Contents
Write a journal to photograph our memories
Psychology
This activity can help us avoid falling over and over again in the same mistakes we made in the past.
During adolescence we write a diary almost by inertia. We recount our high school dramas and then put away our precious notebook with a fragile padlock that preserves all our secrets and shame. This is an image that we have seen reflected on the big screen countless times. A young woman with brackets hugging his journal tightly while smiling thinking about what he has written in the notebook.
When we become adults we forget about it. We may feel like we no longer have time to go on shaping our experiences and thoughts on paper or that we just see it absurd. Even so, this archetype continues to be repeated on celluloid, like that bizarre diary that Bridget Jones kept, in which she counted the cigarettes she smoked and the kilos she gained and lost; the macabre record of her day-to-day life written by Amy Dunne, the protagonist of “Lost”; or the very complete – and written in secret – diary of Anne Lister, an extraordinary woman whose life is now recounted by the BBC series “Gentleman Jack”.
But, although the custom persists among fictional characters, we tend to lose it over the years, since it is an activity that we associate with a certain moment: childhood and adolescence. What we must bear in mind is that writing a journal is something that, if we make a habit, has infinite benefits. From helping us organize and organize our thoughts and reflect on what we have to tell and how to do it, to being able to become the starting point when it comes to overcoming difficult moments. This is how María Gallego, a health psychologist and member of Top Doctors, explains, who lists, among other benefits that we can obtain from writing a diary, document memories in order to prevent them from fading over the years, cultivate a dedication to ourselves or even help us not to fall over and over again in the same mistakes when seeing our past actions clearly reflected.
Bring out what we have inside
The psychologist Sheila Estévez, an expert in emotional conflicts, says that writing a diary has the purpose “of depositing outside of one what is inside”, which turns a diary into a set “of memories put into words»And thus we managed to photograph the memory. Beyond this, the professional talks about how having a diary not only makes us narrate experiences, but also develop ideas, thus letting our imagination and creativity fly. “In this case, the newspaper has a growth function where constructive criticism and learning will be promoted by managing what has been experienced,” he says.
Nor is it necessary to write every day without exception. Although it is only done from time to time, reflecting our thoughts can help us, explains María Gallego, to “reflect on what happens to us”, “identify problematic situations and behaviors associated with them” and even “to name our feelings». “In general, it helps us to get to know each other better, whether it is carried out as part of a routine or if it is done on time,” says the professional.
Reading years later something that we write at a specific point in our lives is interesting, since we will be able to see and be aware of our own emotional evolution. «Rereading how we experienced complicated situations and were able to overcome them helps to be more positive. Also, reliving moments in which we were happy makes us enjoy ourselves », says María Gallego. Sheila Estévez also explains that going back to that past “frame” can help us to identify “if what we really felt at that moment was adjusted to real discomfort or well-being”, as well as giving us the opportunity to see “in what aspects it has been achieved. an optimized version of situations like that. ”
The intimate moment
Another characteristic of writing a diary is that it is usually an intimate experience, since we ourselves are the recipients of what is narrated. “When we do not expose ourselves to reading by third parties, we tend to do it in a more natural way,” says María Gallego. He comments that some research indicates that, when we know that our thoughts, emotions or feelings are going to be read by other people, we tend to censor ourselves out of modesty, to omit certain content or even to make regular use of self-fiction.
Sheila Estévez highlights the direct consequence of writing a diary, and that is, by spending time each day, week or month to make a diary, we are going to have a «unique moment, intimate and special ”, a habit that with the passage of time“ becomes an honest, sincere and unfiltered conversation ”, something that he assures“ is only possible with oneself ”.
Is it better to write a journal by hand?
If we think of writing a journal, the first image that crosses our mind is a notebook. But, like everything else, writing adapts to today’s society, and many people keep a digital journal. The psychologist María Gallego thinks that it is not necessarily better to write it by hand, but rather that we must choose the medium in which each one feels most comfortable. The professional enunciates some virtues of using an online method, such as being able to add photographs, drawings, videos or maps.
For his part, he warns that, if we automate the task too much In the digital format, we run the risk that introspection, that is, the way in which we must analyze and organize our thoughts, is done in a superficial way and the benefits are not the same.
The psychologist Sheila Estévez also recalls that, by writing by hand, we enhance two channels: the visual, by having our eyes fixed on the written text, and the motor system, by having to use the hand to create each letter at the same time as we shape and code the idea.