Journals for writing in the social age
Surely by now you have dozens of tenuous friends on Facebook and
Twitter, each from different spheres of your personal life, each a
token of some relationship or event. If you're a master of privacy
settings you can still say everything that comes to mind (right?), but
more than likely you tend to censor yourself, perhaps unconsciously.
network except yours fade to black. You don't have to give up on technology to keep one, either. A lot of
people are pouring words into their mobile devices. For me, the iPad
is the perfect form factor, but a lot of people work increasingly from
their phones. I recently read an article in USA Today about the enduring power of a
personal journal. The CEO of Toms Shoes has a great quote in Inc about his morning routine I live on a boat in Marina del Rey. When I wake up on the boat, it's
very relaxed. I usually get up at 8:30, have a Clif Bar for breakfast,
and spend a few hours thinking and writing before going in to the
office. Almost every morning I write in my journal. I've been keeping
it for a long time -- I've filled more than 50 books. I write about
what's going on in my personal and spiritual life or what's going on
at work. It helps me keep things in perspective, especially when
things get crazy or I get stressed or we have obstacles. When I go
back a month later and read what I was feeling, I realize that it
wasn't that big of a deal -- we got through it. And that helps me
prepare for the next time that I deal with difficult stuff.
There are many ways to benefit from writing a journal. If you're not doing it, you should try. Pick something you're comfortable with; a hardbound notebook, an online site, some files on your computer, or an iPad app.
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by Steven Romej
