fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Journal 1 of an introverted nonbinary
By: Shin Andrews
Tags: Just For Fun, Journal, Schools

Only starting to write these because there is no one else for me to talk to and it's hard for me to make new friends, and writing seems a little better than just talking out loud to myself.

12/18/20

I already started the day off by being late to art class because I overslept, but today is finally the last day before Christmas break, but that also means day two of final exams. My school is changing it this year because we are fully online, so many classes aren’t having them, but I still have math and two other class exams. Luckily after my math exam, I get to my last class, which is Spanish. That class is really fun, today we did nothing but this role-play type thing where the teacher was a student and one student was the teacher. The one student read from his Minecraft Redstone Handbook and shared other Minecraft knowledge as if it was a lesson and we had a test on it week. Our teacher then would act as a student who would ask dumb and annoying questions during the lesson. We even had some people get out their own book and followed along(sadly I couldn’t find mine), and there was someone who actually was playing Minecraft and using the red stone book as a guide and showed us everything he was making. A rememberable scene was the whole argument between the student teaching Minecraft and another classmate and the student-teacher told the classmate that he was getting a call home and the classmate just got on his four-wheeler and zoomed away, and the student-teachers ‘Stampylonghead’ reference when saying we had to build his house for the test was marvelous. This shit literally lasted the entire class period, lets just call it Minecraft Ed. Even though I’m just a bystander for most of the things that happen in my life I guess I still enjoy just listening and being there.

After school I had volleyball, it wasn’t a long practice and nothing much happened, but when I got home my mom got me and my sister Texas Road House rolls, so now I'm going to watch studio ghibli movies, eat rolls, and play some video games for the rest of the night.

Since it's now Christmas break there won't be many exciting things and probably just stuff that I’ve done with my family, so this stuff probably will probably be a little boring. If I feel up to it I also may write other things than journals.

-Shin
hello hello hello!
Tags: Story, Humor, Journal, Funny, Comedy

hello hello hello!

you might be wondering why you are here. well, to be frank, i am too. i have the credibility of a dead deer. There are no awards, diplomas, or even those small participation ribbons you get for being a 5-year-old soccer player in my future. i am just an average basic white girl.

now, before i move on to more pressing matters, like world hunger or the hit sitcom Blues Clues, i must answer the burning question in all of your minds. yes, i do enjoy a nice vanilla sweet cream cold brew on the occasion that i welcome diabetes with an open heart. and yes, it is quite delicious.

you see i have been a slave to the bean ever since i was born. ok wait, that’s a lie. i really should be honest with you, i mean we just met so it’s only polite. it was actually the finals week of my first high school exams. i had tried everything to stay awake: cocaine, heroin, adderall, the works. but nothing worked like the bean. yessir, i would chew em, spit em, and grind em up until i felt like i could run faster than Usain Bolt himself. ever since then, i was as they say “hooked”.

my addiction is bad. i’m talking serial killer level bad. if i don’t have a cup of joe in the mornings i transform into my alter ego. i call her blotus, and man do you not wanna be a blotus. with bags under her eyes darker than darth vader, blotus will literally cut you of you talk in her general vicinity. she is the most tired, moody, antisocial bitch you have ever met. frankly, i’m terrified of her. i heard a rumor she murdered an entire family once by just the slight of her hair alone. therefore, i drink my coffee in the mornings to do a favor to society.

my boyfriend also fuels my addiction. i found within my small timeframe of life that all true coffee lovers love coffee just a little too much. my boyfriend is no exception. this man will import the most freshest of beans only from thy mountains of the gods himself and individually hand grind them to pure *chefs kiss* perfection. he then uses the finest and cleanliest of french presses for maximum flavor and will drink it only purely black to “eliminate unnecessary calories.” it’s almost frivolous the degree of standard he has for his dirty beans, but to the true coffee lover it is the only right way to drink.

now, if you have made it this through my coffee spiel and my typing only in lower case, i applaud you. you’d be one of those ribbon soccer kids for sure. i truly didn’t think i would make it this far writing this either so it makes two of us. i honestly didn’t even know what i even just wrote about. it’s crazy, i might look all professional typing in this times news roman crap. but in reality, you probably just lost some brain cells and some quality tik tok toilet time.

please dont be mad, i just got this app 5 minutes ago. that’s a lie, it was 30 seconds. nevertheless, i am a basic white girl and you have just had a taste of my basic white life. it’s not much, but ya know it’s at least something that’s for sure.

until next time, drink your coffee and keep the blotus sightings at a minimum.
19/12/20 diary entry- 17yr old girl
Tags: Diary, Life, Journal, Tik Tok, Teens

Hi,

My name is Rahaf and I am a seventeen-year-old girl living in the UK. I’m going to try to document my life starting now on here.

Today is Saturday the 19th of December 2020. I’ve just been packing all day, I’m going to Dubai to visit my family on Monday morning. I’m pretty sure that I was high off cold and flu medicine in the morning, that's what it felt like and I googled it and it is possible. Yesterday I went out and saw some friends, I was kinda sad because my closest friends didn’t come and I’m going away soon so that was really my last chance to see them but I saw them last week. Last weekend was really really good, Friday was fun- I to town with my school friends and then I went to the sesh and saw my other friends and ended up making out with a girl, Eve. Then the next day, Saturday, I had a really good evening with Xander and some other people and we ran into Eve and I made out with her again!

Anyway, Yesterday wasn't as interesting so I decided to go home earlier than usual because I didn’t feel well and then when I got home I ended up throwing up! I’m really very ill right now which is annoying because I would have really liked to see my friends one last time before I go away.

Today I’ve been thinking a lot about our trip to Dubai and the more I think about it the more nervous I get. I made a pro and cons list, these are the pros: I see my family and I get presents. These are the cons: I don't like airplanes, my family is very religious and so probably won’t like my pink hair, I could give my family the virus, I’m going to miss my friends, family, and pet cat so much and I’m going to be forced to act cheerful all day every day while I’m there.

Also, earlier today I was looking into manifesting and similar topics and I think I’m going to try and become more spiritual this holiday.

That's probably enough for my first entry,

Goodnight

Rahaf
How journaling daily changed my life
By: Cherry Ѕυηƒlωωєя
Tags: Self Improvement, Scripting, Journal, Manifestation, Love

My daily commitment to doing this technique has really improved my mental health overall! I am way more positive and motivated to work hard towards my goals. The first week doing this was very hard but all worth it.

It just makes me personally so much happier and grateful with everything I already have. I would suggest just trying it out! Also please don’t expect immediate results. Everything will come, so be patient and do not give up. I believe in you and you should also believe in yourself please
So, being perfectly honest here, I didn’t think this through.
By: Olivia Nichole
Tags: Journal, Diary, Blog, Doing My Best

So, being perfectly honest here, I didn’t think this through.

What do I even write in a blog post? What’s my brand? Is there a niche for me?

I suppose for the time being, I’ll use this as a diary of sorts. I’ll change names for anonymity and all of that but mostly, this is just my life.

I caught covid this week, which SUCKS. I haven’t seen my friends in forever and I’m locked in my house with my MOTHER. At 17, I can honestly say I feel like i’m 30-something trying to be my own person and my mother is breathing down my neck. Except that it’s socially acceptable at my age. You know how when you grow up and move out, your mother probably develops some type of victim complex? Mine got hers early!

She’s incredibly stubborn and hard to read so I just kind of spend all my time in quarantine alone in my room to avoid her. I don’t like walking on eggshells in a place I’m supposed to feel safe in. Next week is Christmas, so hopefully that lightens her up. I am sick, after all.

I’m not quite sure what else to talk about, I don’t know what anyone would consider interesting, and I have no idea how to grow on this platform. My writing style isn’t exactly suited for a blog post, I’m much more poetry/fiction oriented, usually. I’m good at writing narrative style poetry about my personal relationships and concepts I find interesting. I also love writing prompts, I see everything like a film scene and sometimes it’s hard to write something to illustrate the way a camera pans as a specific song plays, but I can make it work.

Regardless, I’m simply doing my best. You could say I’m young and trying to “find myself.” Or something like that.

-December 19th
Hello daily journal #2
Tags: Coronavirus, Journal, Fear, Corona

Hello daily journal #2

Yesterday was… interesting? Me and my friends had a mini winter formal with less then 10 of us thought becase of covid. It was fun to say the least, but yesterday just felt off. It felt weird to be leaving school again for two weeks for vacation when we just spent all this time at home. I honestly feel like we aren’t going to go back after. This thought has been filling my mind for the past couple of days. Everything that I missed so dearly can be taken away from me in less than a second. And even worse, I won’t know till its already gone.

— societys enemy
Life Lessons of a 21-year old.
Tags: Reflections, Life, Journal, Youngadult, Life Lessons

Be tough on yourself, but be kind to others. Be bold, but be humble. Never settle for mediocre — be the best at it or just don’t start it at all. You can’t fight fire with fire. It’s OK to take breaks and do nothing — it’s so important to recharge and not go full speed all the time. (I know, it’s a bit contradicting with #1 and #3) You can’t be a leader for others when you can’t even be a leader of your own life. You can’t expect people to always meet you at 50/50 — that ratio differs from people to people, and you should be flexible with that. Discuss and reflect on what you learned, rather than what happened. Don’t settle for “IDK,” but at least have a hypothesis or a prediction. Success is a moving target. Confidence builds by doing. Consistency is key. You’re the manager of your own network.

~most memorable fall 2020 weather~

As 2020 and my college years come to a wrap, I wanted to reflect on the bigger lessons I learned as a young adult in the hopes that others would also empathize. (The term young adult still feels so foreign to me, because I genuinely still feel like I’m 16.) You might find that some of the lessons contradict with each other, which reflect my changing values throughout the years. Maybe you might also disagree with some of the lessons, and that is totally cool, as we all learn different things from the different experiences that we go through. (I would love to hear yours though!) Each life lesson has a story related to a bigger, singular challenge that I overcame or a series of smaller, recurring events that I actively or passively went through.

I must say, this point of my life feels oddly relaxing as I wait to receive my undergraduate degree in 5 days and start my full-time career in the coming 8 months or so, all while in the comfort of being with my family as we patiently wait and wait for the pandemic to end. But I genuinely mean this — 21, thank you for all that you’ve taught me.

A little disclaimer: I am 22 now.

#quarantinethoughts #lifelessons #21 #2020 #college
weeping willows
By: Lani H.
Tags: Just My Thoughts, Nature, Journal, Acceptance, Oblivion

The Willow Bath by Anna Lakisova

i love weeping willows.

the way they have a soft layer between them and the world. no one can tell they are hiding. to them, it just looks like leaves.

well, they are hiding. years of stories sit within their brittle wooden bones. tales of heartbreak, war, and love. everything about the world. they stay hidden in fear that someone will come chop them down, take one look at the rings within their trunk, and say that they are not a strong enough tree.

they are strong.

they have been strong.

they will always be strong.

won’t they?

won’t they be forever strong? they will never grow tired. they will never grow old. they will never rot down to their very core until their core is nothing but a strip of old, moldy, unidentifiable mush that will eventually be eaten by the earth that once fed it’s humble soul- it won’t ever be like that, right?

please look at me and tell me that this weeping willow in my backyard will not weep for decades only to melt away into the ground. it stayed hidden so well. please just tell me it is forever.

…

i suppose it’s only natural. natural. natural. natural. i mean, what is it about the word “natural” that makes everyone perfectly content with ends? if something is ending, the only response i receive is, “it’s perfectly natural.” just because it’s natural doesn’t mean i ought to accept it, right?

right?

maybe i’m being overdramatic. and maybe, if i’m going to live on this planet any longer, i better learn to accept things as they come because natural is the only way things happen- good or bad. maybe the willow tree is weeping because it knows its unavoidable end. maybe its okay with the melting. the rotting. maybe its okay with the word “natural.”

but i am not.
Life Is A Highway And It’s Okay To Stop
By: Totem Magallano
Tags: Journal, Diary, Life, Mental Health

Speed, it’s not good sometimes.

We’re like drivers coursing through a highway of intertwined destinies. Your highway will intersect with a lot of other highways every now and then.

You might also find yourself merging lanes with others. You adapt to its pace, its culture, its ability to show and see signs, and seldom even the dangers of going through the same direction over time.

You speed up thinking you might lose another lap which is entirely imaginary — something you and your fellow “racers” made up simply because you’ve been driving side by side and somewhere along the drive, you all assumed it was a race.

You panic. Your mind and heart speeds up as fast as you are driving. You overthink, overcalculate, thinking that one wrong move might mean getting overtaken and losing the “race”. Your knees start to tremble from constantly stepping on the gas just so you can keep up.

All the while you’ve been seeing on hindsight few detour signs, amber stop lights, and billboards telling you “You are not in a race.”

You were gaining speed but gaining so much tension on yourself at the same time. Just when you thought you’re taking the lead, something noisy caught your attention. It wasn’t coming from the outside.

You listened to the sound of your own engines as you are driving along your life’s highway, you hear gears grinding, something whistling continuously in high pitch, you can feel shafts whirring erratically, you can even hear the sound of your own teeth grinding.

At that moment, you realize you made the first step in slowing down — you stopped. You stopped to listen to what was going on inside the car, what was going on with you.
Start of Something new
By: Maddie Simmons
Tags: Journal, Personal Growth, Startup

You see I am not one to write down my thoughts but I saw this website and thought why not. Starting fully in the new year I would like to write down a little journal entry at least 5 out of the 7 days a week on here.
Journal Entry 1
By: Aisha Noel
Tags: Journal

Journal Entry 1

Today was the day my life had started. Well, not technically, but you will understand in a moment. College is coming up and of course I am getting very excited just like any other person would be. I had finally signed up to search for roommates at my dream college and almost instantly, I gained a whole new friend group. It really is insane how easy it is to find new people and create such a strong bond with them. Gaining all these new friends made me realize that there are so many other human beings out there, and I have no idea they exist on this earth. That was a little heartfelt moment but it really does make you think. So far there has been at-least ten new girls that I have became amazing friends with and I truly hope I meet more people like them in college.
Falling In Love With Life Again
Tags: Depression, Journal, Mental Health, Anxiety

This has no other purpose except to help me keep track for myself. I am unsure whether I have ever been in love with life, but for the sake of this I will be saying ‘again’. I cannot promise perfect grammar, spelling or even consecutive ordering if I’m being honest.

I have been diagnosed with Anxiety and Depression. Nowadays that is not anything out of the norm and might even make me ‘fit in’ more than being mentally well. While I think it’s important to normalize mental illnesses and reduce stigma, I think there is such a thing as too much normalcy. If everyone has a mental illness, shouldn’t I have one to fit in? If I don’t pull all nighters or post on my story crying am I not normal? If I don’t want to kill myself do I not fit in? Why does no one want to get better anymore?

I was always considered one of the happiest kids when I was younger. I was carefree and enjoyed learning and school. The most stress I had was that I had to walk my dog every day and take out the trash every Sunday to get my allowance. When did it shift? When did I start spending the days alone in my room on my phone instead of hanging out with friends and family or reading a book?

Life is really hard and it's okay to develop mental illnesses. I’ve had anxiety all my life and this is my second time going through depression. But I have had enough with crying myself to sleep and never feeling like I’m good enough for anything of importance. I will learn to love myself and my life. There are things I can’t change, my injuries which do not allow me to do sports or do full and extreme workouts. I moved a year and a half ago and I don’t have the same amount of friends as I used to. Other than reaching out and being friendly towards everyone, any other time and energy I spend on that will be a waste and just cause more anxious feelings of not being good enough.

I am going to start by changing things in my every day life. Maybe I’ll pick up a book again, or play with some of my online friends instead of forcing myself to do schoolwork instead. I want to fall in love with reading again, and I want to get out of the poison that is my phone. I want to live in the moment instead of constantly thinking about the past or the future.

So maybe that's what this is, a place to record progress, trying to better myself and maybe try to inspire others to better themselves as well, if this does ever reach anyone. I’m sick of wallowing in my own sorrows and feeling bad for myself. I’m better than this.

12–18 love, max
daily journal 12,8,2020
By: Mellissa Wynne
Tags: Diary Writing, Diary, Journal, Poetry, Journaling

I felt tired when I went to bed and tired when I woke up. the day went on as usual, slow and seemingly never ending. I suppose it is my fault for it seeming that way maybe it wouldn't if I left my room or opened a window and let some light in. Maybe I would leave my room if I didn't feel attacked by reality and time. Time has never been on my side always going to slow when I wish it would speed by and get me out of this moment in the timeline, or going too fast in the times i want to bask in and hold on too.

Sometimes I think i'm a bad person and whatever bad things happen to me I deserve it because my soul is ugly and a deceiving monster. I'm not sure what makes a person good, maybe no one is or maybe everyone is. Maybe it's based of our own guilts and beliefs. That being said the worst of people could be the best. I don't think anyone or being could accurately judge a humans soul.
Stories interrupted
By: Frank The Man
Tags: Reflections, Creative Writing, Life, Journal, Literature

Illu: © Pascal Campion

Stories interrupted

I see people running around carrying their stories with them. Sometimes those stories weight like a heavy burden on their shoulders, slowing and impairing their movements. Some other times are light and uplifting, you can see that by the genuine smile on their faces. But most of the time, these stories get lost in the buzz and vanish into the void, missing pieces of a gigsaw puzzle that we’ll probably never complete.

I’m waiting for the usual bus to bring me back home, after a wild hunt at the local supermarket. Is raining. I wonder who is this young guy sitting on the bench beside me. Where he’s going to? He has a big, black Sandqvist backpack along with him, a stylish choice. The bag seems too big and heavy to carry only a laptop. A metal water bottle is hanging from the side. Maybe he’s going for a hiking to nearby mountains? Possible. My bus is coming. I guess I’ll never know the answer.

Who is this girl, sitting on the bus, flipping the pages of a book, while everyone else is too busy scrolling their phone to notice? Sometimes I catch her smiling, maybe a funny story? When the bus reaches her stop she suddenly snaps out of it, as if a spell has broken. She’s running towards the front door, quickly jumping out of it. I wanted to know the title. I wanted to smile as she was smiling, but she’s gone.
Why I’ll look back on the Covid-19 pandemic fondly
By: Laura Russell
Tags: Pandemic, Reflections, Silver Lining, Journal, Covid 19

Almost a year since we were instructed to Stay At Home. Almost a year of doing almost everything from my bed. It’s been difficult, granted. I’ve watched some of my nearest and dearest fall into crises which they’ll take years to recover from. But there has been silver linings in all this chaos, and it’s important that at the end of 2020, we take stock, and reflect upon the year where everything changed.

At the beginning of January, I started a journal. Each night, if I can, I jot down a page or two about my day. How I’m feeling, what I’ve been up to, what plans I have for the days/weeks/months ahead. In a year where seemingly everything has revolved around the pandemic, I’ve written about it surprisingly negligibly. I think I always knew that the pandemic would be hugely documented in the news, and in other documents, and so I generally chose to omit it from my daily ritual of writing. Of course, I mentioned it here and there, often euphemising it to ‘All This’, or ‘this weird weird time’, or , a personal favourite, ‘the panny-D’. 2020 has been tragic. It has taken countless lives and ruined the personal lives of many, but it’s also been a chance to better ourselves. Everyone and their mother did something different this year — whether it be taking up exercise, or working from home, or having to communicate solely through FaceTime or phone calls. I’ve missed cuddles. I’ve missed seeing the people I love in person everyday, but without All This, I wouldn’t have been able to read as much as I have done, or write every evening.

It’s important to acknowledge the damage this year has done, but I also encourage each and every person to write down 5 or 10 things which they’ve gained from this year. It’s not as hard as you think, promise.

Follow for more from LRR.
Introduction
By: Diamond Destiny
Tags: Journey, Personal Development, Passion, Life, Journal

The reason I started this blog is because I want to vent out my emotions that I have been bottling up the whole time. I really am desperate to find my passions. My reason to live and enjoy life itself. Currently Im am just existing. I see people around me moving forward, developing and finding the gifts/talents that they have. And Im just stuck. I desire nothing. And I know that nobody can help me find the reason why I am on this earth or what my gifts are.

I guess you could say that people have a wrong depiction of me. In their eyes it must look like Im actually one of the people that strive in life. Since I went to stagecoach for 5 years which is dancing, singing and acting. I should have talent since I am a triplet. I like drawing and Im teaching myself how to play the piano. I play volleyball and I want to start playing the violin too. My grades arent that bad either.

So I should be happy right ?

But Im not.

I feel like Im average at everything I do but not good at one particular thing in life. It feels like I dont have a purpose. And I just dont know what to do about this feeling. Nothing lights up a fire in me.
Bella Rambles
By: Bella Thoms
Tags: Journal, Short Story, Teenagers, High School

Bella Rambles

Journal Entry 1

Living Life as “High Achieving Teenager” In a Pandemic

Let me start off by saying that I grew up loving school. Perfect attendance from 2nd through fourth grade, fifth grade I had the flu but was bound for the same accolade. I was told I was gifted at age 8, reading years above the other kids in my grade. I won “Battle of the Books,” a competition where you read as many books off the list as you could and battled other schools for who could answer the most trivia correctly. I lived and breathed off of the fact that I was smart. I wasn’t taught how to work for the grades I had. I coasted on being in class and soaking in everything said, as if I was a sponge and my teachers words were water running from the kitchen faucet.

Middle school was no different, the same “gifted” kids, the same notion that we were going to be the future. In middle school I devoured books to fill in for the fact that I somewhat lacked in the department of friends. In middle school I relied on the fact that I was smart, when I found out that girls were really mean. I found comfort in Sarah Dessen and Wendy Mass’s fictional worlds. I looked to high school to be better. It would be everything I dreamed.

I am a junior now. I don’t go to the same school as the kids I spent my childhood with. I found friends who actively wanted to be my friends and not just because my mom asked them to. High-school has not been all I dreamt it to be at age 12. I found out freshman year being smart was no longer enough. I was thrown into a whirlwind of expectations that had never been asked of me before. I struggled but found my stride. Then halfway through sophomore year a Global Pandemic hit. We were told it would just take two weeks. It’s been nine months. Everything that I have ever looked forward to has been postponed, pushed back or outright cancelled. I’m learning on zoom, desperately relying on “Crash Courses” Hank Green to teach me basics I should already know. I’m confused. I’m lonely. I’m struggling. Frankly, I’m pissed off. School is no longer learning, it’s memorization of google searches and desperate FaceTime calls to classmates to ask: “do you know what’s going on?” Students are being held to the same high standard, but we aren’t being taught. I am lucky enough to have the resources to save my grades if need be, but what about those who don’t? What happens to them and their future?

I know it seems selfish, people are dying so suck it up. But there’s only so many times you can dangle hope of normalcy in front of a 16 year old girl and yank it away without tears of frustration. I’m tired. We are tired. We want to learn and we want our lives back. I know zoom isn’t forever but sometimes it feels like it.
Hello, my new friend.
By: Chloe Scott Hill
Tags: Indecisive, Goals, Journal, College Life, One Tree Hill

Hello, my new friend.

I realize that you are only a journal, and I don't have to actually introduce myself, but it just feels so wrong not to. I will keep it short because I believe you get to know a person over time. Hopefully, we will be spending lots of time together. You very well may know me better than anyone within a few weeks; who knows? So let's dive in.

First things first. I've never been able to write well my whole life so don't judge too much on the grammar, proper nouns, and stuff like that because I could care less. Secondly, with this new friendship, we must put judgment aside. Lastly, by the end of my journaling days you will have helped me accomplish what I want most out of life; to live it to the fullest. That's what most people want and quite frankly I identify as “most people.” As a new friend, you will help me grow out being like most.

Im 19 years old and I live a pretty average life. Im a sophomore at a four-year university with a solid group of friends and big ambitions. Like most, I have millions of things on my bucket list. I have come to the conclusion that the decisions I make in these next few years have an effect on the rest of my life. That's a lot of pressure for an indecisive 19 year old such as myself. I seem to change my mind daily about who I wanna be, where I wanna go, and who I want to be with. What's even scarier is these life altering decisions change based on the shows I watch, TikTok's on my “For You Page”, and what my Instagram feed is filled with. There's no certain way this friendship will go. We will just go with the flow.

Anyways, tonight I'm watching One Tree Hill. I currently want to move to Wilmington, and live a Haley Scott mixed with Peyton Sawyer lifestyle. I want the intelligence, compassion, and love Haley has. I want the ambition, creativity, and uniqueness Peyton carries. What I am taking away is that I need to find a passion because I literally love a million different things, but haven't found the one that I can use in this world.

X.O.X.O

C.S.H
Heute
By: Zeno Faber
Tags: Diary, Journal, Writer, Writing, This Happened To Me

so tell me to leave, i'll pack my bags, get on the road
I feel like a star without a name.
Tags: Journal

I feel like a star without a name. I could walk endlessly in my mind and still not crave an appetite for thought.

Tonight is day three of insomnia and silent crying. I share a bed with my sister while I’m visiting from college & there’s no need to wake up anyone just because I feel alone. How selfish I would feel. I’ve become an absolute expert crying in silence but every time I feel my heart plunge deeper and deeper into my stomach.

I just want to go back to being happy.

The crazy thing is my family feels like they know me so well & I have no idea who I am, what I feel, and why I feel it.

I just want to BE happy. I’ll write how I feel about men later on. Enjoy your happiness.
December 17, 2020: The first round of acceptances
By: Emelin Conboy
Tags: Diary, College, Journal, Daily Thoughts, Senior Year

Today, I received my first three college decisions. I got accepted to Miami University (Ohio), Elon University, and Emmanuel College. These were not reach schools for me, but it feels pretty crazy to say I am going to college. This is a day I never imagined would come, even 6 months ago. I’ve felt like I’ve been so behind, so lost, like I’d never get to this point. I feel like there is such a pressure to know exactly what you want to do with your life as soon as you step into 9th grade, and I felt left out, you know? I only decided to major in communications or journalism like 5 or 6 months ago, and decided to apply to Miami in like, September? Now I have a good feeling that’s where I’m gonna end up. It feels good to know my parents are proud of me, like I’m doing something right. I’m proud of the scholarships I earned. I know deep down my worth isn’t determined by my academics, but it feels so, so good to feel like I accomplished something- because during quarantine and when I was applying I felt like anything but an accomplished person. Now I’m sitting here, taking on what I hope to be a new hobby- writing on this app. I’ve never been able to get into journaling, but I hope this motivated me to do that and to improve in my writing. That’s all I have on my mind right now, let’s see where this goes.
I’ve always wanted to be a writer.
By: Kate B-L
Tags: Journal, Poetry, Creative Writing, Journalling

I’ve always wanted to be a writer.

I told myself I couldn’t. I have a backlog of poetry and creative essays that I’ve never allowed to see the light of day. I’ve been working what I’ve always seen as side-jobs without ever really giving my dream the attention it deserves.

I started Journaling a few months ago as a way to process my thoughts in a healthy way, and I love it. What I want from medium is to not only share my work with the world, but also to use it as a daily (or semi-daily) journal.

Come along with me.
01— the beginning. i’m a 17 year old girl living in…
By: Kat Diercks
Tags: 17, Story, Blog, High School, Journal

i’m a 17 year old girl living in california, and to be honest, the only reason i’m writing here is because i saw a tiktok of a girl describing this website as a potential side hustle for teens. she said that someone might want to hear my story, even if it’s as simple as journal-style entries, and i absolutely love reading other people’s stories/journals. so today, i’m beginning to write to you about my daily life! currently, that looks like a senior in high school living through her first (and hopefully last) pandemic. i might also publish non-journal-related writings here just for fun, but for the most part, i simply want to share my daily life and my thoughts, because i love reading those things from other people. and as of right now, no one that i know in real life knows that this account exists, which means i can share some extra ~special~ details. so hi, i’m kat, and i’m praying no one i know finds this anytime soon. welcome to my life, i hope you’ll stick around for a bit :)

for now, i’m getting sleepy and it’s time to go to bed, but i want to provide you with more content than a lame little introduction, so here was my interesting response to a teacher asking me “what grade do you give yourself in this class and why?” today (it appears that writing so many college essays has given me the ability to turn literally any question into an existential work of art).
i think i have an eating disorder
Tags: Personal, Mental Health, Journal, Eatingdisorders, Teenagers

Hi…I made my Medium account a few seconds ago. I heard about it on TikTok. I really just wanted a place to write down my thoughts and feelings anonymously in hopes of someone out there being able to relate to me. In no way am I a professional. I’m just a teen who goes through stuff and has no one to talk to.

I’m 13, yet I’ve already found myself having to deal with multiple mental issues. Recently, one of the biggest problems I’ve faced is my body. I can’t help but have to nit pick every single things that’s wrong with it. I can’t help but feel disgusted when I look in the mirror, compare myself to every girl I see, or feel ashamed when I eat the tiniest thing. I feel like I’m not in control.

The first thing I think about in the morning is food. But not because I’m hungry, but because I’m telling myself over and over, “You can’t eat anything today.” And everyday I listen to that voice. I try and hide it from my parents. The constant excuse of, “I’m not hungry,” is second nature. However, among those words that are trying to tell me not to eat, there are other conflicting voices. Ones telling me, “Just take one bite.” A battle in my head. Do I eat? Do I starve? I want to lose weight. But you’re so hungry. I close the fridge. Open the fridge. Close the pantry. Open the pantry.

Some days the starving voice wins, and I barely eat a full three meals. But most of the time, the voice telling me to eat conquers. But when I listen, I don’t eat just take one bite. I lose control and suddenly I’m eating everything in sight. In those moments all I think is, food food food. But then after, the guilt consumes me. I put down what I was eating. Think for a moment…and suddenly I’m not hungry anymore. I’m now ashamed. Most of the time there are tears and yet another voice tells me how fat and hideous I am.

It’s tiring. It’s so so tiring. I wish that just food could just be food again.

im honestly treating this like my own personal journal
Journaling
By: Joshua Boisvert
Tags: Confessions, Journalism, Life, Journal, Military

I know how to write. I know how to read. I was taught both at an early age.

Lately, journaling has entered my life. I consider it a monumental task. To write my own story feels something like locking myself within my own prison. Filled with all the different shades of criminal.

When I listen to music, I feel invigorated and focused. While writing, the same feeling blazes, but is doused only after a few short words. The Placebo Effect shortly follows. I feel I’m doing something, but the result only ends in circles. It’s like the old saying, “Saying a whole lot, without saying much at all.”

One of my concerns is revealing the story altogether. I’m not fond of sharing. Others will dissect my situation, and tear into me like a parasite. I’ll look back on all this one day, and see my story scrutinized by critics and readers alike. They’ll shame me for the misfortunes of telling verbose tales. They’ll hate me for sharing my memories. Worst of all, they’ll get to know me on a more intimate level. The cycle that follows is filled with avoidance.

I’ll move away, or look at the requirements to enter a foreign country. I’ll pick up all I’ve ever known and start over. This cycle will repeat until I forget what day it is. Losing my sense of reality and forget where, and who, I actually am. Over time, the writing actually comes to life, and I’m no longer writing about my past, I’m locked in its application. A journey of uncertainty and avoidance recycled into a personal narrative.

When I journal like this, I try to imagine that this will shield me from outsiders drawing speculation on my goals. Defining me, through their own personal viewpoint. I just want to be treated the same as everyone else, without the fear.

If I reveal my story, these characters will become alive again. People I have known throughout my life. In order to preserve their honor, I’m not sure if I can bring myself to revive the dead?

I’m not sure if I want to remember.
How to boost your creativity with a journal
By: David Andrew Wiebe
Tags: Productivity, Freelancing, Journal, Creativity, Business

Document Your Journey

Documenting your journey is also something you can do with a blog, as it gives you the opportunity to let others in on what you’re doing.

Either way, writing down your thoughts, ideas, feelings, and so on, can have more long-term value than you even realize.

First, writing is known to help you organize your thoughts. Many people try to organize their thoughts first, and then write. I suggest going about it the other way. This is not a term paper. Practice will make you better. Just get started and don’t worry about today’s journal entry or blog post.

Second, writing helps with memory retention. If there are things you want to remember for later, you should certainly write them down.

Third, the opposite is also true — you can also journal away emotional baggage. Oftentimes we feel stuck, not because of present circumstances, but because we think the past will just keep repeating itself in our lives. Try on the idea that this is within you, not outside of you, and see if you can journal it away.

Fourth, you can return to your journal entries later and scan them for memories, thoughts, ideas, action items, and anything else you’ve taken down. Many songwriters and poets like to begin with a great title, and you just never know where a great title might be hidden.

Finally, your journey can also help and inspire others.
Inner Machinations: Entry_022.
By: Elmo Hidalgo
Tags: Journal, Journaling, Writing, Gaming, Pokemon

Inner Machinations: Entry_022.

I was able to get out of the house in the morning to bike with my dad to MOA. It’s the first time I’ve been out, like really out, you know. It was a good experience. My legs kinda hurt, but that goes without saying, since I only really had two practice bike rides before tackling this long ride. I felt my brain hurting like hell at the end of the bike ride. Maybe it was because of the heat, since it was nearing lunchtime already. But now, I’m fairly okay.

I got a scratch wound because of an incident that happened before we arrived at MOA. My dad told me that the road that we were in at the time was a place where we could peddle like hell, so I kinda did that, but decided to stop midway cause my legs kinda started hurting. My limit was still low, of course. And then, I hear my dad’s voice at the back, shouting something to me that I couldn’t understand. So I stopped and hit the breaks, and through reflex, used my feet to sort of add to the breaks as well. My back of my legs got hit by the peddles, and my left leg has a scratch on it. Nothing that serious, of course. But still, this event was a clear sign that my dad has a sort of daredevil-side to him.

I’ve never been much of a daredevil, really. I get scared when things get tough. I will take on challenges only if I’m certain that I could do it. But if the odds are against me, I would definitely not fucking push my odds, and think rationally of the situation. Yesterday’s mishap was just an example of “oops!”.

In other news, I’m fucking annoyed already with the Pokemon Ruby Nuzlocke Challenge that I’m currently in the middle of doing. Like, the play-through’s not the fucking problem. It’s the fucking shitty computers at my disposal that seem to make things boring, dull, tedious, and overall feel like a waste of fucking time.

In other news, again, Mandalorian Season 2 is almost done, so I might watch an episode tonight. But also one last thing to say is that I’m now in the process of doing another Red Rescue Team Play-through. But this time, it’s on hard mode. (No Maps, Perma-Death, and I can only recruit the first pokemon that wants to be recruited in each dungeon).
“You are too into your head”
By: Isabel A Hermosillo
Tags: Meditation, Poetry, Anxiety, Mind

“Relationship” Inktober | Day 09 by annamachtart

“You are too into your head”,

she said and a thunderlight struck my body.

First of all, word lightning feels like an unbearable fire

gorging and boiling within every cell;

Then comes the shock, the shivers and a

penetrating cold rises as the lone remnant of the previous fire

giving way to a moment’s realization:

You are

too much

into

your head.

Each line by itself is not threatening at all,

and perhaps each showing the way I conceived myself.

But put together, in the form of words within a whole stanza, it was as enlightening as flames:

I reckon that before I had felt blocked,

wordless among empty dunes of white,

without a fire to light the imagery in the middle of a thick dark night.

But it was precisely that,

an excess within one’s own head

that I somehow forgot how to see

whatever also lies around.

How’d I forgotten to see outside,

perhaps a bit too caught up among weeds

in the ways of thick jungles of fumes.

It was only a set-up forged by a clouded head

and the key was seeing a bit above

and realize

the key to getting out of one’s head

is mind itself.
Error 503
By: Klajdi Ballanca
Tags: Poetry On Medium, Error 503, Earthborn, Poetry, Mind

Slope House by Hodaka Yoshida

Three gravestones stand upon a hill,

Battle-hardened by a thousand winds.

One reads Disappointment, the other Confusion,

The third in-between, Earthborn.

Once had a name, who those now dead uttered.

A forgotten sound, archived in the machine.

Cables like sunrays spring,

To warm the cracking wall of sliver bricks.

The forecast predicts another Ice Age,

But the omens too are melting.

What has begun, cannot be stopped,

Riots feed the system’s heart.

The CPU is overloading, overheating,

Yet there is no steam in sight.

Walked for hours, could think of but one word,

Alone;

Before and after I was born.

Fëëësh…Fëëësh…they wipe…

Anger and tranquility,

Yamantaka promises me liberty.

The vipers rush to insert gravity,

Plug me to source of electricity!

On the Shores of Oblivion,

The mad, dream to escape.

But on that lonely hill, two meet,

One yellow, one green,

To decide on the next play,

What words to my dear audience to convey.

From my book Morpheus
Philosophical approaches: learning, wonder and equilibrium
By: Hüseyin Akbaş
Tags: Learning, Wonder, Education, Philosophy, Mind

Retrieved from https://hbr.org/resources/images/article_assets/2020/03/Mar20_27_1204013190.jpg

Equilibrium is a term used to explain how learning occurs in educational sciences. Each person has an equilibrium of knowledge which means they know certain things and they create a balance of ‘what they know and what they don’t know’. In order for someone to learn something or have an urge to learn it, this balance should be disturbed and disequilibrium should be created.

There are a few ways for this to happen but the basic practice behind it is to introduce something which is not actually identified by the human mind. This can either be done by asking certain questions or giving statements creating new relationships which do not normally exist on that person’s mind. When disequilibrium is created, human mind has an empty spot and a need to fill it which always works this way theoretically. It can be interpreted as a primitive feeling like hunger. In daily language, we can define this situation as ‘wonder’. Human mind tries to restore the balance and create the equilibrium again. The learning process can be interpreted as such.
The Universe of You
By: Rehman Cee
Tags: Happenings, Belief, Mind, Tragedy, Heroes

This world is a beautiful place. Full of opportunities and dreams. We the human, it is our playing space. For creativity and exploration. For sensory and most importantly for belief. To get into the mind. To explore the mind. To explore our inner world juxtaposed to the workings of the outer world.

Yes. Life is tough. It is difficult. There are tragedies and there are traumas. Big ‘T’s and little ‘T’s but there too is equally possibilities and prosperity and we have to juggle, navigate the fine in between the two.

Take enormous pride in your mind. Develop your mind. Believe in your mind. Know your mind. You. The observer of your life. You are responsible for your life. You are in control of the thoughts in your mind. And your mind, it does not control you.

Live. Love. Be

Rehman

Greatness is my journey

Greatness is the key

Greatness is my signal

Greatness is who I want to be.

I want to be One.

Greatness is the Signal. The signal is My Ideal. My ideal is One.