Trivial Revelation

How to write a journal (better) 

Disclaimer

Are you bored of writing the usual "Dear Diary" entries? Do you wish to make your journals great and worthy enough to become historical records after you are long gone? Maybe when aliens attack the earth they might find your journal to study human race.

If yes ,then this post is for you. It will help you write a better journal so that post human species can decipher your script and study societal pattern.

Serious part 

A few months ago, I read an article by Charles Assisi. He writes weekly columns in Hindustan Times about lifestyle hacks and wellness. I usually love most of his articles but one about a journaling technique really stood out. He suggested that we should write our diaries and journals in third person instead the usual first person.

According to him when we write in first person we become more judgemental and critical of ourselves. But when we write the events in third person we get to see our life and decisions from a different point of view. We become more understanding. It is similar  to listening to our friends when they confide in.We try to show them the brighter side of things.

I decided to try this experiment. The goal was to see if it makes me feel better about certain embarassing things which will creep inside my head out of nowhere on a random day of the week. For instance, when I write, 'I overthink a lot', the next few sentences would go in the tone like something is very wrong with me or I am an idiot. But if I write it in third person like. ' She overthinks a lot', here I would try to understand this 'she' better and instead of making the problem look bigger I would write things to make this 'she' feel better. And when I read my journal entries about 'she' it made me feel better about myself and become less critical and more empathetic. Even though I might be my biggest critique but this approach helped me break cycle of self blame and sadness.

I recently finished reading 'The Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath. It is about a girl Esther Greenwood and her experiences with mental health disorder. This novel has autobiographical fragments from Plath's life. She herself had mental health issues early in her life and esther's life and struggles can be seen as a parallel to hers.  Perhaps, Plath was also trying to locate herself in her own story to gain a perspective. And if we write our journal in third person we might also get introduced to ourselves differently.

Our journals are a home to countless thoughts and feelings. I had been writing one since i was 13.  Looking back I often get angry and embarrassed about my past feelings.  But when I see myself as a distinct individual I become less cruel. My thoughts become a comforting place instead of a cage. And this duality has been fascinating me. 

Image 1

Image 2

The image one is from Salvador Dali's surreal art exhibit. This was the only picture that I clicked for somehow I could see myself in this. And then the image two, the fairy sitting in a similar contemplative pose. However, she is growing in her solitude while the first one was just suffering. This is the dichotomy of life to choose which way to go mad - joyfully or sorrowfully.

Staying mad is inevitable. As to live, is to go mad!

Asmita

July 2025