Hello guys,

I am not a member of sh.itjustworks, so I know I cannot become the new moderator/admin of any of your community.

That being said, I do have a question regarding one of your inactive community I have recently started trying to revive by posting regular content: https://sh.itjust.works/c/journaling

The community has seen no activity since its creation and I have yet to hear back form its admin I contacted a few days ago. Inactive or not, there are a couple hundreds members subscribed to it.

So far, I have posted 4 or 5 new topics and, even though modest, it seems to generate some activity. Which I find encouraging.

But before I invest any more energy into this, other users I have discussed the question with have suggested I should make sure I or someone else will be able to moderate the community if a troll, or worse, was to find their way inside.

Others have also suggested that it would be simpler to create a new community on my own instance (jlai.lu) and invite members of the existing one to join there. I could do that, but I am not a fan of the idea of creating a new community where there is already one existing unless there really is no other option. I mean, it's not new communities we lack on Lemmy, it's new and more active users in existing ones ;)

So, I am asking for your opinion: what do you think would be best if I was to spend more of my time posting in that community?

1. Let the community stay apparently unmoderated, and keep posting new content as any other member can do (if that needs to be said, I have zero ego-related issue in being or not being 'promoted' moderator, or whatever) and keep my fingers crossed that no troll comes in to poop on the table. As a side-note I would not mind be able to refresh its look. Obviously, that is not essential.
2. Still keep my fingers crossed, hoping that someday, maybe, someone from your instance may decide that it's worth their time to moderate/admin it and request to take hold of it?
3. Create a new community from scratch, on my own instance, and invite members of this one to join me there, by posting a message?
4. Create an account on your instance, so I would be allowed to take charge of it if that was something you would agree is a good idea?

Frankly, I am not sure I want to create a new account just for that. I quite like what you're doing here but I also have no issue with my present instance, quite the contrary. But I may seriously consider doing it if you have reasons to think that would be better/smarter.

I hope this makes sense.

If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them. I am also all ears if you have any suggestion.

Thanks

I have been journaling for almost 50 years and...

Wait a minute. What absolute non-sense did I just wrote there? I have been journaling for how long? Almost fifty years? Fifty effing years? LOL. No way. I'm not that old. No, I am… That’s a lie! I am…

(Here, we should listen to some relaxing music while we let my poor brain process the fact that, indeed, I started journaling as a little 7-year old boy and that was almost 50 years ago. That may take a while, feel free to check your inbox or your TikTok while waiting.)

So, what was I saying? Oh, yes that I have been journaling for a certain time which makes it quite realistic to say that I have used many of the journaling medium one can think of.

Ranging from the good old pen and paper to whatever digital tool one can think of (from the desktop, to the smartphone, including various PDA, laptops, tablets). I have also typed my journal in various word processors and text editors, in various journaling apps, even in… spreadsheets or in a real database. I have also used a blog . Cassette and digital recorders. I even used my grand-father’s typewriter, the wonderful Olympia SG1. Heck, back in my thirties, I learned bookbinding (and to use a traditional press) so I could make my own journals with my choice of paper.

Despite that, I don’t think there is such a thing as 'the right way' to keep a journal or a better way to do it. There are ways that work better, for each one of us. Obviously, I have my preferences but they're just that: preferences.

I like the freedom a paper journal gives me. I like how I can doodle in it, and have fun with page layout or lettering, taping, stapling or gluing stuff on the page too. I like how I can change ink in my fountain pen and expriment with different types of papers. I also like that I am not tied to any app or devise. I like how cheap it can be too. And I like that, privacy-wise, neither the maker of my fountain pen or of my notebook can read what I am writing — unlike what may happen with a digital journal.

But I also like the comfort and peace of mind digital is giving me. The ease of using my phone and its portability. I like being able to instantly find any content, and to have it backed up on some cloud.

That said, very recently, I decided to switch back to a full analog journal. Why? Mostly, because of privacy concern.

I used to use DayOne (and I loved it) but what follows can be said for most if not all apps/services.

For quite a few years already, I had started worrying about the lack of privacy. My journal contains my most intimate thoughts, no one but me should be able to read it. I mean, I would not care if my spouse was to read my journal (she would never, we trust each other like that, but if she was to ever do it I would not care). It's just that nobody else should be allowed to.

So, when I heard the devs at DayOne consider adding an AI-assistant in their app (it was around the same time Apple announced their own AI-powered journaling app), I realized the future of my journal could not be digital. If I can still vaguely trust human developers to be... reasonable, AI has been created to read through text and to process it. So, that day, after 15 or 16 years (?) using Day One I downloaded a PDF of my journal and deleted all my data from their servers and I switched back to pen and paper (I kept my DO account because it was grandfathered many, many years ago when they introduced their subscription model and I never had to pay that sub. So, even though I doubt it, if one day things change back I may want to use it again).

BTW, that’s similar doubts that pushed me to come back to using a paper agenda and the reason why I quit reading ebooks for printed books, as I explain on my blog: Am I Reading That Ebook or Am I Being Read by That Ebook? & Who Owns the Ebook I Purchase?

Since the, I sometimes miss some of the comfort of a digital journal, but I have so much fun sketching and having, well, fun in my paper journal that I simply don’t care.

I also devised working solutions as far as searching and backup are concerned, but that could be another discussion, if anyone is interested?

What about you? Are you analog or digital or, like I was up until very recently, are you ok with mixing both?

Do you think ~~I’m a moron~~ I’m being a bit excessive in giving up on digital in the name of privacy? (As a matter of fact, if my paper journal was to be stolen, that person would be able to read it and to share its content with anyone, right? Isn't that a worse situation?)

What do you think?

While we're waiting for reactions or comments regarding the future of the community, here is a nice prompt I just stumbled upon on the r/journaling.

If I had this power, I would wake up as… me.

A much younger me, though. Aged 11 or so, when I started making real life-changing decisions. I would wake as this young-me but with all I know and all I have experienced during the almost 50 years that have passed since that time.

I’m not talking about knowing in advance what to study and what job to get (and which ones to avoid) nor where to invest some money (even though that would not be a bad idea :p). Just the intimate knowledge of all I did wrong, and why I did it. What I did well, and how I could do it better. Simply put, I would try to help younger-me become a better person.

Making wrongs rights would be top-priority. Helping me hurt less people around me. Hurt myself a little less, too. I would also encourage myself to care a lot more about a few of those people. And to tell them much more loudly they’re important.

I would not advise myself against those few real bad persons I have met along the way. Most of them, even if unknowingly, helped me learn valuable lessons. Maybe except one, that did real long lasting harm. Maybe.

Lastly, I would tell myself to not waste as much time as I did. Life is short and I wasted so much of it. Not as much because I was being lazy (I was, at times) but because I always wanted to experiment as much as I could in life, I wanted to have lived something before deciding if that something was worth it. I would instead encourage young-me to focus much more on a selected few meaningful experiences, ignoring all the others.

Maybe I would fail at changing myself, stubborn as I was? No idea ;)

What about you? Who would you be? And why?

You may have read my previous post, announcing I would be trying to revive this community by posting regularly in it?

This morning I mentioned this project in another discussion on Lemmy and someone rightfully pointed to me I may want to be able to moderate said community and that probably I would need to create one from scratch.

I don't want to make a new community if there is no need too, Lemmy is already short on participants without creating even more separated and smaller communities. I also don't feel any personal urge to be an admin myself. But I also don't want to encourage people to participate in a community that no one would be able to keep civil.

Before doing anything, I would like to hear your opinion and suggestions if you have any. What do you think I should do or, much better, what should we do?

And if the admin is reading this: what do you say about all of that?

While I wait for your comments, I will also ping the admins on my very own instance. We're a French speaking one, so I want to ask them if that would be OK to host an English speaking community. Whatever happen next, I’ll let your know.

This is a question I just read on the reddit journaling sub. If I quit commenting on reddit a few months ago, I still regularly read those subs I consider interesting and enriching, and I think this is an interesting question.

That for me, is the shortest entry possible.

As you can see, even if it’s blurred, I have written some more stuff below that. But it just happens to be the case there. Often, I won’t.

What is it all about? It’s written in French (I journal in French and in English), but that doesn’t change much:

• I put the date and the day of the week. Why bother with the day since I know perfectly well it was written on Monday (lundi) and on Tuesday (mardi)? In a few months, or even a few weeks I will not remember what the day was. I quickly realized I missed not having that information when I was browsing through my journal. So, now, I systematically write it down.
  And what about the lettering and coloring? I don’t always do that, but it’s also a lot of fun so I try to do it as often as I can — like adding small sketches using watercolors to illustrate whatever. It only takes a minute or two.
• I also write how I slept, which is another info I learned to value as I was getting older.
• The weather when I first went out that day. I will do long walks at least twice a day and this quick note about the weather maybe all what’s needed to trigger a lot of other memories for that day. Be it when I read it later on, or right when writing it down.
• My mood. I spend years trying to control my (bad) temper. So, for me it’s great to jot that down too.

Once again, I think it’s clear from what I said, those are just three things I value enough to write them down. Write your own stuff. It doesn’t matter what it is, well, it will matter to you obviously.

Imho, what should matter to all of us is to be fine with the fact that we won't do it every single day, that will not happen believe me, and that's fine. Like it is fine to try to note some info and then realize they're not that important, and try with others. These attempts can also be a legit part of your journal, like crossing stuff out instead of erasing them or tearing the page out.

So, that’s how I do short entries in my journal.

How do you do yours? And if you have not started yet, how would you like doing it?

I know from personal experience how great and how fun journaling can be. And also how helpful it can be.

I have been keeping a journal for almost 50 years. oh. my. fucking. god. Forget I just wrote that, because I can't be that old. No way. Not me. I can't be...

(Here, you should have heard the soft noise of my now unconscious body collapsing on the floor like some old wet rag, after my poor brain went off realizing I was really starting to get old)

What was I saying? Something about me having been keeping a journal for quite some time and how fn and helpful it had been.

And that is something that makes me sad when I see no activity going on in our little journaling community, here on Lemmy. Even more so, knowing that our cousin from reddit r/Journaling is doing quite well.

But I also know how daunting it can be to start writing in a journal — what am I supposed to write about? Nothing happens in my life! Why? How? And how can I prevent people to read my most intimate thoughts? How can I make it interesting? How can I not screw the page by making mistakes!? — and I know how it can be intimidating to post personal stuff online, and alone, too.

I started wondering if maybe all we needed was someone to start sharing stuff, talking about stuff and maybe start asking questions in order to get others to do the same?

To the best of my (limited) abilities, I want to ry that and maybe encourage people that may still hesitate to start journaling to do it, and also to encourage anyone to discuss about journaling. And to do it here, not on reddit.

So, even though I have no clear idea what I will post beside the next couple posts, I will try to regularly post stuff, hopefully encouraging others to do the same, or to comment, or to laugh, or whatever — as long as it’s done with a positive spirit, we should all get something out of it.

At the very least, the more we post here the more likely we are to encourage others to join and to participate.

BTW, if you don't speak French, the picture of my journal used as an illustration to this post is asking a very simple question right next to the tin can phone I sketched, which is: Allo?... With who (will I be discussing)?

Dear Lemmy fountain pen community,

I'm well over 50 and I started using a fountain pen in school, when I was still a little kid learning to write. That was back in the 70s. All those years, I've always been using a fountain pen of some sort for most of the stuff I write, and sketch.

I was wondering how many of us were still using a fountain pen to write long-form content? I mean, are you using one to write letters, keep a journal, or for any other form of content?

Even though I don't have a nice handwriting, I know quite a few people who like receiving my handwritten letters more than a neatly typed letter, and so do I. It kinda feels more personal and unique.

Beside the now too rare handwritten letter, sketching and keeping a journal another thing I like doing when I work on a long text is to draft it using a pen. Only once I'm done with that draft I will switch to the computer for the final typed version. It sure is much slower to write longhand which is exactly what I'm looking for: less speed, aka more time to (try to) think. And less distractions too ;)