Do You Keep a Journal?

I love keeping a journal.  It's such a part of me, it helps me sort out feelings and life in general, and keeps me writing every day even if it's not on my book.

For me, I write down everything.  My mistakes, my less than perfect feelings, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I mostly write my journal for me, but I have let my kids read the things I wrote down when I was a teenager, newlywed and new mom because it's fun for me to reminisce and for them to see what kind of a person I was and what was important to me back then.  (All right, all right, it's a little embarrassing sometimes, but oh well.)

One of the best things about having kept a journal since I was twelve is that I can really go back and see the growth in myself.  I see what I was insecure about then, how I worked through different events in my life, my impressions of my husband when I first met him, (he was cute!) and all the ups and downs of becoming a parent.  It's eye-opening for my kids to read about the long sleepless nights when they had colic and we walked them up and down the hall for hours until we finally figured out that running the vacuum calmed them down.  Or all the fun things we did when we were a young couple and first falling in love.  I love remembering all that, and I know I wouldn't have recalled the details if I hadn't kept a journal.

A journal to me is a chronicle of my life, a remembrance of what I did while on this earth, and a record for my kids of me and my true self.  I love taking a few moments at the end of the day to think through what I did and write down my thoughts and feelings.  It doesn't take long and it's had lasting rewards for me as a person.

Do you keep a journal? Why or why not?