> "Re: Journalling. Helpful or not?"
I'm probably an expert on this subject now. Since 1968, when I left home, I kept a yearly pocket diary. Till smartphones replaced this. About 1995?
These pocket diaries were then summarized, about 1985, after my 7-day coma, after a very bad traffic accident. These summaries were used in the legal litigation, by all parties, in my court cases, following the cases. They are also used by my potential employers, in the various bodies that need to check my Australian security clearances.
Since the internet, there are very detailed records about most of us computer geeks, including myself. This stopped my formal "journalling". My computer records, on & off the internet, shows my interests & activities. The many organizations used & working with me have official records of my activities & involvements: staff lists (including volunteers, members, students, etc), minutes of formal meetings, etc.
Now thatwe have smartphones & the internet, there arenow new methods.
Below are the ones I use still:
1) Australian counselling agencies, both phone & face-to-face.
These registered (via the many government departments) need to know my real name, phonre numbres. address, D.O.Birth etc. They keep contact times & hours, issues discussed on my sessions. If needed, legally, medically, etc, these records can be summarized, etc.
2) Internet records. Google, YouTube, email, etc have permanent traces of my interests, buying habits. Again these records can be used & are used by government agencies, if & when required. Personally, I find it refeshing to track my purchases, interests, over the long time, back several decades.
3) Dedicated forums & websites, including this one site, SANEFORUMS.ORG
Living now in my government hospice, right now, for the last 29 years, severely crippled, my life should have ended in my car accident, 36 years ago. In my heart-valve replacement operation, two years ago, I expected death or dementia (stroke, etc). There are a web sites in the USA where I have published: Reddit, "Lyf", etc.
4) Dedicated computer applications, on computer, computer tablets, and smartphones.
The smartphone "stores", such as Google Playstore for Android devices, has several "journalling applications. I have tried these, waiting to use them. But my live journalling", right now, is proceeding so fast, that my life can barely keep pace with the very rapid speeds.
5) "Speed therapy" means that all of the above methods are used. This includes deliberate & very skilled "LUCID DREAMING". Being a wikipediaeditor, if time permits, this entry might be expanded & updated, with necessary internet references, if time allows.
6) DRAMA THERAPY. This is no longer in my current "journalling" duties. "Drama" can be personaly expression, by voice, muscles, solitary & interactive, sole, dyad, or group. The "therapy" is an extension of Australia's "Narrative Therapy", which is more properly taught in the USA.
7) GROUP WORK journalling. Did this for about ten years, as a single & very disabled man, between my ages of 35 to 45. This involved organizing "self-help" groups, through traditional charity type of ortganizations. My role was innovator, but not the obvious leader, since the supervising "charity" or "organization" covered thefinancials, legals, publicity, etc. It is registered in their official records, publications, witnesses, participants & minutes. Although I had been a professional photographer (daily newspaper, 1967), there are few photographs of my journalling journeys.
😎 HARD COPY. In Australia, formally printed, public materials are meant to be preserved by our National Archives. Sometimes the internet materials are also archived. Traces of my activities, publicatoins exist in these areas, for any persistent "historians", & government security agencies.
9) Friends, family, associates, co-workers, fellow students, neighbours, employers, government records, etc. All these are accessible, by yourself & others.
