GustavoFring2794d ago

privacy made me way more honest in my journal

https://lemmy.world/post/44525160

privacy made me way more honest in my journal - Lemmy.World

I used to journal in a paper notebook and I always held back. Not consciously — but somewhere in the back of my mind I knew someone could find it. My partner, my roommate, whoever. So I’d self-censor without realizing it. When I switched to a digital journal with Face ID lock, something shifted. I started writing things I’d never written before. Not dark secrets or anything dramatic — just honest feelings. “I’m jealous of my friend’s promotion.” “I love my partner but I’m not sure I’m in love anymore.” “I don’t think I’m a good person sometimes.” Those thoughts existed before. I just never gave them a place to live. Having them locked behind biometrics made my brain go “okay, this is actually safe.” And writing those honest thoughts is where the real value of journaling lives. The surface-level “today was good” entries are fine but they don’t move the needle. The app I use keeps everything on my device — no cloud, no account, no one can access it but me. That matters more than any fancy feature. When you know it’s truly private, you write differently. If you journal, how honest are you really? Do you hold back? What would change if you knew nobody could ever read it?

Show threadzitronenschnitte

I am glad you found a way to journal, that allows you to be more honest! Everyone has a different way to do it, and I think it’s really important to feel comfortable and safe in the way one puts their thoughts down.

If you journal, how honest are you really? Do you hold back? What would change if you knew nobody could ever read it?

I journal with a notebook and pen. So yeah, technically my partner could find it and read it, but I never really consider it an option. It does not really play a role in how honest I am or not. Because there is always one person, who can read it, and that’s me. So for me, honesty in journaling is about being honest towards myself. And it’s something I try to learn and do more.

I’ve started to journal again around New Year, so about 3 months ago. So my main goal is consistency and keeping the routine up. And I notice that most days I keep it surface level. I don’t think every entry has to be deep and meaningful. And sometimes the energy is just not there to explore some thought or feeling I had through out the day. I try to be more honest, but for me it usually takes a few times. Like it might start one day just writing something general like “Feeling tired, didn’t sleep well.”. And over the course of a few days I figure it out step by step and at some point I allow my self to actually think, explore and write down the thought. It’s a learning process, but I agree that honesty is a really important part of journaling.

Mar 21 at 11:05amWeb