Initials

[Janaína]

Is there any problem if I use initials instead of real people's names when journaling about them?

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Is there any problem if I use initials instead of real people's names when journaling about them?

No problem at all, in fact I do it all the time. It's a waste of my time and energy writing every name out - you know who you're talking about, right?

That being said, every once in a while I have an emotional need to see someone's name in full so I can really curse them out (we have a community member in my condo who is so foul to the people trying to keep this place running that I write her name out in full just so I can write, quite legibly, "G**d*** f***ing L**** W*** is at it AGAIN F*** Me to hell and back" which gives me a great deal of pleasure.)

This is not journaling in the sense of keeping a journal or a diary. It is literally writing shit down and then destroying it immediately. No one should be able to read it. The majority of my writing is completely illegible.

The only important goal in emotional writing is complete honesty, which requires getting every random thought out of your head and onto the paper, and not allowing your fearful brain to edit what you write, or to hold anything back, even though your brain will try to do both those things.

 

[Janaína]

No problem at all, in fact I do it all the time. It's a waste of my time and energy writing every name out - you know who you're talking about, right?

That being said, every once in a while I have an emotional need to see someone's name in full so I can really curse them out (we have a community member in my condo who is so foul to the people trying to keep this place running that I write her name out in full just so I can write, quite legibly, "G**d*** f***ing L**** W*** is at it AGAIN F*** Me to hell and back" which gives me a great deal of pleasure.)

This is not journaling in the sense of keeping a journal or a diary. It is literally writing shit down and then destroying it immediately. No one should be able to read it. The majority of my writing is completely illegible.

The only important goal in emotional writing is complete honesty, which requires getting every random thought out of your head and onto the paper, and not allowing your fearful brain to edit what you write, or to hold anything back, even though your brain will try to do both those things.

I love your answer. You made me laugh out loud. Thank you!

 

[Bonnard]

I think how we do this kind of journaling can be different for each of us, and it can be different for one person over time.
There were times (and there will be more!) when just writing certain words and phrases on the page and connecting them back to someone in my life was a really big deal. I was getting in touch with stuff I had not even let myself be aware of. In that case, writing each word and name out was crucial.

Shortcutting the writing definitely works at the right times--because there's less writing and more raw emotion. This is when just phrases or individual words or even just letters or symbols make it on the page-sometimes the writing has to stop completely for me b/c I'm overtaken with what I was writing about.

The one caution for me on writing initials instead of names or just a couple words to represent some ongoing thing I'm struggling with---If I slip back into normal thinking/writing, I'm never going to get where I need to. I will gloss over the deeper stuff (which also can be hard to get to) and just keep it closer to surface level, which is a waste with this kind of journaling. I won't write the stuff I am embarrassed about, or the stuff that's in me that breaks from the kind of person I want to be or think I should be. Those inconsistencies and the things I'm rageful about and think logically that it's better to focus on more sunnier parts and push away that part of me.