Just writing them is the point. I almost never re-read my longer form journal entries. I use them as a way to work out what I am thinking and feeling in the now, active reflection, rather than looking back on something. I have journalled on and off for a long time, and sometimes it’s felt like it brings me down; those are the times I have dropped it again pretty quickly, but recently I have realised that that’s a form of self recrimination. Of o get hung up on what’s wrong and all the reasons it might be happening, then of course I am going to write myself into a depression pit. But if I write the minimum about the bad stuff, find at least one good thing every day, and use them as a tool to work through ideas rather than a tool to blame myself with, I find I do a lot better. For me, the point isn’t in having a record of some sort, or things to come back to and ruminate over. It’s not a means to an end. The point of the journal is the act of writing it.
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