The self-help principles behind diaries

(1) Self-expression necessarily creates a feedback loop and echo chamber.

and

(2) Writing is commitment.

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(1) Whenever you engage in self-expression, the output of your expression then becomes input for new expressions. For example, in the process of creating an expressionistic painting, what you see yourself doing then feeds back into your perception, affects your emotions, and then comes back out into new expressions. What happens is that your feelings are amplified and your thoughts intensified. This is one benefit of having a diary; by writing out your thoughts, you can see them, process them, and then re-output them with further distillation or modification, and so on and so forth until you have hopefully created a pearl of an understanding about yourself.

(2) You know how they say, "commit it to writing." Well that's why writing is commitment. When you write, you have to make a choice from the cloud of thoughts in your head as to what should be recorded. The act is empowering because it helps you actively define yourself. Every word is more of you staking your claim on your identity.