Say it ain’t so, but it’s very much true. As of yesterday, I’ve been writing in journals for 20 whole years.
When I first started writing in that initial journal all those years ago, I never thought about exactly how long this would go for, how much I would capture, and how much this practice would become so embedded in my everyday life. The thought of writing in journals for 20 years was never a thought that crossed my mind either. And yet, here we are.
That’s not to say it hasn’t been easy, and I’m not just talking about writing some of the harder moments of my life so far. There were times where I thought I would fall off the journaling train altogether, like in the first year when I suddenly stopped for several months without explanation, and also in high school when I hardly wrote as much during my sophomore year due to being so depressed. I also didn’t make it easy on myself by writing in multiple journals at once for the longest period of time – sometimes to the point where I would write in a journal once day a week, just to keep up with them all. Despite these setbacks (and self-imposed challenges), I persevered and am proud to say now, at my 59th journal, I’m consistent with how often I write and I only do one journal at a time.
I’ve never made any of my writings from my journals available to the public before, but without revealing too much, what I will say for now is that I’m currently working on a collaboration with a friend that will actually dive into that, to mark this anniversary. In the meantime, I relish in this reality I created for myself which is that I’ve been writing in journals for the past two decades, and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon.
If you are able to, I hope you can go support me in all that I do by leaving a tip over on Ko-fi. I do a lot of writing that I get paid very little for or not at all, and so this is a way of showing your support other than just reading my content. Donations of varying quantities and frequencies are greatly appreciated.
Lola By The Bay 
Whoa, twenty years of journalling is on another level indeed. I’ve maintained my daily practice for a few years now, and I trawl the journalling subreddits often, but boy this looks amazing. Thanks so much for the share!