I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this. For the first time in a while I didn't skim through a post but actually read every single word. And I think that's because it really hit home.

In my early teenhood I used to write a journal. Just like you, I used to record all the good, bad and ugly. All my private thoughts, feelings and secrets. I found it very therapeutic in dealing with my emotions, especially since I was struggling with depression and anxiety at the time.

And then a family member decided to read it. Because privacy is a privilige not a right. The said person then proceeded to make a scene, yelling, crying and pointing out the things I wrote down. They made it seem like everything was my fault and I was being a selfish brat trying to hurt people.

It's been years since that accident and I still haven't been able to write in a journal. It doesn't seem private anymore. It doesn't seem safe. So I just keep everything in.