Figuring It Out, A Sentence At A Time

"I don't know what I think until I write about it."  - Joan Didion

Though most are not as pithy as Joan Didion, many people I've known who keep a journal (nee diary) - no matter how erratically - share her view on the value of writing.

My brief Internet search didn't point me to any reliable estimates about the percentage of people who do journal, but there is a fair body of research outlining the benefits of doing so. I don't need that research to know how much more difficult my lowest periods would have been had I never begun a journal. What has been your experience? How much does your writing help your thinking?

I never suspected blogging would supersede my need to keep a journal. I knew I'd still need a place to wallow in self-pity periodically as well as to privately scribble my impressions of people, familiar and new to me. But I have been surprised the number of journal entries I make has not diminished much over these five and a half years - figuring out what I think, a sentence at a time.