody.