I have been keeping a diary for many years now. It is a ritual I am really happy with.
1. It gives me time to think, to process my thoughts, explore ideas, and handle emotions. I often learn a lot about myself, what I did well, and how I can improve.
2. It is a great way to preserve memories. Only after I started writing my journal did I realize how much I forget about my past. I've always taken photos throughout my life, but those only capture a very small part of my life. My worries, the music I listened to, the TV-series I raved about, my dreams, my thoughts on the books I've read, the deep talks with my friends, are all preserved in my journal. It is easy to remember your vacations to exotic locations, but do you remember your everyday life from years back?
3. It can be meditative. It feels great to be able to sit for up to an hour and write without any barriers. I don't have to stress about my writing style, the words I use, embarrassing stuff about myself. I truly feel I can express myself to the fullest.
It can be quite time-consuming though, and quite intimidating when I feel like I have nothing to write about. Furthermore, surprisingly often, I struggle writing down everything. Certain emotions, certain feelings, certain abstract thoughts, are incredibly hard to describe by words...
Instead of writing concise thoughts and feelings through words, I wish I could dump the state of my brain, of _me_.
I wish I could coredump myself.
...Segmentation fault (core dumped)...