Journaling: A Lost Art?

If you ask most people whether they keep a journal, they will probably give you a weird look as if you stepped out of a time machine from the 1800s. But if you ask the typical high schooler or college student whether they keep a blog, they'll probably give you a weird look as if you didn't know that everyone is blogging. What is blogging, anyway? It's a chance for people to record the signficant things that are happening in their lives and the things they think about. Many people also use it to share their perspective on issues in their social, economic, religous, or political circles. This sounds like a journal to me (and often a photo-journal at that). The only difference with blogging is that instead of writing for an audience of one, you have a potential audience of a few billion other people.

Why do we feel compelled to record the significant things in our lives, whether on paper on on a blog? I believe it's because God created us to have significant lives. By nature, we are intended to learn and grow. We are not designed to live meaningless and boring lives. More importantly, as we share the new things that are happening in our lives, we touch the lives of others as well and inspire them to reach for similar levels of significance.

So as you read blogs, don't just look at them as newspaper articles that inform you of facts. Remember that there's a human soul behind the words that you read. That soul may be rejoicing, venting, or even lamenting over something that's a significant part of their lives. Looking at life this way has helped me to see life on a deeper and more meaningful level, and I hope that it does for you too.