[boogiesmash]

So I got this cool looking journal and ready to journal. Then I noticed I have no idea what a journal consists of or what to put in it. Any thoughts

journals are just like diaries

you put in their your thoughts and your feelings, day to day life, important stuff you want to remember, that kind of thing

also used to use for creative stuff- poetry, art, etc.

even just random ramblings

You put your thoughts in them. Release your thoughts onto the page and let them go. It's suppose to be cathartic. I'm too paranoid to journal. People are nosey and I'm too interesting. . Just kidding, but I am paranoid about journaling. It's suppose to be good for you.

[Miss Laura]

Put whatever you want into it.... poetry, lyrics, thoughts, feelings, general life, major events, drawings.... absolutely anything.... it's your personal book

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[LadyShadow]

I use journaling for therapy. But yes like the other posters said, day to day activity, something you like even something you don't like.

Poetry and feelings....

[wiretwister]

if your stuck starting just start with the mundane ... I got up at 9 .... read in my book ... went to mailbox ... once you start more will come ... it's yours ... do it the way that works for you ... good luck ...

[cincidak]

I use mine for keeping track of my mood cycles. Positive or negative cognitive and emotional changes, especially when having medication changes, or dose changes. I can read earlier journals and see where I have been.

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[Blaire]

I've kept a journal for like 25 years. A mistake I made with it, that I've only corrected this past year, was that I used it to indulge in my negative thoughts. I wrote them down, elaborated on them, and this made them more real to me. Instead of letting my negative thoughts pass through my mind and go away (because they aren't real most of the time), I captured them and recorded them as though they were the truth about me. The problem was that I did not have objectivity. I really believed them, and recording them made them more powerful.

I would just caution you, if you are writing depressive, negative stuff, that you need to look at what you write in the context of your mood at the time. If you are aware that you are depressed, and you write some horrible things about yourself, you really need to understand that what you're writing isn't true, it's your depressed mind kicking out meaningless static because it's on the fritz. Same with inflated manic thoughts.

When I'm deep in an episode of one extreme or another, I'll write a lot and believe that I'm discovering really profound truths about myself. When I look at it later, I realize I was just spinning out on some twisted idea I'd come up with. But believing in that idea probably led me to wallow or obsess and made my situation worse.

I just wanted to share that because I realized after many years that the way I used my journal was detrimental to me. I took several months off journaling while I went through intensive therapy, and a few months ago I picked it back up and have been using it constructively ever since.

The key for me is being truly honest with myself and not believing everything I think.