Prologue

When I came into university, I knew I didn’t want my days and thoughts to go unrecorded. I didn’t want to let it simply fly by like the years that I had in secondary school and junior college. So, I started keeping a journal, writing in it occasionally, especially during the peaks and troughs of my college life. And last year I made myself write a journal entry every week. Sometimes they’re boring records of the week, and sometimes they contain thoughts that’ve been sitting in my mind.

Looking at my past posts has been rewarding and I’m glad that I made a habit of journaling my weeks and stuck to it. I suspect that the simple act of reflecting on my week has made me happier and more grateful. It’s harder to feel like I’m simply going through the motions, being aimlessly busy, when I start looking back on the week, noting the things that have happened and the things that I’ve done, and appreciating my week that’s passed. I stopped this habit for awhile at the start of this semester and was considerably unhappier for it—not journaling wasn’t the sole contributing factor, but that ennui felt terribly real.

I gained impetus to start writing publicly after reading Julie Zhou’s article. I was inspired by her call to start writing in 2016 — no more but’s. I’ve always wanted to be able to write well. I think that there’s value in being able to express yourself and your ideas coherently and convincingly in words. And then there’s the part about how writing preserves one’s thoughts in time. So, I’m making myself write here, and hopefully the thought of someone else being able to read this would make me write better and not navel gaze.