What comes to mind when you think about journaling? A fancy super organized bullet journal you simply do not have the spatial awareness or time to create? A physical notebook that you are most certainly going to lose within the din you call Your Life? Or a girly diary that little kids write in?

     Well, it can be those things. But it doesn't have to be. Among the genres of writing, I would say that journaling is by far one of the most flexible, and it can often inspire and take the form of other genres of writing, and often becomes a kind of free writing.

    Let's talk medium. The three main ways of journaling are recording, physically writing, and typing. Some applications I use are Voice Memos (on my phone), my two physical notebooks, random untitled Google Docs, the Notes app (also on my phone), and the Pages portion of my personal writing blog.

     Now, you might be thinking, what in the world does this girl need all those journals for?! A big factor in this is convenience. Whenever an idea strikes I am not always looking to journal, and inspiration can come from literally anywhere.

    Another factor, especially if you're just beginning to journal, is routine. I first started journaling in 5th grade (for perspective, I'm in 11th now), and in those first few years, I struggled with starting my journal. So, after the first year of failure, I resolved to myself I'd write in it every month. And ever since then (with a few exceptions during the summer months), I've been able to stick to it.

    I'd definitely recommend journaling to everyone, especially kids and teens. One of the reasons is that time flies, and as you begin to grow and change as a person, it is fascinating to look back at those precious first entries and marvel at just how much you've changed. Oscar Wilde once mentioned the time-capsule-ish nature of journaling when he said, "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train." A phenomenon I've noticed as an extremely forgetful person is that I tend to remember the events surrounding my entries with much more clarity than the periods I did not journal about. Which, if you're like me, is a major thing. Touching back on the more concrete aspects of journaling though, I would strongly advise that you put the date on the top of your entries, just so that when you look back you can construct a clearer timeline in your head and correspond them with memories you have of that time.

     One issue I constantly run into is the fear of messing up the first page. I suppose I'm somewhat afraid of ruining like the "second cover"? Aloud, it does sound kind of ridiculous, but I assure you that the apprehension is very real. A solution I've had is simply skipping the first page, and coming back to it when I've run out of pages. Similarly, some people have trouble starting entries, with the mindset that they might "ruin" the blank page or "mess up". To remedy this, the ever famous "Dear Diary," is extremely helpful. It gets your pen (, voice, or fingers) moving, and jumpstarts the outpouring of one's thoughts.

     After all, that's what journaling is at its heart. It is a conversation solely between you and the paper, and people have journals on everything from dreams to wacky anecdotes others have said. Most commonly though, people write about their days, plans, events that have just occurred, venting, etc. Some people also enjoy the inspiration of prompts, and you can seriously find a bazillion of them by searching "journaling prompts". A journal is a safe place, and a private home for all the random and deep thoughts or opinions you may have, socially acceptable or not. It is a safe place for your raging, your midnight meandering, your secret crushes. And as cheesy as this may sound, it is a safe place for your heart. The paper (or recorder, or doc, assuming you don't have autocorrect) doesn't judge.

     So I hope you've learned something about journaling from this, or perhaps gained a new perspective. You may not think much of your entries when you write them, but your future self will thank you later. Plus, on a materialistic note, it prepares you for job and college applications by helping you get into the practice of writing about yourself. Whatever your reasons, I hope you'll at least consider starting (or continuing) to journal. Thanks for reading, and keep writing! :)