The Dirty Little Secret About Journaling

Like everything else, it’s unhealthy when it becomes an obsession

If you have ever quit an addictive habit, substance, or relationship, you know what happens at some point: the fog starts to clear. Suddenly, and in only small ways at first, you see or experience the world differently.

In the case of removing chemical substances like cigarettes or sugar, there are often sensory indicators that you’ve changed. Maybe your clothes smell different, or the physical signs of cravings lessen or stop.

I quit something 19 days ago: journaling.

Nineteen days later, I’m not free or clear of withdrawal symptoms — I find myself bending the rules here and there, scribbling notes on my sketch pad, jotting down list items on the back of an envelope— but I’m beginning to notice how the practice that started out as a therapeutic tool became obsessive and perhaps even unhealthy.

I journaled every morning. Sometimes also in the afternoon and evening, too, if I had gone through something painful or confusing that day. I quietly praised myself for my commitment, for my loyalty to a morning practice. It wasn't meditation, nor CrossFit, but it was something. Something that I did that others didn’t, for my health.

I started keeping a diary when I was 11. The truth is, I started tracking — the word I use for when journaling becomes obsessive or compulsive — earlier than that in journal-like…