Journaling with Uncle Collywobbles

By Colin Ford

A long time ago – more than 10 years – I started writing stuff down in an A4 leather journal that I got as a gift. Just stuff. Nothing structured or formal. Just whatever.

Once the book was full, I switched over to writing my “stuff” down electronically, on a Google Doc. This means I can write diary entries from my phone or my laptop, wherever I am, in the moment.

Keeping a diary – some call it journaling – is quite a cool thing to do. It allows me to vent, reflect, reminisce and occasionally write totally random stuff. Like remembering my dreams. Or this flashback to a 🍦 childhood memory.

I also wrote a story for my nieces in which I starred as “Uncle Collywobbles” – a name still used by many of the kids in my circle of family and friends. (One particular scallywag simply refers to me as “Uncle Wobbles”.)

Uncle Collywobbles went on to appear in a few more kids’ stories, which I wrote as gifts for special occasions.

Side note: My youngest niece was about 18 months old when I wrote the first Uncle Collywobbles story in the A4 leather diary. As I read it to her and her sister, she kept swiping left on the book itself like it was some kind of tablet. Shows how young minds are like sponges to technology.

But I digress.

Writing my stuff down provides a safe space to express and process emotions. Mostly it helps me to cope with stress and anxiety, and to vent about things that I can’t vent about in real life. Or on X. It helps me to put things into perspective. Through my diary I can learn more about my own thoughts, feelings and behaviours, leading to greater self-awareness and understanding.

At one stage I used my diary to set and track goals. Financial and wellness goals, mainly. Bank balance, weight, fitness, etc. But I have strayed from that particular form of journaling. What I do like doing every now and then is taking a walk down memory lane. It’s really uplifting to remember people and things that went before. (Not many say it better than The Beatles.) I was just reading an entry recently about a good friend of mine who passed away in 2018. It made me grateful for the time we had together and reminded me to appreciate the amazing people I have in my life. You know who you are. Yes, you do.

There are no rules about “how to journal” – unless you need them. There are apparently things called structured prompts, or journaling exercises, that can help guide your writing. You can write under a consistent series of bullet points to help channel your thoughts and chart your progress relating to specific topics.

There’s also gratitude journaling, which, as the name implies, involves recording what you’re grateful for. This is believed to help develop resilience and strengthen relationships.

You can write your stuff down physically with a pen or pencil, you can do it electronically, you can record your thoughts as voice notes, you can draw or doodle, colour things in, add photos, write in a secret alphabet, share your diary or keep it to yourself. You can add to your journal daily, weekly, monthly or when the spirit takes you (as I do). You can record thoughts and events related to the past, the present or the future. There are even journaling clubs, which are hugely popular around the world.

Ultimately, though, the most effective diary-keeping method is one that resonates with the diarist and fits their unique preferences, needs and goals. Experimenting with different approaches can help you to find a diary-keeping method that works best for you.

Happy journaling. And let me know if you want to read about any of Uncle Collywobbles’ adventures.

P.S. This blog is going in my diary immediately!