My journal

When I was eight years old I received a diary. I immediately began writing in it and my journaling has continued ever since. There might be months between each entry, but I've never quit writing. I write for two reasons. One is to document the important (or not so important) things that have happened in my life and in the lives of those around me. But every once in a while I need to "talk" and the subject matter is so personal that I don't feel comfortable talking to any friends or family. So I would write in my journal. When going back to read some journals I noticed something. Quite a few of my entries were dark or negative. I'm usually a happy, positive person, but occasionally I will get depressed or upset with someone and need to vent. I realize that talking about someone is not the correct method so I would turn to my journal.

Once I began blogging I realized I could write a blog about what our family was doing and this would be a part of my journal. But I wasn't sure what to do with the rants and confiding parts. So I started this blog and kept it private. But one thing led to another and this blog became public.

So now what?

My solution has been to write the feelings and frustrations and then if I feel they are too personal I just won't publish it. A while back I wrote a story and just didn't feel confident enough to publish it. It sat for quite some time in the drafts while I debated. I finally worked up the courage to post it and realized that it would post on the date that I first saved the blog. Even better! My blog was published, but only the most stalkerish dedicated reader would ever notice that my post was there. Perfect.

I'm not writing this so that you will go back through years of blogging to find the ones you've missed. I print this blog every year and that is my journal, so I wanted to document how I use this blog as a journal and to explain why some blog posts might appear personal and public. If you happen to be reading back and notice something that you feel is not entirely appropriate for public consumption than you are probably the only one who has ever read it.