The difference between my blog and my journal
Before writing here, I wrote in journals for ten years. Before writing in journals, I wrote (for several years as well) on WordPress blogs. Writing has always been fun for me and very revealing at every stage of my life. Today, I write in both spaces; besides maintaining this blog, I still write in a journal because, even though both are personal spaces, each serves a different purpose.
The main and most obvious difference is that the blog is public, and the journal is not. The blog is for opinions, reflections, rants, fiction, or anything else that comes from within me, but always with the awareness that anyone could read it. That’s why very personal information, names of other people, and highly specific situations are off-limits.
When I go into detail about an event in my life, it’s usually something from the past, meant to illustrate a reflection on the present. It’s like drawing a lesson from what I’ve lived.
On the other hand, my journal follows more of a free-writing style. I let my thoughts and feelings spill out without too many filters, without worrying about whether it’s well-written or if my point is clear, I just try to vomit everything onto the page. This means mentioning people, places, and specific situations, as well as volatile emotions.
In a journal, there are no masks or self-imposed expectations to meet; no imposter syndrome or the fear of saying something that might be questioned by others. It’s just you and your mind.
An ideal routine would be writing in my journal first to clear out any mental fog and then, with a clear mind, writing something in the blog that’s worth sharing. I say “ideal” because that hasn’t been my case, though I’d love to get to that point where writing is so present in my daily life that both things become a habit. In fact, I’ve been neglecting journaling, and honestly, both practices feel very enriching to me.
What I always try to do is stay authentic, no matter where I write. I believe that even if the reader doesn’t know the face or voice behind the words, they can still tell when something comes from a sincere place. Pretending to be someone else in a journal is like lying to your therapist—a waste of time and effort.
If you thought writing in both spaces didn’t make much sense, maybe this post will give you an idea of how to approach each one, and encourage you to keep enjoying writing on paper, an activity that nourishes the soul in its own unique way.
Thanks for reading.