I'm a closet journaler. It's very rare I journal in public or in front of others. Even when I travel I wake up before the day starts or stay up late and cuddle up to my journal alone.
I remember one time I was on my way home from a work trip. I was sitting in one of those stiff uncomfortable airport gate chairs. The ones with a weird slant to the rear so your water bottle keeps rolling back into the crack until you just end up accepting it as a prop for the small of your back.
My mind was filled with a happy memory I wanted to capture so I whipped out my journal and wrote. I don't remember how many pages I filled or what the memory was now, but I distinctly remember when I finished.
I looked up to find the people in the row across from me staring with cautious looks on their faces. I must have been laughing at whatever I was reliving. And not a cute harmless chuckle but the cackling kind because I felt the stretch of my smile go limp like I'd let it roll for too long.
But it's that experience that keeps me from journaling in public. Because I can't risk getting lost in the moment if I'm too expressive when I write. Who knows what could happen based off the tone of my entry. I could subject others to crazy laughter again, ugly crying, angry muttering or worse. And like I tell my family, we don't need fodder for the committal.
Do you journal in public, in private, or mix it up?
Day 9 National Journal Posting Month Complete√
