About 10 years ago, I took my nearly 100 journals and notebooks and scanned them onto a hard drive and shredded them all. The process took approximately 2 years to do. I did it at night when the kids were asleep, when the house was quiet. There are moments of would l have liked to flip through them now, but I I glad I cleansed my life of them. I still have them digitally and it now only takes the space of a single hard drive in my desk.

I could never get rid of my journals (as far as I know), but I totally commend you for being honest with yourself and keeping the things that bring you joy and letting go of what no longer serves you! I love your idea to make a bound book of lovely memories, I think this will work well for you because it's like curating just the good stuff!

I shredded all of my journals for the last 12 years. I tried to edit like you did, but it was all too much. So, on a full moon last April they all walked out of my life. I felt nothing but relief, it was a spiritual cleansing for me.

I've been going in circles with my journals. About a year ago I decided to start typing them all out. I thought maybe it'll be like therapy, to revisit it all. Except... majority of it is pure pain and anger, with hardly any good memories. Anything good is buried away and would take forever to find. These are journals I've kept for years and years, through the darkest times and through times when I made decisions from a broken place. And I'm so glad I came across your video because I don't think I can sit and revisit all this all in order to preserve my horrible past. The idea was to save it all in a flash drive. Takes less room in my minimalist life, but also... because I'm scared of disappearing. I'm already at a stage in my minimalist journey where I'm ready to downsize to backpack level, ready for this freedom. But I've been stuck and my journals are one big chunk of what I'm still struggling to let go (amongst other things that validate my existence). You helped me make the decision to lightly go through them, see if there actually is anything worth saving and then have a ritualistic bonfire, where I will burn away a lot of old photos that I wouldn't share with anyone, ever. If I won't share it or feel good looking at them, it's time to let go. I'm still keeping one of my old journals. I've used it on and off because it's larger than majority of the journals I kept. The smaller ones were easier to carry with me everywhere. So I'll continue with this one when I need to vent, but like you, after a life of journaling, I'm not writing like I used to. I don't need it for I've found peace and other coping mechanism. Again, so glad I found your video. Thank you!

THIS IS SOOOOOO GOOD! It's therapy....write down what you feel...then "let it go!" GREAT info! Thank you!

I have a tub of journals spanning the last 45 years. I have felt a need to “do something” with these and move on. I would say mostly my journals were my way to process whatever was going on in my world. This week I randomly chose journals from 7 year spans to read. So far I only want to toss them! I like the photos showing them, I like the idea of cutting out the memories that are special. Not sure I need to work that hard, maybe just need to let go. “Thank you for what you taught me, goodbye.” May decide to shred them for the worms. Your process is helpful to me.

Been journaling since I was 8 as well as keeping notebooks of spiritual learning, things I’m learning, goals, to do lists, and I’ve kept a lot of my old planners. On top of all of that I have pictures, old programs and mentos from travels, etc. So overwhelming (and has been for years)!! I’ve read Kon Mari’s book and have worked through most of the categories, but this is one I keep getting stuck on- papers and then sentimental journals/pictures. I haven’t been sure where to even start and this has given me some great ideas and motivation to keep going with it!!

So far, I was only able to dispose my first journal. I also wanted to keep some of it but I don't have the energy to rewrite them all so what I did instead was to cut those memorable pages and paste, attach or staple them into a different notebook.

Thank you for your thoughtful presentation of this topic! I’m almost 65 and have a ton of journals... love your ideas 🙏💕

This was definitely confirmation for me. Every point you’ve mentioned i agree with! I’ve been journaling since I was 17 (ironically the age i was in my profile picture) But, i’m now 20 with a total of 6 journals. It’s hard to let go, but it’s also exciting to be open to receive the new! Holding on and looking back is self destructive. They served their purpose, now i’m moving on ❤️

Oh phew! I’m so glad you’re editing and keeping some of the good memories! I was worried you were just going to toss them all. I’m a very forgetful person and I would give anything to have a bunch of journals from the time I was 16 to now. I do have one diary from when I was a teenager and it’s hilarious and I treasure it.

I was watching other videos on how to get rid of old journals. This is, by far, the most honest, straight forward video I've come across. Thank you so much! Others are not as detailed, or they want to come across like an influencer with the editting, the music, the fake lashes, fake nails. One woman commented how much lighter she felt, but she really didn't look that way on her face (maybe she felt that's what her audience would expect her to feel?) Thank you so much! I don't feel so badly about throwing them away. I really like your ideas of putting them in a separate bag, thanking the wisdom. I love that you are 'rewriting the script' to now be in your favor. Wonderful!

This is a very interesting video. I don't think I could ever get rid of my journals. To be honest my favorite things about journals is that i don't have to edit myself. Life is filled with ups and downs and so are my journals. I would get rid of my books before I get rid of my journals. I would definitely rather have bookshelves filled with journals of my own writings than books filled with other people's writings. Do what works best for you. Morning pages is a good idea for when you just want to work through some things and then toss it out. Just buy cheap notebooks for that.

I have been contemplating doing this for such a long time… This video is so concise. Thank you so much for sharing this! Such a motivational and transformative video, thank you.

I know it’s been four years since you released this. Love the quotes you shared; things I learned from the are…“The important things are few in number and are written into your soul.”; “thank the bad experiences for their lessons and put them behind you”; and also-journal entries serve their purpose simply by being written. I’ve done morning pages-they are a good tool collecting what needed to be written, but not kept. TFS

I think this is a brilliant idea haha I don't understand why everyone is freaking out. It's the same for me I just wanna keep the stuff that makes me happy to read so I'm very thankful to have found your video and with that a method for editing my journals! They are only 7 or so left since I threw out the rest already but I feel so much lighter already :))) Hopefully will get down to one!

I have journals that I have not thrown away because of what they have good quotes, drawings, and memories. Your idea of creating a bound book is something I need to think about

First I just want to say I do respect you're decision. I don't blame for wanting to get rid of them and edit out the bad stuff. But for me personally I don't think I will do that. I'm almost 18 and I officially started journaling around 16. I documented alot of stuff, some of those were bad memories. Even though they are bad I can still learn from them. Because bad things are always going to happen in life, no matter what age you are. And you're always gonna end up doing embarrassing or stupid things. I think documenting all of that in a journal can help with self awareness. At least it did for me. Plus I don't like erasing history. So I'll probably keep the horrible memories in my journals. I can look back on them and be proud by the fact I pulled through. If I do end up getting rid of my journals. First I'm going to scan them into a pdf. That way I can have them forever.

i like how you say you've healed and you want to move on. i feel like i need to be loyal to these memories but they're are like a glowing weight emanating something to me - which doesn't feel positive, yet I'm finding it difficult to take the plunge and shred them!

I love your idea! I think I will go through and pull out some stories I want to preserve for my daughter and all of my poetry to make a book to pass to her someday.

Thanks for posting this, right now in the process of archiving/digitizing my 24 years worth of journals (theres about 30 in total) using an app on my phone where you just flip through the pages and it automatically scans them. Yes, it's too much physical baggage, and I live pretty minimalist nowadays. I've already done this with all my old sketchbooks, (I'm an artist) which somehow was easier to do than get rid of journals. The idea of shredding or burning them got me teary eyed, as it feels like putting to death the "old self". Which is necessary though. I'm feeling more confident about my choice to destroy all these old reminders of my past. And if for some reason I need to recall a memory, I can always look at the PDF's. Besides- you can't take any of it with you anyway into the next life, I remind myself of this often.

This was so helpful! I relate to a lot of what you said. Thanks!

That's so funny that Morning Pages are becoming a trend because my acting professor had us do it as part of our class! Idk if it started as an acting exercise though:) My best advice is not to worry about tutorials for them--the whole point is that you DON'T think about what you're writing down. Every day might have a different purpose, and that's okay! Maybe one day you know you need to work through something upsetting, so you write about that for the whole 3 pages. Maybe one day you have nothing to say, so you just ramble about how boring it is to write nonsense! Maybe one day you don't realize what the point of your writing was until you're done, or maybe you still don't see the point of what you wrote. All of those are okay! I was surprised at how it helped even on the days I felt like I wasn't writing anything "meaningful." Glad you are clearing out some of the bad memories! I also have a fear of forgetting, but I've never been a journaler haha. I think your compromise is a good one! And I totally get you about not wanting to throw them in with all your kitchen trash. Are you going to recycle the paper and just toss the journal itself?

This was a GOD SEND!!! We are the same person apparently and I needed all of this. I dont know about typing it all out…but definitely at least cutting and pasting if they are short passages. But if I have to I will type them up. Thank you!! And my husband will be very grateful as well. 😂

I needed this!

I very much enjoyed this. I have wanted to get rid of my journals too because there is painful stuff in them, but I have things I want to keep in the journals like poems, dreams and their analysis, encounters with strangers and their stories, notes from retreats, theories and insights about life and different situations, drawings and notes on places I have been during my life when travelling ; so I like your idea of editing and giving thanks before letting go of that which is just emotional baggage Thank you for sharing your insights

I’m worried about what people might read if something were to happen to me. I have 59 journals and have been struggling with what to do with them. I know I need to edit them and find the worthwhile things to keep...

I probably should have watched your vid before shredding my journals.

Gonna do this . I wanna do it for a restart . ✨

I Love this video!! Thank you sharing your process. Have been carting my journals around for 30 years!! I burned some last year, but thrn worried i should have checked in there first. I may edit the rest and then burn them. Thank you.

Your Healthy! because you journal. Great info and lessons from your healthy way of thinking. I am following your lead..............!

Hi! I just saw your video and since it's been quite awhile, I was wondering if you've read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. It's where the Morning and Night Pages originated from and it's basically, word vomit and brain dumping. In the morning so that you have a clearer mind and purpose for your day and a sense of priority as to what needs to be done for that day and again at night to clear your mind for a restful sleep so your mind is not going off on all these different tangents keeping you awake. Since you mentioned that you were simply going to trash any paper or pages you'll be using for Night pages, I was wondering if it would be more beneficial to use a small whiteboard or something like a Boogie Board or even a reusable notebook like the Rocketbook to reduce paper waste? I too am getting overwhelmed with my growing collection of journals and have decided to type them up and create a journal template using Keynote (Powerpoint equivalent) and keep them as a PDF or export them in an eBook format that way if I have to move or disaster strikes, it's way easier to carry a small thumb drive and run than lug around 2+ heavy boxes of journals.

As a writer I truly enjoy journaling. I still have the little journals with the lock and key (as if that would keep anyone out) from my childhood and one of my grandmother's journals. I will say this: WARNING, WARNING, WARNING!!!! Things can happen and what was meant for ONLY oneself can find itself in other hands. Two personal anecdotes: When I was clearing out my grandmother's condo after she died, I heard a rustling sound when I pulled out one of her dresser drawers. I took that drawer completely out as well as the one above it and, to my utmost surprise, found a series of letters from someone she had apparently been engaged to and then called it off. I sat with my mouth hanging open reading this entire part of my grandmother's life (and I was the only grandchild) that I knew nothing about. She apparently wanted to keep the letters but not have them found so taping them underneath one of her dresser drawers where no one looks and I wouldn't have found or heard them if the drawer underneath had not been so full I had to use my hand to push the clothes down to open the drawer, thus rubbing against the letters. I still have them. No idea why. This one hits closer to home. My mother was very private with her thoughts and I've heard her say many times, "People can make me do something but they can never know what I'm thinking." I never thought to ask who the "people" making her do something were but that thought seemed deeply ingrained in her. She was the eldest child and only daughter and lived in Appalachia where their sustenance depended on a LOT of hard work...from everyone. Maybe her parents...maybe her teachers...maybe her first husband (my father) who, unfortunately was abusive to her...the point is that she was very proud of NO ONE knowing what she thought. She loved books and calendars but she also told me several times she was afraid to write anything down to leave behind for someone to find. Sadly, several years ago my mother developed vascular dementia. She is now 89 and my step-father 91 and amazes me how much he gets done but trying to keep up their very large home, take care of their little diabetic, blind dog who was my mother's joy, PLUS take care of her became next to impossible. Just trying to convince her to take her medication was a major battle twice a day and most times she absolutely refused, linking medication with the fear that my step-father and I were plotting to put her in a nursing home when we were working hard to keep from that. Her health, including BP and thyroid since she would take NO MEDS, was on a quick nosedive so a memory care facility was the next step. Amazingly, my mother has blossomed there. She is so much healthier, gained her weight back, takes her meds from the staff and if one did not know about the dementia, it is not apparent. She dresses stylishly and loves her jewelry. Her hair is cut and colored monthly and my step-father takes her out at least 2x/week for lunch and shopping. But back to privacy - shortly after Mother went to memory care, step-father asked me to go through her office to clear out things no longer needed, take photos and any sentimental items I wanted and the rest he was throwing out. Given Mother's penchant for privacy, I was surprised to find a gorgeous, leather bound journal with pages where the pulp is slightly apparent. I should have left it there but my step-father was throwing away anything and everything that did not include him with her so I didn't want to lose any more sentimental items and from binge watching YT journaling videos, I knew it was quite expensive. Expecting to see it was blank, I opened it to view the paper and was surprised to see my Mother's writing - a bit shaky in places which indicated to me it was at the beginning of her dementia. She didn't write much in it, just a few sentences here and there on the first few pages. The first entry indicated it was a gift from a former neighbor who had become a dear friend to Mother. Unfortunately, the friend died suddenly and unexpectedly shortly after moving to another town so I know the journal is dear to my mother. I was going to return it to her THEN I saw some negative comments about me...things I never knew upset her and would have rectified, but her pre-dementia self kept emotions in check and was the peacemaker of any situation. When she finally admitted she had "memory issues" I asked her what it was like. She used a car analogy and said, "It's like I don't have a governor; whatever I think or feel, I just let it out." I looked at the date she had written about me and it was about that time. Since then she has been through many phases - in some she adored me, saying one of the happiest days of her life was when I was born then progressed on to not wanting me in the house and accused me of stealing her wigs. Moral of both stories - if one wants to keep their thoughts completely private - maybe not writing them down at all is a good idea. Mother had no idea her thoughts would be read...and by me!! - she didn't know she'd develop dementia. The journal was in the very back of a decorative cabinet and she didn't know her daughter would be tasked to clear the room. Similarly, my grandmother likely thought she had hidden the letters so well that if anyone ever found them, they would be someone who purchased the furniture and not a family member. My grandmother is deceased but I still feel guilty about her journal. I'm a huge fan of journals; they are very therapeutic to me but I also am one who expresses emotion freely - good or bad (unfortunately) so I would have no issue with anyone reading my journals.

Your voice is identical to Nora from Desperate housewives haha. Random but had to say it because it’s uncanny! Also omg if you’re throwing out your journals pls either sleep on it for a year or scan all of your pages... one of my biggest regrets is binning my teenage journals two years ago :(

I burnt them 😂

Curious as it's been four years, were you able to finish the compilation book of the memories you decided to keep?

I’ve been really careful with my words after that 😂

What's a journal? What is it all about? Thanks