Your life.
In case you didn't know a thousand words is roughly three pages. Three typed pages. If you throw hand written pages into the mix we're talking a whole lot more.
My dad pointed out to me the other day that there's just something about words on a piece of paper that lends an air of tangibility to the intangible. I'm referring to the past here of course. The past is intangible, no matter how staunchly you believe time travel possible, yesterday is gone and it's not coming back.
Words on paper resonate with us in ways I don't fully understand, but i've composed a short non-extensive list of why you should consider keeping a journal.
1.) If you write it down, your account won't shift with time. Over the years our memories fade. We muddle events, confuse situations and forget crucial details. If you write something down you have a guarantee what you wrote ten years ago will be the same today as it was then. (Unless you're a liar and write lies in which case this doesn't apply to you. History may be written by the victors, but that doesn't make it true.)
2.) Writing lends an out for your inner voice to escape through. I talk to myself all the time. I tell myself that's my soul trying to break free, but there's more than one way to release your thoughts. With a journal you can chronicle every emotion in all the excruciating detail that you want without actually having to talk someones ear off whilst making inarticulate gesture trying to describe how you feel.
3.) Stress relief. Need I say more? Vent your problems. Yell at your boss. Extract vengeance on your nemesis. Strongly dislike someone but you're a nice person and would never say anything to their face? You have a journal now, have at it, knock em out. Kill em all. Just don't actually kill them...On a side note if they inadvertently die, you might wanna burn the journal. The last thing the prosecution needs is a motive on your behalf.
4.) Capture your creative thoughts and preserve your relationship with the fleeting mistress of inspiration. True inspiration is a rare thing to come by. If you pass her by she won't come back around for a long while so if you stumble on her you're going to want to write about her.
5.) Keeping a journal is an extremely practical way to track progress and solve problems. You can see your own growth in your journal from even several months ago. Having such a detailed record of where you were vs. where you are now can be a great encouragement and motivator. Along those lines we all have problems that we have difficulty solving. Sometimes just thinking a problem through isn't enough and you need to come at it from a different angle to solve it. Q.E.D pen and paper.
6.) By far my favorite reason to journal is to preserve the the way I felt. Emotions are a curious thing. I experience joy, sadness, nostalgia, fear etc. on a daily basis but what surprises me is that even though i feel the same emotions over and over again they're not really the same. When I look back in my journal and read something from 5 years ago I can really feel the sort of joy I felt then and it's different then the joy I feel now. It's a different warmth seeping from my bones and stranger sound echoing in my mind. It's really quite surreal having such a portal to the past in my journal, and while time travel isn't possible for me that is close enough.
In conclusion, there are several pictures I have that I wouldn't trade for any thousand words, but I really believe that if you want to preserve a memory the best avenue to do that on is writing. There's probably a thousand other different reason to keep a journal but for now, this list will do.
I'd love to hear some reasons you like to keep a journal in the comments!
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