why journal despite already blogging?
I wanted to ask myself, why do I blog in the first place?
For almost two years now, I've been using a now-beat-up A5 Leuchtturm1917 as my journal. It started along with my fascination with fountain pens and leather folios (I didn't get them until a few months ago). I wanted to write every day, but at best I would journal for three nights in a row, and never again until the next week.
Journaling is confessing. It's like throwing all your baggage, fears, and hopes into the void. It helps lessen the load and sometime in the future, you can actually look back and see how much you've gained or lost.
At first, it seemed pretty redundant for me to blog when I already own a physical journal. It eventually made sense to me. Blogging gives a better sense of control, structure, and organization. If in journaling you let go, in blogging you can actually categorize your thoughts and woes.
Another thing that I liked in blogging is the social factor, without the social media algorithm. I've found amazing writers and incredible blog posts just in a few months of being here. I've connected with strangers and shared experiences. That warmth in your chest knowing there's a person - human, flawed, and also becoming - on the other side of the email thread is a wonderful feeling.
So I've found another piece with blogging, but why do I still journal?
Despite the lack of direct audiences as in traditional social media, blog posts are still public. No matter how much I try not to write for an audience, all my posts are still for everyone to see. I think there are things - thoughts, struggles, wishes - that are better kept to ourselves in order for us to figure them out.
I now think of it this way: journaling is for me to release the never-ending ball of yarn inside my brain, and blogging is one way to make some cardigan out of it.