Staff Pick: Writing in a Journal

Trapped inside as we all are, I have discovered that Netflix and Spotify do not provide for all of my needs. While John Mulaney’s Netflix specials and Dua Lipa’s new album have gotten me pretty far through social distancing I found that writing down my experiences in my journal has been a helpful way to process the impacts of social distancing, rapid change, and the steady stream of bad news that this crisis creates. 

This pandemic is on track to be the public health crisis of the century, a historical event of epic proportions that will have lasting impacts on our society and culture. As always, we are living through history in ways that feel much more salient now than ever. Recording my experiences in real time has given me a chance to reflect on the quiet chaos of the moment, from the rapid changes in what I expected to be a normal senior year experiences to the slow-motion horror I watch unfold on the news every day. Journaling also lets me capture my thoughts for the future, a snapshot of my life in this unprecedented time. When this is all over and we emerge from our isolation we will want a record of how we personally coped with this once in lifetime event that we can look back on. 

It is unlikely that the world that emerges from this period of upheaval will look like the one before it. With so many things changing so quickly and in so many ways I have found great solace in reflecting on my experiences from day to day. I believe that in this moment the mental exercise of writing and reflecting is a powerful tool for maintaining perspective and calm. 

Whether you have a physical paper journal or an app on your phone, whether you want to fill pages with every little detail or just write down the most important events of every day, we have the opportunity to be connected to history and our experiences even as we are physically disconnected from each other. 

To buy a journal for yourself, follow this link:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/gift-home-office/journals/_/N-8qgZ1hg8