I've started many times and procrastinated just as many times when it came to beginning my own blog. It always seemed to me that people should receive information that adds value to their daily lives, rather than experiencing feelings of emptiness and regret about wasted time, as often happens to me at the end of reading many blogs...
I'll write about why everyone should start their own journal: whether it's simply notes in a notebook or an online format! I hope you'll be able to learn from my mistakes .
(just don't forget that I, like you, am only beginning - let's call this test #1)
Briefly, how I started "Mark Twain-ing"
During my school years, when everything in the world felt overwhelming, I decided I'd make an excellent writer (though I was never much of a grammarian). I admired the lifestyle of writers, at least the one shown to me by films and media. So, after the movie "Secret Window" 2004, I gained a short-lived hobby and a lifelong favorite author (Stephen King). Most importantly, I started writing everything down and sketching.
**What this led to**
Today I write down everything that comes to mind, all ideas that might be useful in the future! And it doesn't matter if at the moment of writing I don't know how to use them.
You could call this process idea cartography. At the end of the week, you can go through all the notes and sketches and understand what kind of week it really was. This brings awareness and provides an opportunity to acquire some navigation.
Re-reading your own notes improves self-understanding. I especially notice this when I find old entries and remember what I was going through at that time and what values guided me. Understanding yourself also helps in understanding others - all of this develops your emotional intelligence.
Very often, when writing something down, you create a stronger connection between your idea and your brain, forcing it to work in the right direction.
A few years ago, I developed a small tradition - writing down my plans for the day in the morning. During the day - jotting down ideas that chaotically come to mind, and in the evening some conclusions or additions to what's already there. Unconsciously, I began to discipline myself and became slightly more organized (here "slightly" is already good). Habits are like muscles - the more you develop them, the stronger they become rooted and the less energy they require.
In difficult moments, when the solution to a problem isn't obvious, I write out the problem, breaking it down into small parts. Writing helps understand what the essence is. Only recently did I learn that this is a recognized method for solving emotional and psychological problems. (Dr. James Pennebaker)
Before important moments, entries about positive experiences helped me gain self-confidence, as the brain re-experiences positive emotions. This can be compared to a kind of self-support.
While writing this, I had a thought that all these lines written above remain. When we read books, we learn about others' stories, their character, ideas, adventures, and habits. We dedicate time and energy to reading so that after 500 pages we can find out how the story ends. Sometimes after reading, the thought slips through that no one will ever write about us like that. No one! except ourselves! All our entries are that thick manuscript of our life, which, if you want, you can preserve for your children. When I find old notebooks of my father or grandfather, it always sparks intense interest. Even my entries from five years ago, which I completely forgot about, can amaze me - how interesting, absurd, or innovative they were at that time.