Some Thoughts

March 3rd, 2008

One thing that has been on my mind lately about my website's new design is the fact that I believe I launched it too early. I was so excited to have made something really cool that I think I got ahead of myself.

Now that I look back on some of my pages and a few bugs still left in the woodwork, I've realized that I could have tacked on an extra week or two (making you all suffer a bit longer, muaha!). I believe I could have fixed some browser issues (lame IE) and organized the content more and made a more impressive splash on first view.

But lesson learned! I can only shuffle on and fix it all as is and promise that my next layout will trump this one a million times over, not just in design but also in content! Who knows what is in store for the future? :)

With that in mind, I came across this great article by Maki of DoshDosh.com on the benefits of keeping a private journal. Whether it is on the web or on paper, he stresses that writing down your thoughts will "promote introspection":

Introspection is the observation or examination of one's own mental and emotional state. (Dictionary.com)

Private Journal

Maki goes on to mention how beneficial this process has been for Cancer patients and how it changed their outlook on their condition. The most important thing to note is not that it can be therapeutic but that it can literally change your way of thinking. I never really looked at it like that.

So I feel inspired to start a private journal of my own. :) I've had book diaries before, when I was younger. But ever since I've learned how to type, I've been spoiled. :P

I've gotten out of writing about my daily adventures in life on this blog, which is public, but I think I can really get something out of penning them down again privately, or maybe even to a smaller, more controlled audience.

By keeping track of my train of thought by day, maybe I can figure out more about myself. Have a crazy revelation about life, like Amanda in What the Bleep Do We Know?, which is a fantastic documentary about spirituality and thought. Rent it from your video store!

Do you keep a private or partially-public journal of your thoughts?

Comments

Would you like to add one?

Hev
Mar 03, 2008 @ 6:06pm

I have a typed passworded journal that I keep on my laptop. It looks & acts like a word processing document but is actually a database. It does help you think, especially if you are having problems. You will be amazed at what you will come up with just by writing it or even typing it. Though I have to admit I would die of embarrassment if someone ever figured out the password for the program, lol.

Hev
Mar 03, 2008 @ 6:06pm

Oh also wanted to say thanks for your links they have been a wonderful help and great inspiration.

Michelle
Mar 03, 2008 @ 6:06pm

I have a journal to write in but I rarely use it… I’m spoiled by typing also! But I do have a supersecret wordpress.com blog where I keep my thoughts sometimes. Only two people know about it (my bestfriend and my boyfriend) so I suppose that’s kind of like a private journal.

Bran
Mar 03, 2008 @ 7:07pm

I have a moleskine journal. I can’t pour out my feelings in type the way I can with old fashioned ink & paper. I also draw on the sides and add clippings of events in my life.

Ally
Mar 04, 2008 @ 12:12am

I can’t do the written journal thing - My brain goes through things too quickly and by the time I’m finished writing one sentence I’ve already forgotten the other five sentenced that completed the paragraph. Instead, I keep a LiveJournal [I know, lame and cliche] but I keep it Friends Only and filtered so I can control who reads what.

And by the way - I LOVE your new design. It inspired me to want to learn to code my own from scratch but I ended up getting too frustrated. I still want to learn, but I figure I’ve got at least another year to do it, haha.

Hayley
Mar 04, 2008 @ 2:02am

I have a few private posts on my livejournal that only I can see. I’ve never managed to stick with a book diary, not because I can’t keep writing but because there’s always a newer, shinier notebook that I want to switch to. I do write poetry though, when my brain needs to offload, and I’ll write it on whatever’s to hand including, but not limited to cigarette packets, napkins, my desk, etc.

miranda
Mar 04, 2008 @ 9:09am

I don’t keep a personal journal anymore, but I used to. I’d like to get back into it. I’ve always thought it was a good way to organize my jumbly thought process, and also something neat thing to look back on in the future. :)

ryn: Ah! I didn’t know if anyone would know what I was talking about, much less want to download it. I was thinking about making a subdomain with downloadable content.. Which EPs do you have? I recently made a set of Disney princess dresses using the dresses from Family Fun (also Ariel and Tinkerbell). And in FreeTime there was a burgandy/white/gold ballerina outfit that I made a traditional pink version of. I’ll get some screenshots! :)

Yos
Mar 04, 2008 @ 9:09am

I also keep my own private journal, I use Penta Diary, its very simple and its password protected too ;)
oh and I love your new theme :D

Kristina
Mar 04, 2008 @ 11:11am

I have an offline journal - I use it for ranting, boredom or just feeling the need to write. It helps a lot sometimes.

Christine
Mar 04, 2008 @ 3:03pm

First off, i dont think you launched it too early. It was amazing! Everyone I know was floored by it.. if the only thing you were a little worried about is how it looks in IE.. well, IE is so very outdated its not even funny. So be confident! You’re awesome! This website is awesome! And i’m sure it’ll only get better and better! meow. *nods*

And secondly, i very much agree w/ keeping a private journal. I have one i write in at home, and my livejournal entries are 90% private. my public ones are really only used for quickly archiving something for later on. i find if i think even one person might read it, i may not be completely honest w/ myself.. so when i really want to work something out w/ writing, i make it completely private and i try to be as brutally honest as possible w/ how i feel in that moment.

Holly
Mar 04, 2008 @ 5:05pm

I’ve had paper journals since I was 13, and I’m 20 now, so I’ve been thorough about…10 or 15 books! :P

Miranda
Mar 04, 2008 @ 6:06pm

When I commented at work, it auto-filled the website as this old game I had on my old layout, hahah oops. But, I have all of the EPs and stuff packs too! Most of them I downloaded, and I’m looking forward to the new one :-D

Cristina
Mar 05, 2008 @ 5:05pm

If you had held out with your web site release any longer, I would have died. I love everything you do, and it always inspires me to do more with my site. Hence why I am slowly in the process of a doing a redesign of my own. It’s gonna be big!

I tried doing the whole private journal thing and even the friends only thing, but I have to say I like the public thing the best because of the feedback. It’s nice to know I am not alone in what I think or feel. Besides, I barely have time as it is to update my public journal. I’m spoiled with typing too. :P

Melissa
Mar 05, 2008 @ 11:11pm

First off I love the new design, bugs and all. I can deal with a few hundred creepy-crawlies with something this pretty.

I should ask though.. is there supposed to be sidebar-ish information in the pink bar to the right? If so I can’t see it in opera (my firefox pooped out on me *sniffles*)

As for a private journal.. I’ve tried it and never really enjoyed it. I find I like writing my journal in public to get visitor feedback. It lets me know I’m not alone in my way of thinking, when I’m wrong and of course I get some good support and advice as well.

My blog is my therapy even if my sessions are infrequent and generally unimportant ;)

Katie
Mar 06, 2008 @ 11:11am

It’s a super cute layout, but it does has some kinks. The sidebar content is all on the bottom in IE. Good old IE haha.

Lisa
Mar 06, 2008 @ 5:05pm

I really like the new layout, but something has happened since last time I was here, the sidebar is not at the side anymore.. lol :p it’s way at the bottom.. I’m using Opera btw :)

I like writing a journal, or, my blog, I also kinda like having it public, that way you can get feedback, and maybe confirmation that I’m not completely insane… lol :p

Vanesa
Mar 07, 2008 @ 8:08am

Now that you’ve mentioned it, I do have a journal of random things I write about. In fact, I’ve had a couple of those, and I’m on my third one. :) A lot of people know about my journal, though, but none of them read it before. It’s public AND private. ;)

Melissa
Mar 07, 2008 @ 8:08am

Thanks for letting me know about Opera! I need to fix those bugs.

And I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s opinions on keeping a journal! :D

Vira
Mar 10, 2008 @ 11:11am

Actually, I do keep a private journal! I keep it as password protected posts on my blog, and in their own category. I’m actually trying to find out a way to filter a certain category from appearing on my main page, so that I could possibly remove the password protection from each individual post and instead protect the page they are on. Any ideas?

Melissa
Mar 10, 2008 @ 11:11am

Yeah! :D There is a way to exclude categories from your main index by using WP’s query posts template tag. Add this bit of code before the WP loop:

<?php if (is_home()) { query_posts("cat=-#"); } ?>

Substitute # for the category number you want to exclude and remember to keep the minus sign in front of it. Also, the WP loop looks something like this in your template files:

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

Make sure you place the query_posts tag code BEFORE the loop!

I must warn you though. Excluding a category from your home page does not make it private. Anyone could still view it by typing in the name or number in your archives URL. Also it will still appear in your blog’s feed.

If you don’t want to mess with the code and/or protect your posts better without passwords, try this plugin: Advanced Category Excluder. It says it will exclude categories from pages AND your site feed starting from when you activate it. However, I would recommend you leave your previous protected posts with passwords, because they will most likely still display on your feed.

Hope that helped you, Vira! :D

Vira
Mar 10, 2008 @ 1:01pm

Oh thank you very much! I will definitely have to credit you for all your assistance when I come out with my first wordpress layout!!

Thanks! I’m going to try that ACE Dashboard, too!

Marieke
Mar 10, 2008 @ 2:02pm

Ohh… ghehehe, you’re complaining about your site layout and I keep wondering how sites can look this beautiful *LoL* Your site is such a big example for me and it’s awesome that you help me to create a prettier site ^^.
I tried to keep a privite journal (and some of my close friends could read it). I hardly update it anymore though because sometimes it’s just to hard for me to write about these things. I have been through quite some stuff last 2 years and writing about it makes me think about it even more and that kind of depresses me. But I believe it can be a big help for some of us.
I didn’t know you could have a password protected category on wordpress by the way ^^.

Ashley
Mar 11, 2008 @ 12:12am

Thank you for posting the link to the article and writing about Introspection; it made me think about a few things and I realized that I need to write for myself more because it helps me sort things out :)

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