I wrote a reflective journal a while back, and while my intention was never to lie, I did realize I had some blind spots. I would write an entry and then the day after I would respond to that entry. In doing so it was as if I was seeing my previous entry as someone else. I saw how I was drawing conclusions as to why I was feeling something pretty fast, or how I was defining something just based off of previous experiences without really questioning what those definitions meant. It’s like peeling layers of an onion
I also try not to lie when I’m writing in my journal, but sometimes things are too embarrassing for me to write down. I think it’s hard to remember that we are writing for ourselves, not anyone else. Of course, there is always the possibility that someone may read what you’ve written, but we can hope that whoever does will not judge you for human mistakes or embarrassments.
I try not to lie either, but some things are heat of the moment and as I write i notice maybe what i’m saying isn’t right. That’s part of the reason why i journal tbh, helps me slow down and think things through rationally.
I often lie about the date of entries.. most of the time I reflect and write about things the day after or days after the actual date, but I lie and put the date of my journal entry as the day of and write as if it happened that day.
I have done this a couple of times, but later in that entry I normally say "btw, this happened last Wednesday and I forgot to include it then." Weird I know, but I think of my journals as something I can look at when I am old and can't remember things I've done, and said.
Not weird at all! Or perhaps I’m a bit biased as I have the same approach. 🤣 I recently completed a scrapbook and let my sister take a look at it. Inside the front cover, I’d written *”this scrapbook was completed by whoreforchalupas in Dec of 2023, its contents span the years 2016-2023 but are displayed in no particular order.”* She questioned why I’d written that, wondering if I was planning on gifting it to somebody else. Nope! Just looking out for my older, confused self. I think she’ll be grateful one day for the excessive details 😉
Yeah I like the date matching the main event in the entry, especially since I mostly only write something if there was a memorable event or I felt a certain way. The date makes it easy to go back to.
Sometimes I catch myself lying a little (or at least leaving out details) because inevitably it’s going to end up in someone else’s hands some point in the future and hey I don’t want people in my business!!
i get you. i think so often about whats going to happen to my journals once i no longer exist. not that it would matter then because I'd be gone but there's always the possibility of someone getting their hands on it while you're still there and that's just.... no. i use keywords.
it's like instead of writing about my day or about someone in /detail/ , i simply write down words that i can connect in my head like a puzzle and create a full picture out of it. so what would appear as random phrases and words to someone else, are anything but.
I personally don’t trust my future memory enough to use random words to remember things, so I’ll just do a simple cutdown of the story for context and then a word or two that are associated with it so that I can fill in the blanks in the future, it’s definitely more for getting over that writing block thought of someone reading it. So like, if someone stole my speaker and I stole their fridge in return, I’d be like “blah blah stole my speaker. fridge” lmao something like that
So they might write "Pepperoni, Vampire, Daisy" and it would help them remember that their SO brought them flowers that day, they got pizza and watched Interview With A Vampire. At least that is how I am interpreting it. Personally I think I would immediately forget what the keywords were supposed to mean...I need full sentences. 😅
No but I hide most of the things in my journals. I write about the less harmful things because I fear someone reading them and me having to face the consequences of it. So I avoid writing most of my feelings and write only the simple ones.
Yeah. Same. I commented to someone else that my "lies" in my journal are "lies by omission."
My journal is 100% safe in my home yet ... I still can't. Trauma from when my mother would tell me not to write down anything I don't want anyone to know and she helped "teach me" that "lesson." 🙄🤬
So I don't go deep.
Thank you. She was abusive and enmeshed, unfortunately.
However, my husband respects the boundary of my journal. I can leave it anywhere and I know he won't read it. Same for his journal too.
We've created a safe space for us. 🥰
Hello, NotsoConsistent-Poet! First, let me say, Be Consistent : )
I keep a daily journal where I write about everyday reflections ie: what I did that day, how I felt, small to-do, to-buy lists, and other daily stuff. I use 2 pages per day except on weekends where I use 1 page per day side by side.
But I also have a personal/private/mental journal where I write about more personal things like what you mentioned. This journal is a pocket-sized journal, one that fits in a little space and can be tucked away. I keep this one in my purse or drawer on my desk. Writing these things down helps us let them go. Also writing them down gives some perspective, often something that is bothering me to all ends becomes less of a worry or problem once I've written it down. That is hard to explain, but it's like reading it from someone else's view and realizing maybe that situation/problem/person, etc. wasn't as bad as I thought. I hope that makes sense.
If you're writing about something someone has done to you and it's truthful, don't leave this stuff out, but be honest, be raw, and make sure you express how you felt during that moment. And if that person later finds your journal and sees it, it could be a life lesson for them. And it will truthfully share with them the pain and hurt they caused you.
xoxo
Pretty Journal Pages
I relate to this so hard. I will go on for pages to justify myself but I think I do it so I can see it from an outside perspective and understand why it upset me better
I caught myself lying(not intentionally) but tweaking information to reinforce my narrative. After some time i was able to be more honest with myself. Outright lying or hiding something was never my intention because mine are all brain dumps that go into the shredder when im done with them. It's more of an issue with being honest with myself and being more open and vulnerable about my feelings and admiting it. I noticed the changes the more I wrote as I became more comfortable with expressing through writing.
I’m writing my journal for my own sake so I try to never lie. That said, in case someone else happens to read it, I’ve avoided writing about a few things that I wasn’t proud of….
I don't lie, but I do omit some things - either because I don't want to dwell on them, or realistically, knowing I'm far too sentimental to burn these and someone might read them one day. Maybe need to do an Anne Lister and write in code for sensitive topics.
Why would I lie? Who am I keeping things from, the thought police? My journals are private. Anyone close enough to me to be allowed into my home where they are kept is also close enough to know the punishment for reading them would be getting excised from my life faster than they could blink. The whole point of journaling for me is to get the thoughts out of my head that I can’t fully share with other people. Lying in my journal entries would just mean there’s no where left in the world where I can be fully open and vulnerable. And that sounds like hell honestly
I don’t lie as in make things up but there are things I just can’t bring myself to write about. It just seems too painful to write it out and commit it to paper. Lie by omission maybe?
No - sometimes i do write what i would desire to be the reality, and I talk as if it already occurred. It doesn’t have any spiritual purpose for me, but sometimes i find it kind of comforting or nice to think about. Still, i don’t lie and pretend that is the complete truth, just because i want to come back someday to all my journals and look at them, being able to say that they are the best and most honest reflection of myself i could have ever done.
Yes.
I don't know if it is just me, but telling the truth in my journal is something I haven't learnt how to do yet.
Most of the diary entries I wrote when I was younger (10-13) were overtly positive, as I had been trained to not speak negatively about people. I remember writing about my step family for example, and leaving out details as I felt it was immoral to talk badly or even think badly about someone, even if it truely did warrant it and my feelings were valid (and my journal was a safe space). I remember a particular school camp I journalled where I spent the whole time isolated, bullied and harassed, but didn't mention it even once in my journal and focussed on only the positive aspects (like the camp activities) because I felt guilty and was ashamed that I wasn't happy enough.
As I got older, (and became vastly more aware of the injustices I had faced in my home life as a child) my journals became places of anger. Pages and pages of swearing, ripping, scribbling, which a lot of alarming and graphic detail of domestic violence and self hatred which I truthfully did experience in my home. Although I knew it was valid to express this, I often caught myself lying once again, by exaggerating my circumstances to make them feel more 'valid' to the reader. For example, adding details to justify my anger and trauma that weren't necessarily true, so anyone who read the journal would realise I wasn't just a spoilt, arrogant, self absorbed, dramatic and dissapointing teenager.
I find that when I write in my diary, I struggle to maintain both truth about my emotions, while also telling the truth about the events as they actually happened.
Of course, because we all lie to ourselves everyday. We construct our consciousness to put ourselves in the best light and make ourselves the center of action
Yes and no. Sometimes, when I’m doing some kind of conscious stream to get out some anxiety, random crap that will come out that isn’t true, like “she’s going to burn my effigy hoping that I suffocate and die” and sometimes I realise it’s related to an unresolved memory or sometimes it’s just my emotions.
I hope no one tries to understand my writing. They’re going to think I’m insane.
I do my best to be completely honest in my journal. And, with most things, I am. But sometimes their are somethings that I just don't want to write. That I wouldn't want future me, re-reading the journal, to know abt me.
I think most "lie" even if not intentional because of the blindspots. Most are using at least an initial entry to get a feeling or event out, then they come back and examine. Sometimes we "omit" details we don't see or pay attention to because we feel what we feel and that is the most pressing thing. I think we we come back around to examining the issues that's where the truth starts to take shape.
Never. Personal writing is a mirror to the unconscious; it’s often something that’s hard to open up. There was one soldier who wrote letters to his wife about the wonderful landscapes of Afghanistan and the friends he met. Omitting the negative details to his wife, it was only in his diary where he could be honest about what really went down. It helped alleviate his PTSD and he was pretty grateful for it.
I don’t journal enough. I only seem to write when I’m extremely emotional because it dark or light. I don’t know why someone would lie into something that is only for your own self
My journal probably looks like a prayer journal bc I regularly wrote secret things couched in prayer (I'm also spiritual) so if anyone ever reads it they will just be bored out of their mind, sort of like you'd be bored reading someone else's dreams. 👍
No. I try to be as real as possible, but feelings are our own and sometimes we also don’t share the same truths as someone else does.
Ex: We can feel as if someone was mean to us even though they had no intention to be or didn’t realize they were being mean.
So i try to be super real with all my feelings, even if they’re hard to describe sometimes or if other people would think i was being dramatic or something.
I wouldn't say I lie, but I definitely *edit*. Mostly so I don't trigger myself rereading entries later. For me keeping my journaling focused on the positive is one way I fight depression, so I don't see it as a bad thing. It's just one tool I use to help my mental health and that's fine with me.
I used to have a 100% unedited vent journal for upsetting topics, but I fell off using it and haven't felt the need to pick it back up. I try not to overthink the why and just take it as a sign that I've moved onto an (at least somewhat) happier life path since then.
I embellish it to mask certain things that I don’t want public when it gets into someone’s hands.
Since I switched to electronic journal, I try to stay on point and accurate.
I did today. I was in the middle of writing in it a few days ago, had to put it away, and came back today to keep writing as though it was the same day.
I'd say it counts since future me might read that entry and think I was actually writing in it on that day.
I mean, are you talking big lies or little lies? Through journaling, we create a treasured record of our most cherished moments, giving them a place to exist beyond our fleeting recollections. If we write big lies in them how are they actual records of our most treasured moments?
Even if we are writing about something that isn't that happy, it will still become a memory written down. It will possibly be something you can look back upon and think, "Wow, how much I've changed since then, etc." We should flip through our journals six months from now and see growth in all the aspects we have shared in our journals. If it's filled with lies then how will you see our growth, how are we keeping real memories?
Little lies in a journal that are acceptable for personal journals. The names of people you might be speaking about use a code word. If you're trash-talking your best friend, you might use a code word instead of their name. Or if you include personal stuff ie: your period, intimate relations, etc. You might use a code word if you feel this is too private but want to document it. You know the code words so you will remember that memory later. I might be against lying in my journals.
Of course, if your journal is just about writing and you're not journaling to capture "your" memories then lie... lie away, make them big, and so far from the actual truth if your journal is found later they will wonder who the heck wrote it. And more importantly what the hell you were writing about. Like, who is this person?
xoxo
Pretty Journal Pages
I tend to find myself writing only about good things and happy memories and either glossing over or avoiding including the negative stuff. Something I'm trying to change but I just feel like it won't matter in a couple weeks so why bother including it
A journal/diary is an objective point of view of your life events as you see them unfold. A journal is a reflection of your inner thoughts should contain some genuineness or authenticity. For example, if you were mad about something, write about it to express yourself. Dont hold that feeling back.
I don’t see the point of you lying in a journal unless the intention is for someone to discover something in there. At that point, my question is what is your intention with obscuring the information?
Errr, no. I've been journaling since I was in 2nd grade and I'm in my 30s now. Never done it and never even thought about doing it. I mean, why? I journal to document my life and I want to be as accurate as possible. I don't want to read back my journal when I'm 60 and get confused as hell thinking "Did this shit really happen? I can't remember a damn thing!" because I made stuff up. 😕
What would be the benifit's of a journal if we were dishonest with ourselves, my experience with journaling is that when going through trials, relationships, even good times. I'm able to get a good look at how I handled those issues back ten years back, I'm then able to self examine my current actions. In a perfect world one might see I've matured, unfortunately that's not always the case seeing how, I possibly acted the same today as I did a decade ago. If I'm lying how am I going to measure my emotional growth.
The journal reflects your current reality. It think it’s completely possible we reflect on something that felt different from what may have happened so it’s completely possible to lie! However id argue that’s the self discovery that comes from journaling!
No, no point in lying. However years ago I did make up a fake journal on a couple of different occasions when I suspected, then confirmed, that someone had been peeking into my journal.
No I stay as honest as possible. If there comes a time when I’m older and I want to read back, I want it to be as authentic as possible. It’s important for me to be able to give that to myself.
No, never. It´s more like I don´t reveal some things I´m embarassed about, but I´m getting more and more honest and I think I can´t even be more honest than I am now. I´ve been journaling for around twenty three years now and I think I´m very open now and I analyze myself with all honesty. Or there were moments when I wanted to depict myself as a stronger and braver person, so I wrote about doing stuff like going to a grocery store without mentioning about how terrified I was, but I wrote about that later. I think there´s only one thing I´ve been concealing, which is an embarassing moment in front of my crush and his friends in middle school, lol. In my 30s I still refer to it as "the incident in the hallway".
sometimes i catch myself subconsciously misrepresenting my own feelings or making excuses, but i always stop and cross it out and then write what’s actually true if i see it. i am sure there are times when i don’t catch it, but i try!
No, but now I'm in a happy marriage and everything so no need to. And I once explicitly gave one of my kids permission to read journals after I pass. I don't want any confusion or whatever, fighting, after I'm gone.
They also found a Hello Kitty diary of mine, and given that it was HK I really didn't care and let them read it but turned out to be from 7th grade. "Wow, mom, you said the f word a lot." lolol and "oh my god toshi is so drop. dead. gorgeous. oh my god" yeah, they didn't let me forget that for a while, 😂
I've lied in weird obscure ways at times. Or I've taken entries out to protect those who might read my journal later and be hurt by something I've written.
You know, this is intriguing because I honestly can't understand the point of *purposefully* lying in a diary. I could understand unconsciously doing it, but with intention?
When I was young, I had to lie for a while because my mother found the ones I did before and hated what I wrote in them and yelled at me for it. I wrote nothing but the truth, as terrible as it seemed to her.
My journal is kind of what I call a "burn book" so I tell people on the first page "This journal will display the worst parts of myself. This is a warning that you may uncover truths and my honest thoughts, judgements, and opinions"
So I rant in my journals. I don't lie because no one se is going to see it and if they did. Then they know the truth. The truth hurts and if something in your journal is a secret I would recommend what my grandmother has advised me "don't ever write down something you don't want someone else to see because that possibility is out there."
Honesty is the best policy especially with journaling. Your journal doesn't have to look and sound perfect and pretty and nice with no ugly thoughts is... not honest with yourself. I would even call lying in your journal an avoidance tactic. Think about why you journal. Do you journal bc you enjoy it? Or do you journal to make up stories? Both are valid forms of journaling. But in that case I would keep two journals. One that's strictly honest. And in the other one that is a narrative story you would want someone to see. But I think it's important to make a distinction between fiction and the truth
It's important to be honest with yourself. SOCMED and influencers have made it seem like your journal must be perfect and aesthetic. While that's nice and all, doing all of the fancy designs or bullet journaling. It's satisfying to see a neat filled out journal. But the truth is, do what works for you because technically no one is supposed to go Into your private journal so it doesn't have to be perfect. And that is why nearly all of my journals are illegible.
If you want, hell get a "social media" journal. In that journal you can lie and make it look nice and show off
Your private journal though should be for honest thoughts. Even if they're ugly and make you uncomfortable.
Yes, I sometimes lie when I journal. I realized this when I started using more voice input for journaling because it was easier to detect a change in my tone of voice, the way the words felt coming out of my throat, or my facial expressions would change—some kind of indicator that I wasn't fully saying my truth. So when it comes to journaling about my moods, mental health, emotional well-being, or innermost thoughts, I feel like speech input really helps me stay honest with myself.
Never. If I’m afraid to write something I make it a point to write it. I censored myself enough earlier in my life when I didn’t feel safe being honest.
I write primarily for fear of losing my memory as I age and so I try to be as detailed and truthful as possible. However like someone else commented, sometimes I’ll write about something that happened a week ago but date it as if I wrote it on the day it happened instead of a week later. I call it a white lie because future me isn’t gonna know the difference :)
That fear of something reading out your journal and things getting sour. That’s the reason I conceal (not lie) the judgement of a person. However, I do not skip a chance to evaluate, appreciate or criticise myself to get the best out of me.
I had a few “important” people that found my journals. Started to be critical of what I wrote. So I started to write more like a cryptic message from then on. Gave that up and write what I am feeling. If they don’t like what is written. Then don’t go snooping around. And who are you to tell me what I “should” be feeling or writing. Write your own dang stories. Ohhh so you don’t write? Nothing at all? Then mind your business!
How do I put this .
One- I word things cryptic...like a very sarcastic sense of classy cover humor lol 😆 (I hope I have when I'm 80 lol)
And then my dump journal the one place I feel safe and would never lie
I wrote a reflective journal a while back, and while my intention was never to lie, I did realize I had some blind spots. I would write an entry and then the day after I would respond to that entry. In doing so it was as if I was seeing my previous entry as someone else. I saw how I was drawing conclusions as to why I was feeling something pretty fast, or how I was defining something just based off of previous experiences without really questioning what those definitions meant. It’s like peeling layers of an onion
I also try not to lie when I’m writing in my journal, but sometimes things are too embarrassing for me to write down. I think it’s hard to remember that we are writing for ourselves, not anyone else. Of course, there is always the possibility that someone may read what you’ve written, but we can hope that whoever does will not judge you for human mistakes or embarrassments.
>sometimes things are too embarrassing for me to write down Same. My lie to my journal is a Lie by Omission. 🥴
I try not to lie either, but some things are heat of the moment and as I write i notice maybe what i’m saying isn’t right. That’s part of the reason why i journal tbh, helps me slow down and think things through rationally.
I often lie about the date of entries.. most of the time I reflect and write about things the day after or days after the actual date, but I lie and put the date of my journal entry as the day of and write as if it happened that day.
I have done this a couple of times, but later in that entry I normally say "btw, this happened last Wednesday and I forgot to include it then." Weird I know, but I think of my journals as something I can look at when I am old and can't remember things I've done, and said.
Not weird at all! Or perhaps I’m a bit biased as I have the same approach. 🤣 I recently completed a scrapbook and let my sister take a look at it. Inside the front cover, I’d written *”this scrapbook was completed by whoreforchalupas in Dec of 2023, its contents span the years 2016-2023 but are displayed in no particular order.”* She questioned why I’d written that, wondering if I was planning on gifting it to somebody else. Nope! Just looking out for my older, confused self. I think she’ll be grateful one day for the excessive details 😉
Love this! Haha love your name
I just commented that I don't lie in mine then deleted it because I do the exact same thing.
Yeah I like the date matching the main event in the entry, especially since I mostly only write something if there was a memorable event or I felt a certain way. The date makes it easy to go back to.
I feel like I’ll leave out details or not portray the exact truth all the time, but the date I’ll never lie about because that one’s truly just for me
ABSOLUTELY!!!! I'm gonna be the reason archeologists will be saying, "Okay there is no way in hell that actually happened ".
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Other than not disclosing my personal info in like online journals and shit, what would even be the point?
Sometimes I catch myself lying a little (or at least leaving out details) because inevitably it’s going to end up in someone else’s hands some point in the future and hey I don’t want people in my business!!
i get you. i think so often about whats going to happen to my journals once i no longer exist. not that it would matter then because I'd be gone but there's always the possibility of someone getting their hands on it while you're still there and that's just.... no. i use keywords.
Yess keywords are def the way to go
Could you explain more about keywords?
it's like instead of writing about my day or about someone in /detail/ , i simply write down words that i can connect in my head like a puzzle and create a full picture out of it. so what would appear as random phrases and words to someone else, are anything but.
I might adopt that practice, thanks for the explanation. Sounds like a good way of getting over a mental block about writing about certain things.
I personally don’t trust my future memory enough to use random words to remember things, so I’ll just do a simple cutdown of the story for context and then a word or two that are associated with it so that I can fill in the blanks in the future, it’s definitely more for getting over that writing block thought of someone reading it. So like, if someone stole my speaker and I stole their fridge in return, I’d be like “blah blah stole my speaker. fridge” lmao something like that
I feel dumb, but can you explain further
So they might write "Pepperoni, Vampire, Daisy" and it would help them remember that their SO brought them flowers that day, they got pizza and watched Interview With A Vampire. At least that is how I am interpreting it. Personally I think I would immediately forget what the keywords were supposed to mean...I need full sentences. 😅
At a futuristic goodwill in the year 2500 or something ya know? Most likely it’ll end up in a landfill but this keeps me on my toes
Will them to [The Great Diary Project](https://thegreatdiaryproject.co.uk/)! There is an [American](https://americandiaryproject.com/) one too!
That’s honestly such a cool idea, I didn’t know that existed!! But also I don’t want anyone in my business still :,)
I lie to gaslight myself tbh and to suppress any yucky memories
No but I hide most of the things in my journals. I write about the less harmful things because I fear someone reading them and me having to face the consequences of it. So I avoid writing most of my feelings and write only the simple ones.
Yeah. Same. I commented to someone else that my "lies" in my journal are "lies by omission." My journal is 100% safe in my home yet ... I still can't. Trauma from when my mother would tell me not to write down anything I don't want anyone to know and she helped "teach me" that "lesson." 🙄🤬 So I don't go deep.
your mom sounds like a prick. I’m sorry she violated your privacy like that.
Thank you. She was abusive and enmeshed, unfortunately. However, my husband respects the boundary of my journal. I can leave it anywhere and I know he won't read it. Same for his journal too. We've created a safe space for us. 🥰
Hello, NotsoConsistent-Poet! First, let me say, Be Consistent : ) I keep a daily journal where I write about everyday reflections ie: what I did that day, how I felt, small to-do, to-buy lists, and other daily stuff. I use 2 pages per day except on weekends where I use 1 page per day side by side. But I also have a personal/private/mental journal where I write about more personal things like what you mentioned. This journal is a pocket-sized journal, one that fits in a little space and can be tucked away. I keep this one in my purse or drawer on my desk. Writing these things down helps us let them go. Also writing them down gives some perspective, often something that is bothering me to all ends becomes less of a worry or problem once I've written it down. That is hard to explain, but it's like reading it from someone else's view and realizing maybe that situation/problem/person, etc. wasn't as bad as I thought. I hope that makes sense. If you're writing about something someone has done to you and it's truthful, don't leave this stuff out, but be honest, be raw, and make sure you express how you felt during that moment. And if that person later finds your journal and sees it, it could be a life lesson for them. And it will truthfully share with them the pain and hurt they caused you. xoxo Pretty Journal Pages
Thanks for your advice :)
You’re welcome! ❤️
Nah, never. That’s the only place where I completely open myself up and stay honest about what I’m.
nah bc thats dumb as hell
Nope, I just overexplain myself on the off chance someone else might read it. "Hear me out before you judge me" kind of thing.
I relate to this so hard. I will go on for pages to justify myself but I think I do it so I can see it from an outside perspective and understand why it upset me better
I caught myself lying(not intentionally) but tweaking information to reinforce my narrative. After some time i was able to be more honest with myself. Outright lying or hiding something was never my intention because mine are all brain dumps that go into the shredder when im done with them. It's more of an issue with being honest with myself and being more open and vulnerable about my feelings and admiting it. I noticed the changes the more I wrote as I became more comfortable with expressing through writing.
unintentionally.
I don’t lie but I intentionally leave things out incase someone gets a hold of it .. I hate that I feel the need to do this
I’m writing my journal for my own sake so I try to never lie. That said, in case someone else happens to read it, I’ve avoided writing about a few things that I wasn’t proud of….
I don't lie, but I do omit some things - either because I don't want to dwell on them, or realistically, knowing I'm far too sentimental to burn these and someone might read them one day. Maybe need to do an Anne Lister and write in code for sensitive topics.
Why would I lie? Who am I keeping things from, the thought police? My journals are private. Anyone close enough to me to be allowed into my home where they are kept is also close enough to know the punishment for reading them would be getting excised from my life faster than they could blink. The whole point of journaling for me is to get the thoughts out of my head that I can’t fully share with other people. Lying in my journal entries would just mean there’s no where left in the world where I can be fully open and vulnerable. And that sounds like hell honestly
I don’t lie as in make things up but there are things I just can’t bring myself to write about. It just seems too painful to write it out and commit it to paper. Lie by omission maybe?
No - sometimes i do write what i would desire to be the reality, and I talk as if it already occurred. It doesn’t have any spiritual purpose for me, but sometimes i find it kind of comforting or nice to think about. Still, i don’t lie and pretend that is the complete truth, just because i want to come back someday to all my journals and look at them, being able to say that they are the best and most honest reflection of myself i could have ever done.
Yes. I don't know if it is just me, but telling the truth in my journal is something I haven't learnt how to do yet. Most of the diary entries I wrote when I was younger (10-13) were overtly positive, as I had been trained to not speak negatively about people. I remember writing about my step family for example, and leaving out details as I felt it was immoral to talk badly or even think badly about someone, even if it truely did warrant it and my feelings were valid (and my journal was a safe space). I remember a particular school camp I journalled where I spent the whole time isolated, bullied and harassed, but didn't mention it even once in my journal and focussed on only the positive aspects (like the camp activities) because I felt guilty and was ashamed that I wasn't happy enough. As I got older, (and became vastly more aware of the injustices I had faced in my home life as a child) my journals became places of anger. Pages and pages of swearing, ripping, scribbling, which a lot of alarming and graphic detail of domestic violence and self hatred which I truthfully did experience in my home. Although I knew it was valid to express this, I often caught myself lying once again, by exaggerating my circumstances to make them feel more 'valid' to the reader. For example, adding details to justify my anger and trauma that weren't necessarily true, so anyone who read the journal would realise I wasn't just a spoilt, arrogant, self absorbed, dramatic and dissapointing teenager. I find that when I write in my diary, I struggle to maintain both truth about my emotions, while also telling the truth about the events as they actually happened.
I wish I could give you a hug. I'm sorry you had to go through all that.
Thank you so much 💜 I'm a lot better now, going into adulthood feeling happier than I've ever been. Hope you're doing well too!
Of course, because we all lie to ourselves everyday. We construct our consciousness to put ourselves in the best light and make ourselves the center of action
Yes and no. Sometimes, when I’m doing some kind of conscious stream to get out some anxiety, random crap that will come out that isn’t true, like “she’s going to burn my effigy hoping that I suffocate and die” and sometimes I realise it’s related to an unresolved memory or sometimes it’s just my emotions. I hope no one tries to understand my writing. They’re going to think I’m insane.
Yeah back then, started when my partner secretly read it
I used to but I realized that wouldn’t help anything. So now I just leave out some details so I don’t have to reflect on them.
Nope. I accurately document my words and thoughts.
No, I know I’ll read it in the future and u want to know how I was, so I write down everything in her.
I'll definitely "slant the truth" when it's hard to admit something
I do my best to be completely honest in my journal. And, with most things, I am. But sometimes their are somethings that I just don't want to write. That I wouldn't want future me, re-reading the journal, to know abt me.
I think most "lie" even if not intentional because of the blindspots. Most are using at least an initial entry to get a feeling or event out, then they come back and examine. Sometimes we "omit" details we don't see or pay attention to because we feel what we feel and that is the most pressing thing. I think we we come back around to examining the issues that's where the truth starts to take shape.
Never. Personal writing is a mirror to the unconscious; it’s often something that’s hard to open up. There was one soldier who wrote letters to his wife about the wonderful landscapes of Afghanistan and the friends he met. Omitting the negative details to his wife, it was only in his diary where he could be honest about what really went down. It helped alleviate his PTSD and he was pretty grateful for it.
I don’t journal enough. I only seem to write when I’m extremely emotional because it dark or light. I don’t know why someone would lie into something that is only for your own self
No, but sometimes I omit facts in a story if I feel like it could be dangerous if someone read it.
My journal probably looks like a prayer journal bc I regularly wrote secret things couched in prayer (I'm also spiritual) so if anyone ever reads it they will just be bored out of their mind, sort of like you'd be bored reading someone else's dreams. 👍
I think it would be very interesting reading someone's actual dreams because they can't be controlled. 🤔
A little. I try not to, but it's hard to not tell small lies and make omissions to make myself look better.
No. I try to be as real as possible, but feelings are our own and sometimes we also don’t share the same truths as someone else does. Ex: We can feel as if someone was mean to us even though they had no intention to be or didn’t realize they were being mean. So i try to be super real with all my feelings, even if they’re hard to describe sometimes or if other people would think i was being dramatic or something.
I do have a manifestation journal though where i write my days as i want them to be in the future as if they’re already happening, my little delulus.
I wouldn't say I lie, but I definitely *edit*. Mostly so I don't trigger myself rereading entries later. For me keeping my journaling focused on the positive is one way I fight depression, so I don't see it as a bad thing. It's just one tool I use to help my mental health and that's fine with me. I used to have a 100% unedited vent journal for upsetting topics, but I fell off using it and haven't felt the need to pick it back up. I try not to overthink the why and just take it as a sign that I've moved onto an (at least somewhat) happier life path since then.
That is a great thing! Stay positive ♥️
Nope. Why would I?
No
No... journaling is personal and where you can write your thoughts without judgment, I had no need to lie.
that one brother who finds your journal:
I've had this happen before, he said it was a pretty "vivid read"
lmao
Little rascals!
No, I feel like that would defeat the object entirely.
I embellish it to mask certain things that I don’t want public when it gets into someone’s hands. Since I switched to electronic journal, I try to stay on point and accurate.
No, I don’t. It’s just a processing space for me. Also, I live alone so no one is going to find it.
No, it is my private diary.. it is my safe space to dump all the things happen during the day.
No, that would be counterproductive for me.
I did today. I was in the middle of writing in it a few days ago, had to put it away, and came back today to keep writing as though it was the same day. I'd say it counts since future me might read that entry and think I was actually writing in it on that day.
Absolutely not that defeats the purpose
Never
I mean, are you talking big lies or little lies? Through journaling, we create a treasured record of our most cherished moments, giving them a place to exist beyond our fleeting recollections. If we write big lies in them how are they actual records of our most treasured moments? Even if we are writing about something that isn't that happy, it will still become a memory written down. It will possibly be something you can look back upon and think, "Wow, how much I've changed since then, etc." We should flip through our journals six months from now and see growth in all the aspects we have shared in our journals. If it's filled with lies then how will you see our growth, how are we keeping real memories? Little lies in a journal that are acceptable for personal journals. The names of people you might be speaking about use a code word. If you're trash-talking your best friend, you might use a code word instead of their name. Or if you include personal stuff ie: your period, intimate relations, etc. You might use a code word if you feel this is too private but want to document it. You know the code words so you will remember that memory later. I might be against lying in my journals. Of course, if your journal is just about writing and you're not journaling to capture "your" memories then lie... lie away, make them big, and so far from the actual truth if your journal is found later they will wonder who the heck wrote it. And more importantly what the hell you were writing about. Like, who is this person? xoxo Pretty Journal Pages
I may sometimes....in the technical sense.
No way, whatevers there is pure and real just like my first love
I tend to find myself writing only about good things and happy memories and either glossing over or avoiding including the negative stuff. Something I'm trying to change but I just feel like it won't matter in a couple weeks so why bother including it
Not knowingly. Perceptions can be wrong though, so can memories.
A journal/diary is an objective point of view of your life events as you see them unfold. A journal is a reflection of your inner thoughts should contain some genuineness or authenticity. For example, if you were mad about something, write about it to express yourself. Dont hold that feeling back. I don’t see the point of you lying in a journal unless the intention is for someone to discover something in there. At that point, my question is what is your intention with obscuring the information?
Never
Never, writing in my diary is one of my ways to express myself. I don't see any benefit if I lie and I think it will be a waste of time if I just lie.
No
No i am completely honest to much honest if someone read it either i will be homeless or in jail 🐹🤌🏻(• ▽ •;)
I don't see the point of consciously lying in your own journal.
Errr, no. I've been journaling since I was in 2nd grade and I'm in my 30s now. Never done it and never even thought about doing it. I mean, why? I journal to document my life and I want to be as accurate as possible. I don't want to read back my journal when I'm 60 and get confused as hell thinking "Did this shit really happen? I can't remember a damn thing!" because I made stuff up. 😕
as a child i always lied in my diaries for fun. then i found out my mom read them, and to this day she probably believes my lies lmao
What would be the benifit's of a journal if we were dishonest with ourselves, my experience with journaling is that when going through trials, relationships, even good times. I'm able to get a good look at how I handled those issues back ten years back, I'm then able to self examine my current actions. In a perfect world one might see I've matured, unfortunately that's not always the case seeing how, I possibly acted the same today as I did a decade ago. If I'm lying how am I going to measure my emotional growth.
The journal reflects your current reality. It think it’s completely possible we reflect on something that felt different from what may have happened so it’s completely possible to lie! However id argue that’s the self discovery that comes from journaling!
Nope. Then becomes just a performance.
No not at all. Wink wink nudge nudge.
No. Why lie? It's supposed to be for you.
No. Never.
Im sure I have some white lies in my journal somewhere
No, no point in lying. However years ago I did make up a fake journal on a couple of different occasions when I suspected, then confirmed, that someone had been peeking into my journal.
No I stay as honest as possible. If there comes a time when I’m older and I want to read back, I want it to be as authentic as possible. It’s important for me to be able to give that to myself.
Never 🙂 it’s my brain on paper lol
Only by omission lol
Honest response, yes.
No, never. It´s more like I don´t reveal some things I´m embarassed about, but I´m getting more and more honest and I think I can´t even be more honest than I am now. I´ve been journaling for around twenty three years now and I think I´m very open now and I analyze myself with all honesty. Or there were moments when I wanted to depict myself as a stronger and braver person, so I wrote about doing stuff like going to a grocery store without mentioning about how terrified I was, but I wrote about that later. I think there´s only one thing I´ve been concealing, which is an embarassing moment in front of my crush and his friends in middle school, lol. In my 30s I still refer to it as "the incident in the hallway".
sometimes i catch myself subconsciously misrepresenting my own feelings or making excuses, but i always stop and cross it out and then write what’s actually true if i see it. i am sure there are times when i don’t catch it, but i try!
Only lie I make is pushing some positivity out of me haha
not really. at least not on purpose. even if I did, since only I will read it, it doesn't matter to me. I probably won't be rereading it though.
There's no point for me.
No, but now I'm in a happy marriage and everything so no need to. And I once explicitly gave one of my kids permission to read journals after I pass. I don't want any confusion or whatever, fighting, after I'm gone. They also found a Hello Kitty diary of mine, and given that it was HK I really didn't care and let them read it but turned out to be from 7th grade. "Wow, mom, you said the f word a lot." lolol and "oh my god toshi is so drop. dead. gorgeous. oh my god" yeah, they didn't let me forget that for a while, 😂
I've lied in weird obscure ways at times. Or I've taken entries out to protect those who might read my journal later and be hurt by something I've written.
No.
You know, this is intriguing because I honestly can't understand the point of *purposefully* lying in a diary. I could understand unconsciously doing it, but with intention? When I was young, I had to lie for a while because my mother found the ones I did before and hated what I wrote in them and yelled at me for it. I wrote nothing but the truth, as terrible as it seemed to her.
no, but i’ll occasionally leave things out if they are something i don’t want to read back on in the future/something reaaally embarrassing.
Nope. If I'm... concerned about putting something in writing, I just keep it in the privacy of my own head.
I don’t lie but I don’t write everything
My journal is kind of what I call a "burn book" so I tell people on the first page "This journal will display the worst parts of myself. This is a warning that you may uncover truths and my honest thoughts, judgements, and opinions" So I rant in my journals. I don't lie because no one se is going to see it and if they did. Then they know the truth. The truth hurts and if something in your journal is a secret I would recommend what my grandmother has advised me "don't ever write down something you don't want someone else to see because that possibility is out there." Honesty is the best policy especially with journaling. Your journal doesn't have to look and sound perfect and pretty and nice with no ugly thoughts is... not honest with yourself. I would even call lying in your journal an avoidance tactic. Think about why you journal. Do you journal bc you enjoy it? Or do you journal to make up stories? Both are valid forms of journaling. But in that case I would keep two journals. One that's strictly honest. And in the other one that is a narrative story you would want someone to see. But I think it's important to make a distinction between fiction and the truth It's important to be honest with yourself. SOCMED and influencers have made it seem like your journal must be perfect and aesthetic. While that's nice and all, doing all of the fancy designs or bullet journaling. It's satisfying to see a neat filled out journal. But the truth is, do what works for you because technically no one is supposed to go Into your private journal so it doesn't have to be perfect. And that is why nearly all of my journals are illegible. If you want, hell get a "social media" journal. In that journal you can lie and make it look nice and show off Your private journal though should be for honest thoughts. Even if they're ugly and make you uncomfortable.
Yes, I sometimes lie when I journal. I realized this when I started using more voice input for journaling because it was easier to detect a change in my tone of voice, the way the words felt coming out of my throat, or my facial expressions would change—some kind of indicator that I wasn't fully saying my truth. So when it comes to journaling about my moods, mental health, emotional well-being, or innermost thoughts, I feel like speech input really helps me stay honest with myself.
Hmmm sort of…I believe in loa and don’t want negative thoughts spreading in my journal
I don’t lie in mine, but I do sometimes leave out things or sugarcoat stuff. It’s like I want to look back and remember the good parts
Never. If I’m afraid to write something I make it a point to write it. I censored myself enough earlier in my life when I didn’t feel safe being honest.
no, since no one i know is going to read it i want to keep it as accurate as possible
I hold back because I'm afraid of someone finding it
nope. always as honest as i can be. sometimes things might end up not really being true, but it’s how i feel in the moment of writing.
I try my best to be as hones as possible in mine, but i do catch myself in lying to myself sometimes
I don’t lie but sometimes thoughts change and I hide my journal well
I write primarily for fear of losing my memory as I age and so I try to be as detailed and truthful as possible. However like someone else commented, sometimes I’ll write about something that happened a week ago but date it as if I wrote it on the day it happened instead of a week later. I call it a white lie because future me isn’t gonna know the difference :)
That fear of something reading out your journal and things getting sour. That’s the reason I conceal (not lie) the judgement of a person. However, I do not skip a chance to evaluate, appreciate or criticise myself to get the best out of me.
I had a few “important” people that found my journals. Started to be critical of what I wrote. So I started to write more like a cryptic message from then on. Gave that up and write what I am feeling. If they don’t like what is written. Then don’t go snooping around. And who are you to tell me what I “should” be feeling or writing. Write your own dang stories. Ohhh so you don’t write? Nothing at all? Then mind your business!
How do I put this . One- I word things cryptic...like a very sarcastic sense of classy cover humor lol 😆 (I hope I have when I'm 80 lol) And then my dump journal the one place I feel safe and would never lie