You Live with Spies aka Journal Snoopers

This is going to be a short and sweet post, yet definitely one I feel we should get out in the open sooner than later.

One of the hindrances to keeping a journal is the fear that other people in your household are spies and are going to read these intimate inner workings of your mind or udder lunacies......ok, perhaps both. I get it, I had my diary violated as a teenager, and even thinking about it still makes me lose color and my guts get warm and queasy. So I definitely understand, and I'm not going to lie to you, because of this I definitely started journaling, then stopped, felt apprehensive, and even hid what I was doing several times over before I found my way.

The first thing you have to work through here is if this is really an issue for you. Is anyone really gonna bother with your journal? I can't answer that for you. Sometimes the answer is even no, but you still feel so knotted up over the idea you should safeguard yourself for a while, which brings you to some options.

Just don't do it, always an option, and truly if anything brings you more anxiety and stress than the benefit you gain, just don't do it.

If electronic journaling is your thing you can type away and password-protect it on your computer and phone by a variety of means. There are even apps so they would have to get past your phone lock and the app password.

You can start getting into a routine but censor it to only things you wouldn't mind other people reading. This lets you create a habit while also safeguarding yourself, gaining confidence, and seeing if anyone is interested in creeping on you.

Not foul proof, but hide it, booby trap it, buy an old school lock and key or password-protected diary of some sort. At least keep it out of the way so it's not say sitting on the coffee table tempting people.

They also make reusable notebooks (I'm gonna link the one I want). You can write, take a picture with your phone that goes to an app (again password protected phone), then erase and reuse. Now, I want to try this because as much as I love my notebooks, I typically fill them and then throw them away, and this method would save paper and trees. I'm not sure how I will really feel using it, there is something wondrous about starting a brand new gorgeous journal, and pen to paper, but I want to give it a go when I use up the other ones I already have.

(this is a paid link)

Throw them away. Ok, this works on a couple of levels. I tend to dogear things I want to keep and then when I fill the journal, transcribe those things to another notebook that I keep. So then I toss them because I don't like clutter. As far as spies go though, if it isn't laying around they aren't going to happen upon it and give it a read. You can also, of course, write and tear pages out to dispose of as you go along, or at least if it is very personal.

Lastly, I don't want to say this lightly, there are definitely relationships where people are manipulated and the contents of your journal could be used against you. I'm not talking about you here. Please get help however you can. If that isn't you but you have major trust issues, maybe it's time to work through those and put yourself out there. Worst case, in a loving relationship, or family setting, if they do get curious and give it a read you can have an ugly uncomfortable discussion on boundaries, and whatever they felt the need to bring up. Sometimes it's nice to actually have the conversation out of our heads and learn and practice setting boundaries.

......side note, if YOU are a snooper, stop that sh*t right now, it's not cool, no ok, a violation of privacy and you should be ashamed of yourself. Go grab yourself your own journal or go to therapy and figure out why you are the way you are.

Let me know how you feel about this one, and I apologize, it turned out not so short once I got going.