Why I'm Getting Rid of My Journals + What I'm Writing Instead

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE, LIKE, and COMMENT!

(The Books for MKs Charity organization had to close in 2020. There are still some older videos asking for donations to the charity, but the charity has closed and is no longer accepting donations. Thank you.)

[EliciaPera]

About 10 years ago, I took my nearly 100 journals and notebooks and scanned them onto a hard drive and shredded them all. The process took approximately 2 years to do. I did it at night when the kids were asleep, when the house was quiet. There are moments of would l have liked to flip through them now, but I I glad I cleansed my life of them. I still have them digitally and it now only takes the space of a single hard drive in my desk.

[TheLibraryOfSarah]

I could never get rid of my journals (as far as I know), but I totally commend you for being honest with yourself and keeping the things that bring you joy and letting go of what no longer serves you! I love your idea to make a bound book of lovely memories, I think this will work well for you because it's like curating just the good stuff!

[dainasworldnumbers]

I shredded all of my journals for the last 12 years. I tried to edit like you did, but it was all too much. So, on a full moon last April they all walked out of my life. I felt nothing but relief, it was a spiritual cleansing for me.

[GaiaNeh]

I've been going in circles with my journals. About a year ago I decided to start typing them all out. I thought maybe it'll be like therapy, to revisit it all. Except... majority of it is pure pain and anger, with hardly any good memories. Anything good is buried away and would take forever to find.
These are journals I've kept for years and years, through the darkest times and through times when I made decisions from a broken place. And I'm so glad I came across your video because I don't think I can sit and revisit all this all in order to preserve my horrible past. The idea was to save it all in a flash drive. Takes less room in my minimalist life, but also... because I'm scared of disappearing. I'm already at a stage in my minimalist journey where I'm ready to downsize to backpack level, ready for this freedom. But I've been stuck and my journals are one big chunk of what I'm still struggling to let go (amongst other things that validate my existence).
You helped me make the decision to lightly go through them, see if there actually is anything worth saving and then have a ritualistic bonfire, where I will burn away a lot of old photos that I wouldn't share with anyone, ever. If I won't share it or feel good looking at them, it's time to let go.
I'm still keeping one of my old journals. I've used it on and off because it's larger than majority of the journals I kept. The smaller ones were easier to carry with me everywhere. So I'll continue with this one when I need to vent, but like you, after a life of journaling, I'm not writing like I used to. I don't need it for I've found peace and other coping mechanism.
Again, so glad I found your video. Thank you!

[barbarahall]

THIS IS GOOD! It's therapy....write down what you feel...then "let it go!" GREAT info! Thank you!

[denverwarresister]

I have a tub of journals spanning the last 45 years. I have felt a need to “do something” with these and move on. I would say mostly my journals were my way to process whatever was going on in my world. This week I randomly chose journals from 7 year spans to read. So far I only want to toss them! I like the photos showing them, I like the idea of cutting out the memories that are special. Not sure I need to work that hard, maybe just need to let go. “Thank you for what you taught me, goodbye.” May decide to shred them for the worms.
Your process is helpful to me.

[bethanienielson]

Been journaling since I was 8 as well as keeping notebooks of spiritual learning, things I’m learning, goals, to do lists, and I’ve kept a lot of my old planners. On top of all of that I have pictures, old programs and mentos from travels, etc. So overwhelming (and has been for years)!! I’ve read Kon Mari’s book and have worked through most of the categories, but this is one I keep getting stuck on- papers and then sentimental journals/pictures. I haven’t been sure where to even start and this has given me some great ideas and motivation to keep going with it!!

[hereweare]

I was watching other videos on how to get rid of old journals. This is, by far, the most honest, straight forward video I've come across. Thank you so much! Others are not as detailed, or they want to come across like an influencer with the editting, the music, the fake lashes, fake nails. One woman commented how much lighter she felt, but she really didn't look that way on her face (maybe she felt that's what her audience would expect her to feel?) Thank you so much! I don't feel so badly about throwing them away. I really like your ideas of putting them in a separate bag, thanking the wisdom. I love that you are 'rewriting the script' to now be in your favor. Wonderful!

[throughtheenchantedportal]

Oh phew! I’m so glad you’re editing and keeping some of the good memories! I was worried you were just going to toss them all. I’m a very forgetful person and I would give anything to have a bunch of journals from the time I was 16 to now. I do have one diary from when I was a teenager and it’s hilarious and I treasure it.

[gracie]

Thank you for your thoughtful presentation of this topic! I’m almost 65 and have a ton of journals... love your ideas 🙏💕

[jasminewhite]

This was definitely confirmation for me. Every point you’ve mentioned i agree with! I’ve been journaling since I was 17 (ironically the age i was in my profile picture) But, i’m now 20 with a total of 6 journals. It’s hard to let go, but it’s also exciting to be open to receive the new! Holding on and looking back is self destructive. They served their purpose, now i’m moving on ❤️

[journalgirl]

I know it’s been four years since you released this. Love the quotes you shared; things I learned from the are…“The important things are few in number and are written into your soul.”; “thank the bad experiences for their lessons and put them behind you”; and also—journal entries serve their purpose simply by being written. I’ve done morning pages-they are a good tool collecting what needed to be written, but not kept. TFS

[claudable]

I have journals that I have not thrown away because of what they have good quotes, drawings, and memories. Your idea of creating a bound book is something I need to think about

[cherrificlife]

So far, I was only able to dispose my first journal. I also wanted to keep some of it but I don't have the energy to rewrite them all so what I did instead was to cut those memorable pages and paste, attach or staple them into a different notebook.

[Raeleen]

I have been contemplating doing this for such a long time… This video is so concise. Thank you so much for sharing this! Such a motivational and transformative video, thank you.

[WildeBookGarden]

That's so funny that Morning Pages are becoming a trend because my acting professor had us do it as part of our class! Idk if it started as an acting exercise though:) My best advice is not to worry about tutorials for them--the whole point is that you DON'T think about what you're writing down. Every day might have a different purpose, and that's okay! Maybe one day you know you need to work through something upsetting, so you write about that for the whole 3 pages. Maybe one day you have nothing to say, so you just ramble about how boring it is to write nonsense! Maybe one day you don't realize what the point of your writing was until you're done, or maybe you still don't see the point of what you wrote. All of those are okay! I was surprised at how it helped even on the days I felt like I wasn't writing anything "meaningful."
Glad you are clearing out some of the bad memories! I also have a fear of forgetting, but I've never been a journaler haha. I think your compromise is a good one! And I totally get you about not wanting to throw them in with all your kitchen trash. Are you going to recycle the paper and just toss the journal itself?

[AmbidextrousCrafter]

Hi! I just saw your video and since it's been quite awhile, I was wondering if you've read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. It's where the Morning and Night Pages originated from and it's basically, word vomit and brain dumping. In the morning so that you have a clearer mind and purpose for your day and a sense of priority as to what needs to be done for that day and again at night to clear your mind for a restful sleep so your mind is not going off on all these different tangents keeping you awake. Since you mentioned that you were simply going to trash any paper or pages you'll be using for Night pages, I was wondering if it would be more beneficial to use a small whiteboard or something like a Boogie Board or even a reusable notebook like the Rocketbook to reduce paper waste? I too am getting overwhelmed with my growing collection of journals and have decided to type them up and create a journal template using Keynote (Powerpoint equivalent) and keep them as a PDF or export them in an eBook format that way if I have to move or disaster strikes, it's way easier to carry a small thumb drive and run than lug around 2+ heavy boxes of journals.

[kailahmom]

This is a very interesting video. I don't think I could ever get rid of my journals. To be honest my favorite things about journals is that i don't have to edit myself. Life is filled with ups and downs and so are my journals. I would get rid of my books before I get rid of my journals. I would definitely rather have bookshelves filled with journals of my own writings than books filled with other people's writings. Do what works best for you. Morning pages is a good idea for when you just want to work through some things and then toss it out. Just buy cheap notebooks for that.

[petebeckett]

i like how you say you've healed and you want to move on. i feel like i need to be loyal to these memories but they're are like a glowing weight emanating something to me - which doesn't feel positive, yet I'm finding it difficult to take the plunge and shred them!

[chaitrinkerin]

I think this is a brilliant idea haha I don't understand why everyone is freaking out. It's the same for me I just wanna keep the stuff that makes me happy to read so I'm very thankful to have found your video and with that a method for editing my journals! They are only 7 or so left since I threw out the rest already but I feel so much lighter already :))) Hopefully will get down to one!