I see a lot of noise around journaling these days. I hear people say that they keep a private journal.
While there’s nothing wrong with that, it doesn’t add as much as you think it does. I believe that writing something and knowing that anyone can read that, will make you face whatever you face with a lot more seriousness and honesty.
I’ve been writing online for 15+ years now. I’ve written privately. It’s usually unreadable! You just moan, not even trying to build sentences. Why for? It’s just for you. But then, what’s the point? Posting a sad picture isn’t cutting it. There is no catharsis besides telling yourself “I put it down”.
Except that you didn’t. It’s still lingering in your head.
Writing publicly means that you need to make sense. You kind of need to make it appealing, even if no one reads it. You need to go through your arguments, angles, self-pity etc. And you need to cook all that at the right temperature. But this is where catharsis happens.
I just wrote about adoption, as if I was explaining to someone what I’m going through. I try to explain it, not dwell on it. That’s the positive of writing publicly: it pushes you to extract what is interesting, the essence, of what’s going on. In this example, I try to convey how having a foster family and a family after all those years feels like, and that it’s okay to feel how I feel.
Not only this helps me push the bluesy clouds in my mind away, someone in this world, tomorrow or in five years might stumble upon my post and reflect on his/her/their life. Adopted or not.
And that’s too me, so much worth the effort to go public. You help yourself and someone else. Without commerce in between. We need that.