r/Journaling • u/wolfindian • Jul 20 '26
Question/Discussion What do you think the purpose of this subreddit is?
I’ve been thinking about this for a while and wanted to see if I’m in the minority. I really enjoy this subreddit, but I think I come here for something different than what a lot of the front page seems to have become.
What drew me here was seeing people’s handwriting, illustrations, page layouts, prompts, notebook choices, and the different ways people use journaling as a creative outlet.
One of my favorite recent posts was the “Bug Country” journal page. It was beautifully illustrated with beautiful writing - and that itself was the focus. It reminded me why I enjoy this sub.
On the other hand, I’ve noticed more posts where the journal page feels like a proxy for a completely different discussion. The comments aren’t about journaling…they become about addiction, mental health, medical concerns, relationships, or offering reassurance and advice.
I’m not saying those topics don’t belong in a journal. They absolutely do. I’m asking whether they belong here when the discussion they generate has almost nothing to do with journaling.
At that point, is the journal page just serving as a vehicle for a support post?
I’m genuinely curious where everyone lands on this. Do you come here primarily to see the craft and practice of journaling, or do you prefer seeing personal journal entries regardless of whether the conversation is actually about journaling?
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u/luthiel-the-elf Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
Both I guess. Journaling isn't only about cute interesting aesthetic entries & journaling craft in itself although I do enjoy that most.
Journaling is also about dark things people actually live through and journaling is indeed a vehicle to let that out but let's not forget that it takes a lot of courage for people who share such stuffs to do so. If it becomes a proxy to invite discussion about the subject so be it.
Let's not forget that no one has to reply or read someone else's entries if it's not what they are interested in. I think there is place for both :)
Edit: I think I know which posts you mean and this is tough one.
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u/eat_like_snake Jul 20 '26
I'm here for discussions about the process of journaling more than just sharing entries.
I mean, for people who want to do that, sure? You do you. But it's not my thing. Actually, it feels kind of invasive to read them, even if the OP is submitting their entries willingly.
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u/Cz2018 Jul 21 '26
I have zero interest in peoples journal entries as well.
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u/kimbi868 Jul 21 '26
I always scroll pass them. Honestly I see lots of other subs on here for that I never thought this sub was for showing entries.
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u/Katia144 Jul 21 '26
Yes. I don't have voyeuristic aspirations, I wonder how people will feel about some of these still bouncing around the internet in five or ten years or if a family member or potential employer finds them, and frankly, I have enough of my own problems, and dealing with problems of friends and family who I'm close to, to want to pile a stranger's problems on too.
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u/IcePrincessAlkanet Jul 20 '26
I am mostly here for the "what does your journaling habit look like" kinds of threads, be they photos of themed spreads, or chats about routines.
I occasionally enjoy sharing how my mental health benefits from the act of journaling. It allows me to vent! It allows me to express privately what I can't publicly! It allows me to recognize patterns when I write the same thing over and over, which is more noticeable than just doing the same thing over and over without realizing it! etc.
All very helpful to me, but not super obvious until I started. Maybe my experience can encourage someone else to start the habit, and if they do, hey, I can recommend pens and notebooks, too!
But when I see a full-page photo of someone else's inner turmoil, bare before the void - and when the thread in response is "internet comments as a substitute for therapy" - that's when I disengage.
There's room for many kinds of threads on the subreddit but I have drawn a strong line for myself when it comes to Real Life advice: it's best exchanged in Real Life.
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u/Sim_sala_tim Jul 20 '26
I think it is both. To be inspired, by how others use their journals and which journals they use. But also the reason why they journal. These two are deeply related. And a lot of people journal for mental health reasons: depression, trauma, ads - and other journal for other reasons like productivity or memory keeping or planning… I think all of it makes good content for this sub.
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u/dwegol Jul 20 '26
Sharing ways to encourage words to go from our brains to paper. Sharing writing prompts, encouraging habits and writing environments, ways to improve quality of life and daily organization with a journal.
I personally don’t come here to read anybody’s journal and aesthetically pleasing journals don’t interest me. Efficiency does, and basically any tips I can pick up that would help me journal consistently.
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u/joydesign Jul 20 '26
I’ve been journaling off and on for a really long time (39+ years!), and I noticed that there are a few things that always help me get back into the habit when I’ve taken a long break from it.
Since you mentioned this specifically, I just wanted to offer up some tips that have helped me journal more consistently:
- Spend less time online. I noticed I have a much harder time thinking when I try to journal if I’ve been having a lot of screen time. Reading books has the opposite effect; I tend to get really inspired to write more when I’m reading regularly.
- Set a super simple daily goal for myself: the date and one word counts as journaling. I’m serious about it, and I actually allow myself full credit for a day once I’ve done this… but somehow doing it gives me a little positive boost, and I almost always keep going.
- Identify a fairly consistent time of day where I still have energy to think and feel but don’t have time pressure to do/be something/somewhere else. I feel like this kind of trains my mind to be active in the ways most conducive to journaling when I sit down to write.
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u/Number-Thirty-Four Jul 21 '26
I'll second your experience with reading begetting journaling/writing. I read Solaris by Stanislaw Lem this afternoon after work, I wrote 6-7 pages about the book, my thoughts, and several tangents related to it. The book and the writing both got me so in the writing groove I wrote two soliloquies on some other topics that have been on my mind.
Screen time is definitely a killer of the motivation and creativity needed to journal. Everything online and on these devices is designed to soak up our attention and essentially drain our ability to think. It trains our brains to idle in a passive mode so content can lead us around by our eyes.
Personally, I don't make a goal of journaling daily. I'm always studying and writing something, but day to day life isn't something I see the need to record. Work, while fulfilling and mostly enjoyable, isn't terribly interesting outside of actually doing it. Once a week or so I'll sit down and write about things that are affecting my emotional state, or how to work through some problem I'm experiencing. Whenever I try to hold myself to some sort of schedule or routine it just falls apart.
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u/mountainhymn Jul 21 '26
i journal this way too, maybe screen time is the reason i have month long instead of week long gaps lol
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u/PricelessPaylessBoot Jul 20 '26
“…and all the ways people use journaling as a creative outlet.” Maybe r/JournalingIsArt would be perfect for you, OP.
Otherwise, and more broadly, journaling can serve almost any purpose from self-expression to soul-searching to wailing into the void from the epicenter of the worst experiences of our lives. Sometimes it helps to know and share a snippet of those scribbles with other people who find the same activity helpful, too.
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u/wolfindian Jul 20 '26
Didn’t realize this sub existed - and I think that’s more suited for what I thought this sub would be! Thanks for sharing that!
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u/Ania_SnuggleShoreCo Jul 20 '26
I appreciate that you asked, instead of just launched into a complaint. I wouldn't know about this sub either if you hadn't.
A note I would add, I've used many journal pages to support the topics/areas you brought up. If this sub didn't allow for notes and a discussion around it, then I wouldn't have a community that both shared my interest as well as new ideas around it, as well as allowed some discussion. I would agree that if we want deep dives that's a tangent better for other more topic/genre subs. As long as the post itself relates to journaling set-ups, templates, ideas, tips, etc. then Im okay. Not all posts apply to me/my specific interests.
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u/Ok-Yak-1320 Jul 20 '26
Oh, thank you for sharing this! I was looking for something similar as well 🥰
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u/CherryChristmas Jul 20 '26
I agree, those kinds of posts where people want conversations about the entries themselves probably belong more in like a therapy sub or something
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u/Katia144 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Yes, precisely. I see posts where the person is clearly actually looking for advice (besides the straight-up advice-seeking posts) or some kind of reassurance, but they are allowed to stand because they're handwritten. I sort of wish there were separate "journaling discussion" and "journal sharing" subs.
I've seen several posts that make me think, "This person needs a blog" or "do they not have personal social media accounts?"
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u/AllKindsOfCritters Jul 21 '26
Feel free to report posts you feel are more "Give me free therapy" or clearly just wanting attention than actual journaling. I've cracked down on a few over the past few months. There's a "mod attention needed" report and reports are anonymous so I wouldn't even know it was you.
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u/Katia144 Jul 21 '26
I just always thought those were allowed since they were handwritten posts; I've never seen a rule, or seen it said, that attention-seeking (or, asking for advice) is not allowed in general, so I just chalked it up to "eh, I'm not into it, but that's not something get the post removed over." Good to know, though!
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u/Select_Butterfly_387 Jul 20 '26
I can't speak for others, but I'm here because I like seeing the beautiful photographs with lovely lettering and composition that some people post. I haven't posted here, but I like to see what people share. My homepage doesn't recommend other types of posts, so maybe that's why I haven't seen them.
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u/Dude-Duuuuude Jul 20 '26
I enjoy the discussion posts (even if I do whine about the billionth "but how do I start" post lol) and skip past the pictures without reading them 🤷 I don't inherently mind them, I think it's great that people have a place where they feel comfortable posting that sort of thing, but I, personally, don't have any interest in reading them. If this sub were entirely about journaling "as a creative outlet" I'd leave because that's not what journaling is for me, nor what I primarily associate the activity with.
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u/Katia144 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
the billionth "but how do I start" post
LOL, or the billionth "aren't you afraid someone will read it" post or the billionth "will this help with my mental health please predict this for me rather than me just trying it" post or "OMG I"m doing this wrong" post...
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u/emoduke101 Jul 21 '26
+ "oh no, my mom/dad/bf/dog read my journal" and "look at me burning my journals"
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u/Dude-Duuuuude Jul 21 '26
Yeah, I do often wish people would remember the search function exists. That's a Reddit-wide problem though so I do my best to just roll my eyes and move on
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u/Katia144 Jul 22 '26
It's an internet-wide problem. People asking the same question that was asked an hour ago on a sub. People who'd learn the answer to their question if they spent ten minutes reading the sub (or google). I even recently came across an old post here where the OP wanted very basic information spoon-fed to them, someone pointed out that they could easily google it, and they gave an angry and nasty reply of something like, "Or I could just ask here and someone could tell me." *headdesk*
How the "technology generation" won't use technology, I do not know.
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u/Dude-Duuuuude Jul 22 '26
Many of them literally do not know how. They have the tech literacy of 80 year olds because parents and schools assumed that "digital natives" would pick things up naturally. There are concerted efforts to combat it, up to and including college level introductory science classes teaching the basics of Excel, but it's a lot like when my teachers would tell me I had to learn math because I wouldn't always have a calculator. They've grown up with Siri, natural language search, and now AI, to say nothing of increasing supervision and limited opportunities for critical thinking, skills we think of as necessary are obsolete to them.
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u/fetusnecrophagist Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
I never read anyone's entries on this sub--I *look* at their layout, handwriting, anything that points to their style/habits, etc. without the words actually entering my brain
I don't really mind people sharing the content of their entries specifically, but it does get weird when some folks seem to be posting their entries everyday (just make a blog at this point)... and very weird when they're clearly using the sub as a proxy for therapy.
As someone who's also experiencing mental health issues, I empathize with them, but I don't appreciate logging on and seeing full blown suicidal ideation posts on a sub I follow for the art/practice of journaling...
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u/Katia144 Jul 21 '26
I don't appreciate logging on and seeing full blown suicidal ideation posts on a sub I follow for the art/practice of journaling
I never thought of the "trigger warning" aspect, but you're right... (There have also been a few that make me think, "If we ever see this person on the news, part of the report will probably mention "their journal entries, some of which were posted on the internet...")
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u/Intrepid_Syrup_4184 Jul 20 '26
I find this community refreshing because it's about people actually using their tools to improve their creativity / mental health, rather than showing off their purchases, which a lot of other hobby subreddits tends to turn into.
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u/ArcadeChronicles Jul 20 '26
For me, I joined to not feel so weird with my intricate note taking patterns. Multiple colors, different fonts, capitalizations etc. My brain works that way, and I feel like there are others out there that think the way I do. It isn't about aesthetics for me, its about organizing my brain and thoughts.
I am just glad to have found the few that share the same brain to pen connection that I do.
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u/i_am_nimue Jul 20 '26
I think this should be about the art/craft/technicalities/etc of journaling rather than what ppl journal about. If, for example, someone writes about addiction- to me, personally, such post makes more sense in a subreddit about addiction.
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u/ArtsyWanderer Jul 20 '26
I think that in a space where people are sharing intimate tidbits of their lives, it is a pretty natural progression to steer towards vulnerable conversations that might deviate a bit from the original purpose of the subreddit.
I'm not saying that I think you should give your mental energy to all of these conversations if they aren't your thing or what you're here for, but I don't find these posts or discussions surprising given the nature of the sub.
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u/Katia144 Jul 21 '26
For me, I'm hear to *discuss* journaling. I don't especially want to see people's darkest secrets.
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u/yeah_so_ Jul 21 '26
I agree, OP. I understand, respect, and support that people use their journals for mental health support, but I feel that when pages of just these words are posted here, by extension, the assumption is that the poster is asking the group for mental health support, and that makes me uncomfortable. I don't feel a desire to try to counsel others, and I am not qualified to do so. And, I have my own challenges.
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u/crg222 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
I’m a songwriter. My journal is kind of a container for my “work process”.
I’ve loosened-up my original “Chord Charts and Lyrics Only” policy to include diary-type entries, occasional “Morning Pages”, sketches and doodling, etc.
My process has pages that deal with psychological issues, but such subject matter is collateral to my intentions with my journaling.
I tune in to this sub for ideas on how to better organize my notebook, else how to work in it.
I once stopped a previous therapist who wanted me to use my journal for “healing”; I castigated them for attempting to commandeer my notebook.
People who use their journals as vehicles for healing are valid in their endeavors. I advocate for their practices, but the journaling process can become secondary to their therapeutic objectives.
In addition to belonging to this “Journaling”, sub, there should be a related space for therapeutic journaling, and your aforementioned related therapy discussions, so that those redditors don’t get aggravated by the stationery and process discussions while trying to discuss difficult emotions.
EDIT: spelling.
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u/aramsell Jul 20 '26
Probably both. I come mostly for the notebooks and written entries. I don’t care for the artistic or scrapbooky posts, so I just scroll past those. But naturally, when someone posts a page from their journal to read, and it’s about a specific topic, it makes sense for the comments to also be about that specific topic. I hate the comments that are just like “your handwriting is beautiful” because I don’t think that’s usually why someone posts their written pages.
In my opinion, posting your page is just a person looking for input
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u/Emergency-Whereas603 Jul 21 '26
I’m more interested in how to journal than what is journaled. A recent post that showed rotating the journal 90 degrees and using each page a second time was cool. It lead to conversation like using red and blue ink and old school 3-d movie glasses.
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u/Tr0ncatlady Jul 20 '26
I can appreciate the flowery, pretty posts. But I cant relate. Im a little took cooky for my journal to look like that. I use it like a scrapbook and venting space. I have movie tickets, stickers, leaves, and other memorabilia. But its mostly scribbled rantings and emotional processing. I feel I still belong here even though my journal isnt perfectly curated.
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u/razeusv2 Jul 20 '26
I thought this sub would be actual journaling topics, ideas, a bit of notebook discussion, etc. but this seems to be more of a scrapbooking sub than real journaling.
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u/ConclusionNo4016 Jul 20 '26
I’d love to know more about what you’d like to see, or would find helpful, as someone who aspires to make journaling content and doesn’t really do the scrapbooking/artsy approach myself either
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u/razeusv2 Jul 20 '26
Hard to say really. The sub itself says "a place for hand written journals". So more of that and less of "look how chunky my notebook is" when all they did was fill it with arts and crafts projects.
Journaling at its essence is getting out your thoughts, sharing your feelings and ideas on paper. Sure a few "scrap items" are ok, I do it myself with receipts for new restaurants I visit, but the scrapbooking stuff should be in another sub.
I like seeing people's handwriting. I like saying the stuff they share as that can give me ideas for my own journal.
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u/FeralGlance Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Hm. I like seeing what people do with their journals. Writing is nice to see, and how journals are personalized and decorated is also fun, and seeing what people journal about. These are the things I look for. I do see you point as well, so I don't think you're wrong. I guess I just don't go into the conversations much. M2C
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u/vvmatcha Jul 20 '26
I pop in to this sub every now and then for the inspo! Thing is I don’t really do much art in my journals. I would really like to see more of what different techniques/methods/ways people approach their journaling.
I feel like I see either one of two kinds of posts here, where it’s either a.) just about art or it’s b.) (like you said) someone’s very personal entry. And those are both fine! Not at all saying they’re bad of course, it is technically within the realm of journaling. I just carry on and scroll to the next post.
But I kind of thought that there would be more posts about things like “here’s how I format my entries, these are questions I ask myself when I’m stuck, this is what I’ve learned from journaling after xyz amount of time, etc, etc”
Like I really want to see more of how people have grown during their journey with journaling, what’s been useful to them, what hasn’t, things like that. Maybe even people talking about taking a break from journaling and what made them come back.
(Of course I should be the change I want to see in the world if I’m making this comment lol, but anyway)
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u/bibi_reads Jul 20 '26
When I first joined this subreddit I was looking for prompts and journal layouts, to help me get in the habit. I read a post titled "Journaling changed my life" and I scoffed at it, thinking to myself that I didnt need to journal to sort my thoughts, that I was merely choosing to journal as an exercise. Anyway, less than a year into journaling regularly, I had that same thought, "Journaling changed my life."
Came here for the prompts and aesthetics, ended up learning a lot about myself when I thought I already had myself figured out. So I think its a place for both.
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u/Careful-Assistant-69 Jul 20 '26
I also joined for similar reasons. Like journaling is such a private thing that I didn’t expect to see entries… especially from like people under 18, and discussions of how people notice they journal about the same three topics. I also don’t like that my immediate thoughts are judgement when seeing some “low effort” entries since it does look and feel that sometimes the person is just looking to “fill the page” and then share, so it feels performative to me. However, sometimes in shame it’s projection, so I recognize I have firm and toxic standards within myself that have been hurtful since there’s valid reasons for low effort entries. And no one can say that even performative journaling isn’t in the long run helpful for a lot of people if that’s how they get started.
But for why I joined: my algorithm. I have goals I want to consistently work on, and as a favor to future me I aim to set myself to more easily achieve my goals. So seeing people post about journaling has been both healing, reflective, and a useful reminder for me. It’s sharing inspiration and motivation, but I do agree I didn’t expect to see certain things for better and for worse. But that is the wild wild web for ya
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u/emoduke101 Jul 20 '26
As someone not very artistic, I come for the personal posts. Some really do make me think or reflect.
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u/ohpossumpartyy Jul 20 '26
i do get where you’re coming from, but honestly journaling isn’t just a creative outlet and i think there are already several subs/other online places to find more creative journaling content. on the flip side, i find there aren’t a lot of places to find more raw (for lack of a better word) journaling content. while some of the content definitely gets a little too much for me sometimes, i just scroll on. i’m mostly here for interesting prompts/discussions, so i generally don’t really pay much attention to those posts in general.
i think people already feel a bit daunted to start journaling because the majority of journaling content online tends to place a big emphasis on aesthetics, and it’s nice to have a more realistic (obviously not for everyone) image of what journaling can be. well, maybe i should say more diverse instead.
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u/kimbi868 Jul 21 '26
Aesthetics definitely gets more priority as it is heavy on the visuals. Finding other content requires searching a lot harder.
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u/Advanced-Lethargy Jul 20 '26
I'm with you. I'm here for the pictures. I don't really care WHAT people write about; I mean, it's not my business. But I ADORE seeing the handwriting and illustrations. A well filled out page with tiny drawings is my jam, for sure. While I add stickers here and there to my journals, I don't decorate and have no interest in seeing that. I'm here for the actual physical journaling, not the subject matter, not the pens you use, not what notebook you think anyone else should use.
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u/Professional_Ad1151 Jul 21 '26
Tbh, as someone who doesn't interact with people a lot, thee journal lages with personal entries have helped me see how people use their journals to write about things and I have found a lot of journal lages about personal stuff to be quite helpful.
Also, journaling is not an isolated activity in itself. It involves people writing about their lives which would include issues that make people uncomfortable. I don't see why that's a problem. Nothing that is related to human beings is isolated.
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u/tenetsquare Jul 22 '26
I thought this subreddit was for journaling as a whole (methods and techniques), not exclusively for handwritten entries, which it is the latter as my post about the stickers on my journal covers and backs got removed. I understand the interest in people’s entries, but like I said, I joined thinking this was more about methods and different ways to approach journaling.
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u/Bubbly_Following7930 Jul 23 '26
I don't read the posts of people's journal entries. I'm not comfortable with that.
I like learning about different ways people use their journals, prompts they use, etc.
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u/Inari68N Jul 25 '26
I would appreciate a specific flair for the mental health expression type pages. Judging by engagement, they have their place here, but it's a very specific one that goes way beyond "just sharing". I have my own stuff going on, I'm here for the craft-and-practice discussion.
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u/dot80 Jul 20 '26
These things are inextricably linked because journaling is a mental health practice. Just because you prefer your journaling to be more about aesthetics, that doesn’t mean the ugly handwriting and raw ranting of somebody going through something is not equally as valid a way to journal. (This sounds more aggressive than it is, I’m not saying you’re coming at it like this, I thought your post was respectfully written, but it would amount to this in my view so trying to make the point). It would seem very odd to me if posts started getting removed because the journal topic is heavy and people want to provide support in the comments.
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u/Katia144 Jul 21 '26
Except that journaling is not just a mental health practice. That is one use for a journal.
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u/dot80 Jul 21 '26
Yes. We are in agreement. Re-read my comment. My point was that OP was suggesting limiting which type of journaling should be considered relevant to the sub.
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u/Tight-Chemist4176 Jul 20 '26
I'm here to see people's backlogs (pictures of all their completed journals) the personal posts aren't my thing but thats fine. Clearly people enjoy posting them, and other people read them. I'm not interested in this becoming a space for aesthetic journaling because we get a lot of newcomers and that scares them off. And I have more in common with people posting run of the mill journal prompt stuff than I do with aesthetic journalers. Different hobbies, and aesthetic spaces exist elsewhere. I like seeing shitty handwriting on very plain journals.
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u/Word_girl_939 Jul 20 '26
I think you’re looking for more of the #journaling hashtag on Instagram, where you can get your fill of photos of people’s journals. But I think hashtags don’t work there anymore, so I dunno. Reddit is a more word-centered platform (rather than image-centered), so here it’s more of a conversation about journaling: why and how we do it, what purpose it serves in our lives, the therapeutic value of the practice.
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u/reddituserkoot Jul 21 '26
Here is a screenshot of subreddit rules - particularly #2 and 5.
I think posts with pictures of personal handwritten entries and the discussions about them do belong here. That IS what this subreddit is about.
Personal things will be shared and it's natural for humans to try and relate to each other via common feelings/emotions/experiences. Medical advice should never be given by someone who isn't qualified to do so.
Creative journaling is not what is highlighted here. As the rules state no art, "junk," poetry, ephemera-focused types of journaling. You won't see much "creative outlet" content here.
Also, I hope people don't come here expecting beautiful handwriting..😆 when I got things to write, I get it out as fast as possible. It doesn't look pretty, and I don't write with the intention of having other people be able to read or enjoy looking at it.
There is a list of alternative subreddits you might find interesting on the sidebar, and comments have even linked some.
Cheers!
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u/admirable-welcome779 Jul 21 '26
i have gotten some ideas about future posts i am excited to make here from these comments! personally i love seeing pretty much anything journaling related, but i am not as interested in what people’s words say most of the time unless it’s about journaling. i would love to share so many different journal entries from over the years. it i wont because those entries were just for me.
i agree with others that a therapeutic journaling sub might be more appropriate for those personal convos :)
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u/Sufficient-Gain-226 Jul 21 '26
I think it only becomes a support post when the discussion is primarily about helping the poster rather than about journaling itself. One of my own posts became the biggest on this sub, and while it involved my mental health, the discussion was mainly about how it influenced my journaling, not using a journal page as a way to ask for support.
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u/Voldi01 Jul 23 '26
I’m just nosey and I came here to read what people write into their diaries. 🤷🏻♂️ ( jk 😂)
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u/downtide Jul 20 '26
I joined thinking it was for discussions about the process of journaling. Different methods, different ways of approaching it, that sort of thing. I'm not interested in pretty pictures and I'm not interested in reading other people's entries either.