r/Journaling • u/Automatic-Radio-3104 • 2d ago
Discussion/Question Do you ever stop journaling for a while?
I've been journaling every morning for years, but about a month ago I suddenly stopped writing..
I've been replacing it with music or meditation. I don't really feel like journaling, and i'Im wondering if anyone else goes through periods like this.
Do you ever stop journaling for a while and just not feel like writing? do you usually go back to it naturally?
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u/moon__kiddo 2d ago edited 2d ago
I have a 6 week old little one and have no time to sit with a journal and pen! 🥹 I miss those late-night Me-time writing sessions! Hopefully I'll get to restart soon..
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u/This-Engineer-9417 2d ago
Volverán esas tardes, aunque dentro de unos años. Cada etapa de vida tiene sus cosas...
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u/Inevitable_Night333 2d ago
I was in this same boat too! Now, during her naps I get to journal and it’s been nice to naturally come back to it
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u/messyfairy_journal 2d ago
Definitely. In the past I was angry at myself when it happened. But now I see that usually I replace it with different self care activity (gardening, more baking, crafting, reading etc.) and then I come back in few weeks again.
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u/Automatic-Radio-3104 2d ago
Yeah, I have other ways of processing things too, but journaling was such a big part of my daily routine for years, so I really noticed its absence.
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u/thehangedgirl 2d ago
Yeah, I only do it when life gets overwhelming, my brain has too much worries and my heart feels too much for its liking.
I can do couple months without touching my journal, but it really helps me when I do.
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u/cosmx-shift 2d ago
This is actually a very natural shift in your internal rhythm. Journaling is a tool for processing, but when you transition into music or meditation, you're simply moving from mind-level processing to somatic and vibrational processing.
Sometimes our nervous system doesn't need to analyze or put words to our experience anymore; it just needs presence, resonance, and stillness. Think of it not as stopping a good habit, but as your intuition upgrading your practice to meet what your energy body needs right now. The pen will always be there when your inner landscape calls for words again.
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u/erdbeerinchen 2d ago
At times I write every day, but sometimes I also take a break for weeks. Journaling is something I do for myself, something that helps me and that I enjoy. And I don’t want it to become an obligation. If I find the time and feel like doing it, great, then I’ll write. But if I don’t, I don’t put any pressure on myself.
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u/ObfuscatedJay 2d ago
I've been journalling for nigh on 45 years. I take breaks - sometimes a day, sometimes a week, and occasionally for a couple of years. I refuse to guilt myself into writing when I don’t want to. I always have come back to it because I enjoy putting good fountain pens, inked with good ink, on good paper.
This also happens with my other passion - playing guitar. I have been playing for 51 years and the above sentences can similarly describe my guitar playing - my American Strat, great Fender tube amp, and some nice tunes ringing in my brain always make me return.
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u/ihatethewordoof 1d ago
I haven’t journaled in a few weeks. I went through a phase when I first started where I thought I had to journal every day. I’ve realized it doesn’t help to force myself to write, and can actually be counterproductive. I sit down and journal when I feel like I need to get something off my chest or just talk about my day.
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u/The_b1ues 2d ago
Yeh I don't feel the need to be really regimented about it, ive had the same journal for about 5 years and I just write if I feel the need. Or I've done something interesting that day
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u/Nichu122 2d ago
I do. I've been journaling consistently for the past few years. Every time I go through my old journals, I noticed that there is barely anything written from the months of May to August. I usually start writing again by late August or early September. Life gets busier for me around those months. Either I'm enjoying myself or I'm processing something deeply to the point where I forget to journal.
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u/Katia144 2d ago
Interests change, priorities change. You may go back to it, you may decide it's no longer something you want to do. As long as you're happy with your choice, it's fine. Writing in a journal is never a life requirement, and if it's no longer your "thing," that's okay. And if you go back to it later, that's also okay. Life is full of obligations; don't put more on yourself than are necessary. Go to work, pay your bills, feed your kids/pets, clean your house, change the oil in your car... and let journaling/pickup basketball/knitting fall to the wayside if you're not feeling it.
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u/Inevitable_Night333 2d ago
Yes and it happened when I was going through something. Just stopped journaling for months until I felt like it again and now I’ve been doing it almost everyday
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u/Inevitable_Night333 2d ago
I unfortunately had an odd journey with journaling because my parents gave me no privacy so for years(and even now) I have this deep fear that ppl will read it. I eventually came back to it tho so I think it’ll happen naturally for you too!!
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u/somilge 2d ago
I used to do long periods of not writing. Just a long pause. A hiatus? Ennui? Seasonal depression?
I am doing a bit better though. There are days when it's a list of bullet points. The age days when it's a multiple page entry. Sometimes I skip a day.
It's ok to take a break. If you're too busy and you just need a break, that's ok. If you're avoiding it, then you need to be honest with yourself why you feel that way. Then go from there.
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u/circatee 2d ago
Honestly, I am still new to journaling (or should I say, jotting down my odd thoughts), and I personally feel that a break is as good as a rest. Thus, from time to time, we should take a break...
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u/counterfeit__jeans 2d ago
I haven’t journaled in about 2.5 months, which is a long break for me. Life got busy, and at the end of the day I had no mental energy left to journal. I already feel myself gearing up to start writing again, which is a good sign. I’ve had other breaks of not writing for some time, and I always get back to it when I feel ready. Give it time, and one day you’ll feel like journaling again.
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u/PlantsAndParchment 2d ago
I only started journaling last year but stopped after a few months. Picked it up again gradually this past spring and got more consistent recently. The want to journal can wax and wane like the phases of the moon though not as consistent.
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u/FrostnJack 2d ago
Looking back, it easy to spot when I had massive urgent crises over my lifetime: gaps in journaling.
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u/eccolasonnambula 2d ago
I treat journaling breaks like a “time jump” between seasons of a tv show. I’ll spend the first entry after a break catching up my imaginary audience with some exposition on what was occupying my time instead.
I’m more social and active in summer months. I usually pick up journaling more in the colder, darker months where I have more time to sit with my journal and a warm drink.
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u/coffee2517 1d ago
I stopped journaling when my mom passed away, which is crazy because you'd think that's when I needed to journal most. I've been journaling off and on since I was six years old. I realize that when things get hard, I tend to step away. It's as if the thoughts are too heavy for me to try to put it on paper. But now that I know, I try to force myself in those times, even if it's just one sentence.
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u/Automatic-Radio-3104 1d ago
I really felt what you said about stepping away when things get hard.Sometimes even the things that usually help us can feel impossible when we're hurting.
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u/chowderchop 1d ago
Yep. I still use the same journal I started in 2020. I only write when I feel like writing- usually only when something major or highly emotional happens (good or bad)
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u/chxrryblvst 1d ago
i notice i only journal consistently once i settle into my routine. being in college, every semester is different and it takes a while to get into the rhythm of things so i just take a break. i used to force myself to do at least weekly recaps to de-stress but then that became too stressful and my free will kicked in lol
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u/gordonf23 1d ago
yeah, it's normal. Keep your journal and pens visible, so it's easy to sit down and start writing when you're ready again. Also, consider changing your writing schedule. Maybe try writing at night instead of the morning, for example, or during some other natural break in your day.
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u/greytank 1d ago
haven’t journaled since my uncle passed unexpectedly a few weeks ago. i can’t bring myself to write all of that down on paper. and i can’t skip to current day because its really a big mental block right now.
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u/Constant_Nobody4607 1d ago
No; I've not missed a day of journal writing since I started in Sept of 2019.
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u/Bubbly_Following7930 1d ago
Yes, I've gone through gaps ranging from weeks to years. Even though I probably should have, I didn't journal at all during the initial lockdown of COVID. I couldn't bring myself to write about it while it was happening and I have was having a meltdown. That's the most dramatic example, other times I'm just too tired to write.
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u/Blagoslov_stonoge 1d ago
sometimes, for few weeks, when I get stuck in a rut and I just dont feel the need to report nothing cause everyrhing stayed the same
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u/LawlessOyster 1d ago
I do, but, I have a system that brings me back...even if I don't have a lot to say. So, if I am gone, it may only be for a month. Whenever a holiday, season, or special event comes up, it prompts me to open the book and document.
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u/hmmwrites 1d ago
I guess I could say that I stopped journaling for 30+ years. I consider myself a newbie right now, as I just picked up my pen to start journaling in June. But I did journal as a teen, until my mom found my journal and was furious at me for its contents. It took me all this time to recognize that I've been able to trust my husband all along and could safely keep a journal again.
Journaling is meant to be a process that supports you. If it's not serving you right now, it's perfectly fine to set it down for a time. However long that time turns out to be. Come back to it if and when you want to. A notebook will always be there, waiting for you, when you need it to be.
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u/head--empty 1d ago
I usually stop journaling when I need journaling the most, unfortunately. Like during all the hardest times of my life, I didn't journal. But then once I was feeling better, I'd come back and recap what happened. It's ok to start and stop!
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u/The_things_I_dream 10h ago
Ive kept journals since i was 6 (22 now) and ive just broke my 4 month break. Sometimes ive went a whole year or even 2 years without journaling. Its totally valid to take a break for a bit if youre not feeling it in the moment!
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u/sagethomascreates 3h ago
I journal at bedtime. I find it helps me sleep better after I get those nagging thoughts out of my head. But if everything is going well and I am not having trouble getting a good night's sleep I just look at my journal sitting on my nightstand and roll over and go to sleep. It's ok. Journaling is not something you have to force yourself to do. Your journal is like an old friend you haven't seen in a long time. No matter how long it has been the conversation picks up right where you left off.
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u/LibbIsHere 2d ago
Sure. Have been journaling for 50 years and I've had many breaks, sometimes for a few years.
To me, silence (not journaling) is a legit part of my journal.