from journaling to vlogging
I have been journaling for a while now. In my cabinet, there's an enormous stack of both not-yet-touched notebooks and ones full of semi-regular entries. It was a difficult thing for me to do on a daily basis due to a variety of reasons, ranging from lack of time to a lost battle against my inner critic. But the general rule was, still is, yet I hope won't be anymore: the tougher the times, the more frequent the visits of my pen on the pages.
That should not be surprising. Writing, and handwriting in particular, helps you focus your thoughts, work through your negative emotions, and metaphorically "close the chapter" once you finish your entry. For most of us working with computers, writing by hand takes significantly more time than typing on your keyboard, and that leaves you with more time spent overall on pondering your inner world. Leaving your mark on a physical world is the second important part, because our brains do like having real agency. And last but not least, the ability to edit text written on paper is fairly limited, forcing us to put more effort in thinking about the next word.
But despite those important advantages, I do see one critical flaw in writing in my journal: it's hard to share it with others. Not to offend anyone, but in line with classical psychology findings, I don't find people in the circle of my friends to be 'the others' to me. I think about strangers, who may be either benevolent or harsh in their critique, but at the same time, their reaction is not based on their view of me at all. To them, I am a blank canvas, painted only by the content I share willingly. That is somehow comforting, and I firmly believe it's a part of internet culture that has been almost forgotten, but it's so precious that it's worth trying to preserve it.