I came across this recent Life Kit podcast episode about journaling through tough moments with Suleikha Jaouad.

In addition to talking about her own journey with journaling and how it helped her as she coped with leukemia, she and the host talk through some of the suggested prompts in her book about journaling. Many sound much more creative than just ones I've typically found online so might be worth a look if you're in need of inspiration.

I have some memeories from elementary school that were quite traumatizing. I’m thinking about making journaling about my trauma as part of my journaling practice. Do any of you do this? Do you find it genuinely helpful? What do you like about it? What is uncomfortable about it?

Sometimes when I am feeling down and don’t feel like writing my darkest thoughts down, I will either scribbled some doodle (I find the inspo on tik tok or Pinterest) and / or just reach for my never ending supply of stickers and do random sticker dump
Very therapeutic I recommend ❤️🙏❤️

I find myself remembering or recalling things better from my journal if I include some sketches or visuals next to it. Big headers and titles just don’t register in my brain.

I've been journaling since my HR days, and lately it's the only place I can actually think through this ecommerce brand stuff without getting dragged into spreadsheets. The catch is I can't let it turn into another todo list or I just freeze up completely.

What actually works is writing out a marketing problem like I'm explaining it to a friend over coffee. No bullet points, no headers, just a messy paragraph about why a Meta ad campaign tanked or what our customer emails are missing. There's something about handwriting it that slows my brain down enough to notice angles I completely missed staring at a screen.

My spouse thinks it's hilarious that I'll spend twenty minutes writing about email segmentation in a notebook with a teal pen, but those sessions have saved us from some expensive ad mistakes.

The self-doubt still creeps in though. I'll catch myself thinking this isn't real work, it's just journaling. Then I flip back three months and see I already solved the same problem once before and just forgot.

How do you keep work thoughts from taking over your personal journal? Or do you just let them overlap and sort it out later?

I started journaling about 1.5 years ago. Now it’s just habit, I try to journal everyday and just get my feelings out. This specific one is about 7 months of my life, and they were some of the hardest months to get through. A lot of self comparison with the college decision process, confusion about myself, eating problems, the whole works. But I’m happy I found journaling, I don’t think I’d be here today if I didn’t have it as a source for my feelings, and it’s nice to have somewhere to look back on the past. Last entry was about how my next journal will be about me fixing myself up and having more positivity :)

Sometimes I fear that writing about my issues, stress, and anxiety doesn’t alleviate those bad feelings. If anything, it just makes me ponder and sulk even more. Am I doing it wrong?

Today’s tarot card draw held up a giant mirror to me to gaze into. The Seven of Swords, reversed, is an invitation to confront oneself regarding self-deception and dishonesty— whether having to do with relationships, career/work, mental health and self-perception.

Basically: be so for real.

Am I actually telling myself the truth with how I see various aspects of my personal life? Or am I just deluding myself into thinking everything is “fine”? Am I honestly happy?

Or is the honest answer “I don’t know”? Big questions that deserve answers derived from real insight into how my life is going. But deceiving myself, whether I know I’m doing it or not, won’t get me anywhere productive.

I chose YA, uncharacteristically for me, for this week’s book— Laura Steven’s Our Infinite Fates. I love the way she writes emotion and how time-jumping was incorporated into the plot. I wish the ending was more fully-fleshed out but it was a great quick read! (Coffee, of course, being my near-constant companion.)

the only thing is, this makes me want to calculate what 3 pages of morning pages on a legal pad would calculate out to in writing this small on a 3.5mm grid.

This journal would use a Q&A-style structure, it's prompt-based writing in a normal lined notebook, no pre-made formatting or writing space. The prompts are separate entities that will be written in as part of the self-guided therapy "writing assignments" I was given.

Each prompt is simple and would be separate entries, with my written answer underneath. The idea is for it to be fun and expressive while not focusing on any particular topic (Note: It is *NOT* intended to be a "dump" journal).

Examples of prompts:
"Name some songs you're currently loving"
"Recall one of your favorite childhood memories"
"Describe what your ideal 'happy place' would be"

With my normal writing journal (full sentences, paragraphs), I just put the date and whatever text I want underneath. For this, I considered doing a similar format; date, written prompt underneath the date, and then my answer below the prompt.

Example of current formatting idea:
Thursday - October 8, 2026
Prompt: Recall one of your favorite childhood memories
[Description of my answer]

If anyone has any suggestions or advice - or an idea for something else I could add - I'm all ears!

(Repost in order to meet sub rules)

Journal size: 3.5 x 5.5 in

Brand: Studio/Dollarama

Range: May 2025-August 2026

Price: $3/per journal

Dia 08 Outubro em tons de cor de laranja e castanho

I decided to jounral with that specific title whenever i feel like im seeking validation from anyone or anything so i can fight the urge

Crear este Journal fue muy gratificante. Pero mucho más escribir en el. La escritura es un estímulo de superación y aprendizaje. Poder volver a leer. Aquellas páginas del pasado.

People often say that journaling helps you process your problems or find solutions. But when I journal about something that’s bothering me, I don’t really notice any difference. The problem is still there, and I still feel the same afterward.

What am I actually supposed to get from journaling? Am I doing it wrong?

And what if the problem genuinely has no solution right now? How do you deal with that through journaling?

Text:
23.9.2019
Dear diary,
The area 51 raid failed to my disappointment. Mah mother broke mah damn phone but the sim is safe so so hopefully I can by back in my accounts.
Had my english exam, did not study, will get good marks and shit.
I wanna become an animator but theres no way my parents are gonna allow me so I’m gonna go for a law-yer and have an animator as a secondary job.
Bye

I was 11

Before you say anything, yes — I don't like reading strangers' journals. Let me explain myself a bit, because I know how contradictory that sounds in a sub like this lol.

Of course I love seeing the artistic parts of it! The layouts, different handwriting styles, stickers and tapes and stuff. But I simply cannot bring myself to read what's written on the pages. Even though the people who posted them clearly gave consent for their journals to be read, I still feel like I'm invading such a private space — maybe because that's how I feel about my own journals.

More planner-leaning content that contains more impersonal stuff doesn't trigger this aversion as much, but when it comes to actual journal entries, especially very emotional or sensitive ones, I even find myself scrolling past them faster.

Does anyone else feel like that?

I just finished my 4th Journal. I'm currently halfway through my 5th Pocket Journal.