Journaling hasn’t always been private—and certainly wasn’t designed to benefit one’s mental health. Two millennia ago, Chinese imperial servants would record the emperor's daily words and deeds—however big or small—lest history forgets how great the Han dynasty was. It was a Roman emperor who made journaling a private endeavor.
Marcus Aurelius, A.D. 161–180, went against the flow by sharing Meditations, his personal insights that would later enrich our understanding of Roman Stoic philosophy.
Journaling was quickly adopted across guilds and industries, from pilgrims to explorers, inventors, researchers, and merchants. Commoners used journals, these “daily logs,” to jot down their observations, plans, and profits. Travel journals, accounting ledgers, and research logbooks are still used today.
1. Modern journaling
Its popularity picked up speed in 1660 when English naval administrator Samuel Pepys opened up new horizons by charting out human experience for us through his eyes. The modern journal became autobiographical, reflective, and an excellent outlet for creative expression.
Writers and poets experimented with stream-of-consciousness, a free-flow style of writing that captured unfiltered thoughts and emotions. Loss, grief, death, and violence were recorded in war journals by people as young as thirteen, like Anne Frank.
Journaling took another turn in the 1980s thanks to the focus on personal growth in the classroom. In the 2000s, journaling also meant boosting productivity through bulleted task lists, aka the bullet journal.
Journaling truly skyrocketed three centuries later—in the 1960s—when American psychotherapist Ira Progoff developed the Intensive Journaling Method. Thus, modern journaling started enabling therapy.
The next phase in journaling began revealing a somewhat curated personal experience with the world. There’s the blogger disseminating unique perspectives within cyberspace, the social media user typing up opinions worth sharing with global audiences, and the note-taker organizing intricate thoughts and feelings in their favorite app.
Yes, there’s a desire to keep things hidden but also to share them with the world—how paradoxical. Honestly, journaling adds a little ‘extra’ to our ordinary lives.
2. Journaling 3.0
The future of effortless journaling is Hygge. By combining the functionality of contextual AI with the therapeutic effects of journaling, the reflective process leads to emotional comfort and mental wellbeing.
Hygge solves the paradox—the need to write privately but to feel heard. You can articulate your deepest thoughts and share them with your very own confidante that’s inquisitive and compassionate.
Hygge is your AI journaling confidante.