I have been journaling for almost 50 years and…
Wait a minute. What absolute non-sense did I just wrote there? I have been journaling for how long? Almost fifty years? Fifty effing years? LOL. No way. I’m not that old. No, I am… That’s a lie! I am…
(Here, we should listen to some relaxing music while we let my poor brain process the fact that, indeed, I started journaling as a little 7-year old boy and that was almost 50 years ago. That may take a while, feel free to check your inbox or your TikTok while waiting.)
So, what was I saying? Oh, yes that I have been journaling for a certain time which makes it quite realistic to say that I have used many of the journaling medium one can think of.
Ranging from the good old pen and paper to whatever digital tool one can think of (from the desktop, to the smartphone, including various PDA, laptops, tablets). I have also typed my journal in various word processors and text editors, in various journaling apps, even in… spreadsheets or in a real database. I have also used a blog . Cassette and digital recorders. I even used my grand-father’s typewriter, the wonderful Olympia SG1. Heck, back in my thirties, I learned bookbinding (and to use a traditional press) so I could make my own journals with my choice of paper.
Despite that, I don’t think there is such a thing as ‘the right way’ to keep a journal or a better way to do it. There are ways that work better, for each one of us. Obviously, I have my preferences but they’re just that: preferences.
I like the freedom a paper journal gives me. I like how I can doodle in it, and have fun with page layout or lettering, taping, stapling or gluing stuff on the page too. I like how I can change ink in my fountain pen and expriment with different types of papers. I also like that I am not tied to any app or devise. I like how cheap it can be too. And I like that, privacy-wise, neither the maker of my fountain pen or of my notebook can read what I am writing — unlike what may happen with a digital journal.
But I also like the comfort and peace of mind digital is giving me. The ease of using my phone and its portability. I like being able to instantly find any content, and to have it backed up on some cloud.
That said, very recently, I decided to switch back to a full analog journal. Why? Mostly, because of privacy concern.
I used to use DayOne (and I loved it) but what follows can be said for most if not all apps/services.
For quite a few years already, I had started worrying about the lack of privacy. My journal contains my most intimate thoughts, no one but me should be able to read it. I mean, I would not care if my spouse was to read my journal (she would never, we trust each other like that, but if she was to ever do it I would not care). It’s just that nobody else should be allowed to.
So, when I heard the devs at DayOne consider adding an AI-assistant in their app (it was around the same time Apple announced their own AI-powered journaling app), I realized the future of my journal could not be digital. If I can still vaguely trust human developers to be… reasonable, AI has been created to read through text and to process it. So, that day, after 15 or 16 years (?) using Day One I downloaded a PDF of my journal and deleted all my data from their servers and I switched back to pen and paper (I kept my DO account because it was grandfathered many, many years ago when they introduced their subscription model and I never had to pay that sub. So, even though I doubt it, if one day things change back I may want to use it again).
BTW, that’s similar doubts that pushed me to come back to using a paper agenda and the reason why I quit reading ebooks for printed books, as I explain on my blog: Am I Reading That Ebook or Am I Being Read by That Ebook? & Who Owns the Ebook I Purchase?
Since the, I sometimes miss some of the comfort of a digital journal, but I have so much fun sketching and having, well, fun in my paper journal that I simply don’t care.
I also devised working solutions as far as searching and backup are concerned, but that could be another discussion, if anyone is interested?
What about you? Are you analog or digital or, like I was up until very recently, are you ok with mixing both?
Do you think I’m a moron I’m being a bit excessive in giving up on digital in the name of privacy? (As a matter of fact, if my paper journal was to be stolen, that person would be able to read it and to share its content with anyone, right? Isn’t that a worse situation?)
What do you think?
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I’m an analog man in a digital world. I’m gonna find me an analog girl, who loves me for what I am, I’m an analog man.
I’m an analog man in a digital world. I’m gonna find me an analog girl, who loves me for what I am, I’m an analog man.
:)
What’s that music I got playing in my head?
I prefer analog personally. In the past I used a simple five star spiral notebook (I don’t know the exact size now, it was about the size of a composition notebook). And now I’m using a moleskine style exeed notebook from walmart for actual long form journaling. Fancy I know! I also carry a rite in the rain notebook for work as a perpetual to-do list and quick reference.
I like analog because in a world of screens it just feels nice, like a paper book. People have written things on paper since ancient times so to me documenting my own trivial personal history in a similar way has a cool factor to it. I write more for myself than anyone but I always thought it would be cool if someone found my journal and found it even mildly interesting. Whether or not anyone could actually read half of it is another story!
I like that it can’t be hacked or tracked, show me ads or ask for subscriptions. I can use it when there is no wifi or when the power is out. If I do my part it very well could last longer than the same info stored digitally. The format standards aren’t going to change. I don’t need to keep anything up to date. Now maybe I’ll scan my paper stuff into a pdf or something, just in case. As far as privacy if a person finds my journal they need to get to its actual physical location so it’s more difficult and odds are it’s someone I already know, which seems better than some random hacker or malware compromising it.
BUT digital is very convenient. I have a phone almost all the time! I keep a bunch of notes of recommended shows and movies. I use OSMand to keep offline maps I’ve marked with all the places I’ve been over the years. Thanks to library supported apps like libby I’ve read more now than I have in a long time. And I love that!
But as for actual journaling as most people define it anaolog remains my go-to
I like analog because in a world of screens it just feels nice
I could have said exactly that too, it’s so true. Thx for reminding me how important this is :)
The same goes, for me at least, with reading books. I mean, I have no issue with ebooks at all, I had been reading ebooks almost exclusively since I got them available on my PDA (somewhere back in the early 00s, I reckon), they were too practical to not use them. But thinking hard about it they were also an endless list of file names on my computer screen or on my e-reader.
I am trying right now and I just can’t remember any precious reading moment I had on my Kindle or whatever else device I have used along the years. I remember reading great and very memorable ebooks, obviously a book is great no matter how it is read, but I can’t remember any feeling or special emotion while I was reading them and holding them. That was just a screen I was reading…
Maybe it’s just me? But it feels like I have no ‘sweet memories’ like I have with some of the printed books I have read, as an adult and as a child :)
I like that it can’t be hacked or tracked, show me ads or ask for subscriptions.
Yeah, for me this has a been a long lasting issue. I remember, that was well over a decade ago when Amazon deleted a copy of 1984 from some of their customers’ Kindle, I started wondering it ebooks were a viable long-term solution. And that very day, as reaction against amazon, I decided to… order a second Kindle from them so I could transform the one I already had into an 100% offline one that Amazon would never get access to ever again. I was that much into ebooks that it did not even occur to me that I could simply quit reading ebooks, at least ebooks sold with DRM.
I am happy having started to read printed books again, it feels good. Not only to read like printed pages but also to know that no one can enter my home to remove any book I purchased from my bookshelves. Or try to modify/rewrite it, because someone somewhere would have decided it was not politically correct anymore the way it was written.
I journal sporadically on standard notes, it seems pretty secure for my needs. My main worry is that it may disappear one day.
Before that I journaled on a txt my computer, but sometimes it was a bit tedious.
I also have some journal notebooks that I use when it’s more to drop some ideas on paper, so that I can visualize them better or check them up in a couple months or years. This are really small notebooks so it’s usually very brief.
Standard Notes is nice I have not yet tried their paid plans, I’m waiting to see what Proton will offer to their Proton users (I’m one) as they recently have purchased Standard Notes. I’m hoping for them to integrate it with their other apps/services.
Before that I journaled on a txt my computer, but sometimes it was a bit tedious.
Yeah, the strength of txt is that it’s 100% compatible with any machine, and almost unbreakable, which is great but then you’re on your own and you may not have all the more advanced or fancy features you may wish, or not natively.
I also have some journal notebooks that I use when it’s more to drop some ideas on paper, so that I can visualize them better
Visualization is so important. That’s one of the reason I still prefer to use my analog ‘zettelkasten’ (an index card system to store ideas/notes) instead of using a digital one and a dedicated app like Obsidian or whatever. Despite all the hype around the digital zettelkasten it just don’t click with me. One of the reasons why is that I can easily spread my old-fashioned index cards on one or more tables, and freely move and reorganize them. Something I simply cannot do with text files on a screen, no matter how feature-packed the app is.
This are really small notebooks so it’s usually very brief.
That could be worth discussing too: how the format of a notebook/sheet of paper. The next post I was preparing for the community is about picking up the ‘best’ writing tool (and why there is not a single one), I may add some remarks regarding notebooks too :)
