Why do you need to keep a diary? Part 2

If you suffer from low self-esteem, insecurity and see in everything only the negative side, diary entries will help to overcome these harmful thinking habits and see the world more realistically. In this way the diary is used, for example, in cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. This is not only useful, but absolutely free (unlike visits to therapy and antidepressants).

Recently received scientific evidence for the benefits of journaling. Psychologists from Duke University (USA) found that the written fixation of exciting events and own experiences not only improves memory and mood, but also reduces the frequency with which doctors.

Timothy Wilson, one of the authors of the research, writes about it this way: “These writing interventions can really help people to start to think positively and believe in themselves”; “writing forces people to understand their concerns and to find new meaning”.

People who are prone to self-flagellation, is usually passed a compliment on deaf ears, but extremely sensitive to any critical remarks. If you record in the diary the times when you explicitly or implicitly praised, surprised to find that others treat you not as bad as you thought. Being in depression after another failure, re-read write about joyful events and situations where you showed their best side.

After this it will be much easier to believe that the world is not so bad and hopeless, but all difficulties can be overcome.

As mentioned some of the Buddhist thinkers, the “I” given in reflection is not the true “I”, it is designed in mind. But it is a mistake to think that this “I” can be detected in some other place. To believe that a real person is not reflect, and does things, at least naive and unfair: you have to do both.

In the diaries, which made them a present of the literary art, are mixed stories about the sexual and literary experiences, minute impressions, conversations and attempts to find own “I”.

How I treat other people?

Unchanged characters in the journal are not only ourselves but also our loved ones. Some keep a journal solely in order to vent their anger, anger, loneliness, loneliness and misunderstanding which haunt their relations with others. And here you can understand how those relations: why are you repeating the same mistakes? what do you expect from loved ones and how are these expectations?

You can write in the format of “unsent letters”, expressing to the end that I can’t say in real communication. You can try to take the position of another person and write a monologue from his face as he sees the situation? maybe you’re missing something from the attention and from his point of view it looks quite different? These exercises help to develop empathy and the ability to see the world as a multidimensional space of choice and evaluation, in which each in its own right.

Diary will not replace you live communication and real relationships. As wrote Theodor Adorno, “we are a free people not because we feel like terrible said, develop each in isolation, but in view of the fact that we go beyond our limits, to enter into a relationship with other people and in a sense they abandon themselves”. For self-development is not enough to create for themselves a secure platform where you will be able to “irrigate and grow themselves, as the flowers” you need other people and real actions. But the diary will help you understand what you want them to do that is really important to you.

If you can give yourself an honest answer to these questions, to build relationships with other people will become much easier.

An example of using the diary to solve personal dilemmas can be found in the biography of Charles Darwin. When talking about marriage, he with the meticulousness of a naturalist writes cons (“endless trouble and expense… controversy because of the lack of society — morning visits — daily loss of time”) and the pros of this company (“it is impossible to do life alone, without participation, without children… cheer up, trust in the case — closely look around — there are many happy slaves”). And in the end decides: definitely need to get married.

A diary as an intellectual and creative laboratory

A diary can become a place where the troubled thoughts and feelings melted in the exact wording and imagery. Don’t have to be a professional writer or artist to think and to imagine. Creativity is not a class privilege. They are available to anyone, but not everyone enjoys entrance. Personal blog — is the place where you can plenty to ponder and to dream and not be afraid that someone will judge you for your naivety and graph mania.

Keep a journal of thoughts and ideas from reading books that have you hooked. Make lists of literature. Create verbal portraits of people close to you and thinkers. Make sketches of. Create mind maps. Stick photographs and magazine clippings. Make collages. Write down your dreams (the list is endless).

The diary implies full freedom of expression: here you can do anything you want. But over time you will realize that certain forms of statements are given to you easier than others.

A personal diary as a form letter apparently first appeared in Japan. Extant diaries of Japanese court ladies and poets recorded in the X-XI centuries, where the prose flows easily in poetry. Some excerpts from these diaries can be touched by a modern reader:

If only my thoughts were the same as the other… I could find more joy, would feel not so old and would watch this transient life with peace of mind. When dawn broke, I looked outside and saw ducks floating serenely in the lake.

The birds looked so serene, but they also must often suffer, I thought (Murasaki-Shikibu. Diary. XXIII. The 13th day of the 10th moon).