Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits
O’Shea approaches journal writing as a therapeutic tool and an aid to helping journal keepers discover new strengths and develop others, find previously unsuspected dimensions and depths of their personalities, and uncover and confront painful realities. This self-discovery combines depth with breadth, so as the writer records both life’s mundane minutiae and family-altering crises, he or she acquires knowledge of the most valuable kind from dreams and candid accounts of personal crimes and misdemeanors. O’Shea includes her own journal entries in each chapter, covering different eras in her life, and provides writing tips and journaling exercises developed to empower the act of externalizing thoughts, feelings, and, ultimately, oneself. She also includes instructive passages from the journals of notable writers, such as Louisa May Alcott, who records her winter’s earnings in 1855: $120, which includes $20 for her stories—“if I am ever paid.” A listing of sources rounds out this interesting addition to journaling aids that emphasizes “it’s not the rereading where one finds solace but in the writing itself.” --Whitney Scott