Diary

Statue of Leonardo da Vinci in Tuscany, Italy.

Leonardo da Vinci practiced journaling.

A diary is a written and/or audiovisual memorabilic record with entries organized by date. The process of maintaining a diary is referred to as journaling. According to Sarah Bence, OTR/L, "Journaling as a therapeutic activity is different than keeping a diary."

Benefits of journaling

• It improves self-distancing, self-awareness and mindfulness. Self-distancing is one's ability to reflect on past events/emotions as an objective observer. This improves one's ability to break away from a nonstop cycle of obsessive thinking and brooding.

• Improves one's awareness, perception and understanding of the relevance of events (Creating coherent narratives of what has happened, etc.).

• It encourages goal setting and the achievement of goals. Journaling helps one categorize things one writes in a journal as important (Important enough to write down). This helps also assist a person to be more receptive to opportunities that cause goal fulfillment. In addition, it reinforces one's awareness of goal tracking in terms of the degree that one accomplishes goals.

• It helps manage stress, anxiety, and depression and the physical illness that they may cause. Reflecting on stressful events helps one think more constructively/positively on the events plus helps one emotionally vent (For example, focus more on problem solving or focusing on better ways to mentally cope such as practicing mental toughness or psychological resilience). Studies indicates that time spent journaling about one's deepest thoughts and feelings reduces the number of sick days that people take off work (Sohal, Singh, Dhillon & Gill, 2022).

• Gratitude journaling helps increase positive thinking by helping people focus more on the positive aspects of life via capturing situations, events, and interactions for which they are grateful.

• Increase one's confidence and self-esteem. PsychAlive.com reports: "Since you’re writing down your thoughts and feelings, both positive and negative, you’ll be so much more mindful of how you react and deal with certain situations. Not only can this help you to become the person you want to be, but it can also improve your self-confidence and your self-esteem, which can lead to more happiness."

Famous journalers

Famous journalers include: Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, George Sand, Virginia Woolf, John D. Rockefeller, Anne Frank, Louisa May Alcott, Bob Dylan, Dorothy Day, George Patton, Buckminster Fuller and Marcus Aurelius.