Keep or Destroy Old Journals?
What to do with completed journals? If you’re prolific enough, you may have a stash of journals. Of course, you don’t have to do anything with them if you don’t want to.
If you’ve filled multiple journals with all kinds of stories, thoughts, and dreams, the options for what you can do with them are endless!
You could start by making your time capsule with a few pages from each journal. Make it memorable by collecting specific ticket stubs or creating art inside the covers. Or create a physical scrapbook of all our favorite entries or drawings. You could create an online blog with snippets from them.
It’s a great way to share something meaningful with your friends and family or even to have a form of digital documentation that will last forever. If none of these ideas appeal to you, there’s no pressure to do anything at all–rest assured knowing that however many places they end up, they are prized possessions!
You can keep them, save them, or trash them – it’s up to you. So here are several ideas to get your creative juices flowing about what to do with completed journals.
Keep As a Record of Your Life and Progress
You can always keep your completed journals as a record of your life and progress. Keeping this record of your life allows you to monitor your growth and see how far you’ve come. In addition, they will make a good reference point in the future should you ever need to look back.
Keeping a completed journal is a fantastic way to take inventory and appreciate what you’ve been through. Not only do they make great souvenirs, but they can be used as a reference if needed down the line.
Journals provide a detailed account of what you experienced, the decisions you made, and what that stage of life was like – all of which can become significant later in life. Best of all, you can continue to reflect on your writing and celebrate how far you’ve come!
Review and Reflect on Your Entries
Another option is to review and reflect on your entries after you’ve finished the journal. This can be a great way to learn from your past experiences and see what worked well for you and what didn’t. In addition, it enables you to identify patterns in your behavior or thoughts.
Reviewing and reflecting on what you’ve written in your journals can be a great way to learn and grow after you’ve completed the journal, take some time to look back and evaluate what went well, what didn’t go so well, and what patterns or trends can be seen throughout the entries.
This will allow you to make changes if something isn’t working for you, build on what is working, and find praiseworthy moments worth celebrating. Taking a few minutes to review what you’ve written will undoubtedly prove beneficial in your development journey!
Use as a Prompt for Future Journals
You may also use your completed diaries as a stimulus for future writings. This might be an excellent method to sustain the writing habit and provide you with fresh ideas and themes to write about.
Not only can this help you form the habit of writing regularly, but it can also lead to new ideas and fresh perspectives on topics that interest you. Take advantage of what you’ve learned in your journaling by using those experiences as starting points for more pieces –– what better way to support yourself than by using what’s already inside?
Give to Someone Else
Managing what to do with a completed journal can be incredibly daunting; however, why not share what you have written with someone who may benefit from reading it? This is a great way to connect and reach out to another person.
Part of what makes these stories unique is that they are personal and help people tap into their own experiences. Together, you may be able to bond over what was written in the journal, discovering valuable lessons that will aid both of you along your journey.
Destroy or Discard
You may also erase or trash your diary after you’ve finished using it. This is an acceptable option if you don’t want anyone else reading it or don’t want to keep it. Just ensure you’re doing it for the right reasons and not out of embarrassment or guilt.
If the time comes to put away your journal, it may feel natural to erase what’s written and start over. That’s okay if it’s what you want to do! Erasing or throwing away an old journal is acceptable.
Whatever your reason is, make sure it’s sincere and not because you feel guilty or embarrassed about your words.
Index Them for Future Use
If you want to keep your journals but don’t necessarily want them taking up space on your shelves, you can index them for future use. This means creating a system where you can quickly and easily find specific entries based on keywords or topics. You can then refer to these entries without having to page through the entire journal.
Organizing your old journals isn’t as daunting as it may seem. Indexing them for future use is a great way to keep your journals without sacrificing much-needed shelf space.
How to organize old journals and index them? You’ll first need to decide how deep you want to go into categorizing the entries—do you want to list keywords or topics?
Once that’s fixed, it’s just a matter of sorting the entrances and creating a quick reference file so that finding it will be effortless when you need to look back at one of the entries. In no time, you’ll have an organized s stem for accessing all of your old journals quickly and easily.
Use Them to Help You Write a Memoir
Memoirs allow you to share your story with others and leave a lasting legacy. Just be sure you’re ready to share all information before writing. If you’re particularly reflective, you may want to use your journals to help you write a memoir.
According to an article on Bustle, your journals can be a valuable source for writing a book.
Writing a memoir can be a significant and rewarding experience. Not only will it help you share your s or with others, but it also allows you to leave a lasting legacy. If you’re particularly reflective, what better way to record life events than by turning your completed journals into a memoir?
However, you want to ensure that you are mentally prepared for what comes with writing a memoir. Since memoirs usually require personal information, consider what boundaries you might feel comfortable sharing before delving into the writing process.
Expand On Different Parts of Them
If there are specific entries in your journal that you find particularly interesting or insightful, you may want to expand on them in a separate writing project. This could be a great way to explore your thoughts and feelings in greater depth.
Many of us have asked ourselves what to do with completed journals before. A great answer could be to turn some of your entries into further explorations. That can be a great way to unlock what you felt when you wrote the journal entry and what it’s telling you.
It is a fun project that can be insightful and allow you to dive deeper into your thoughts and feelings. So why not take those inspiring moments from your journaling session and make them into a full-fledged writing project? It’s worth considering.
Conclusion
Completing a journal is exciting, but what happens after that? Deciding what to do with your complete journals can be tricky. You’ll have to consider what each entry contains and determine if it’s something you want to save or something better left shredded.
Some entries may be full of damaging information about yourself or others that would be best shredded; however, other uplifting entries worth sharing could be saved for prosperity. Ultimately, it’s up to you what happens with these private records. Consider all the factors before doing anything!
