How Journaling Became Part of My Daily Routine

Hey there, folks, and welcome to Life, Unfiltered, the only category I seem to write for anymore. (Sorry about that… new content is to be expected of Growing Pains and In The Making, and eventually, Alexandra Reads!)

Journaling was a big inspiration for The Adulting Journals, as is indicated by the name of my blog. It wasn’t always an easy journey, though.

It began in middle school. I was the “new kid”, and the “poor kid” compared to my wealthy classmates who all grew up together at the same school. I was fortunate to have made a couple of close friends that I still speak with to this day, but most of the connections I made in those years would not blossom into lasting relationships. Hence the outer space-themed composition notebook and purple ballpoint pen that carried me through my lonesome and troubled middle school years. 

Inspired by L.M. Montgomery’s imaginative language illustrated in Anne of Green Gables, which was my 7th grade summer reading novel, I wrote down every dreamy detail of my new home, city, and friends inside that notebook. It was a sorry attempt to hide from the pain of leaving behind my old life, as well as escaping the turmoil that my home was in at the time. 

Eventually, when I found I could no longer sugarcoat the very real loneliness and hurt I was experiencing, I left the notebook to collect dust in the bottom of my closet where it still remains.

For the next three years I would not document my experiences or thoughts, until my cousin tragically passed away at 21 years old. In the midst of the very jarring loss, my mom remembered how I used to write my feelings and thoughts down and figured that a journal was just what I needed to process this grief.

That skinny leather travel journal that my mother bought at the airport would become my best friend throughout my sophomore and junior years of high school. Now filled with drawings, cutouts, poems, song lyrics, photos, and of course memories of my high school adventures, both the bad and the good, my first complete journal is now half a foot wide and so full that the binding broke and it is now held together by twine.

I’ve since worked through a second journal which saw my high school graduation, El Salvador trip, the wedding of my sister’s childhood best friend, the ups and downs of my eating disorder recovery, and so, so much more. Now I’m working through my third journal, which is already thicker than my previous two journals, though I’m only about halfway done. The Journal: Vol. 3, as I like to call it, has seen everything, from loss to celebration to new beginnings that have opened up in my life. It’s honestly incredible to see how I’ve grown, from the way my clothing style has changed, to the haircuts I’ve gotten, and to my favorite book and movie preferences that have either changed or stayed the same.

I encourage everyone to take the plunge into the journaling world. If not for self-discovery, or the ability to vent or write down the most mundane but happy moments, then to document your memories, and years from now, see the person you used to be in comparison to who you are becoming.

Let’s get journaling,

Alexandra