Journaling is so much more than the flower and doodle covered notebook with the tiny lock that your little brother tried so desperately to pick open that he bent the cheap metal. Journaling can be soothing, informative, organizational, or even sociable.

There are many reasons and many ways to keep a journal. It can be that flowery notebook hidden under your mattress or it could be a file on your computer. It could also be as public as a blog online or a photo-journal like a scrapbook. Some people like to doodle in the margin, draw and paste pictures into their journals while others like to keep it very organized and neat. It all depends on why you are journaling.

Many people journal for many different reasons. Scientists and researchers keep detailed journals of their work so that they can verify their results or write their reports. New parents keep journals of their children’s first years for sentimental reasons. Writers keep journals of story ideas and travelers keep journals of their adventures either to read themselves in the future or to share with others. Some people keep family journals to share with members of their extended families and sometimes people who are trying to figure something out, keep personal journals to work through their feelings. And of course, people keep journals just to share what is happening in their lives – either for themselves only or to share with the world.

On the other hand, some people cannot stand to journal and that is perfectly fine. Sometimes people feel too stressed out to try and write something everyday and so only write once a week, once a month, or even just only when they remember to write.

Whether or not you want to journal depends on the reasons you are thinking about it. Is it because you want somewhere to keep your most private thoughts? Is it because you want to document things happening in your life or activities that you are doing? Is it because you want to share your thoughts or activities with other people? If you answered yes to any of these questions, starting a journal may work for you.

Finally, you should figure out how you want to journal. Do you like to draw, doodle, write or jot in a notebook? Or is typing on a computer more your style? If you want to share in an online journal with other people, you may want to sign up for a free account at blogger.com. One thing to think about is that if you plan to share your blog, you may want to make sure to post regularly so that people reading your blog don’t become bored. If your journal is more private, writing entries regularly isn’t as important since you are the only member of the audience!

Writing in a journal can be a rewarding experience and all it takes is that first entry!