Using Symbols in Your Journal
January 17, 2008 by Heather Goldsmith
Filed under Home & Living
Sometimes I use symbols in my journal rather than full words. There are times I might do this because the symbol represents something I just don’t want anyone else to understand. Or I just use the symbol as some kind of short hand to save me writing a commonly used word over and over. Using symbols can be a deeply personal way of expressing something you simply cannot write out in words. There is an almost primitive instinct in each of us to use symbols, so why not use them in your journal?
Do you use such symbols for any reason in your journal? If so, please share why you use them and what for, if you like.
Heather
My background is in the medical field. There are many universally used symbols in medical note taking. Since these were part of my everyday writing for so long, I still use these a lot in my journal writing. I use them as shorthand. For example a lower case “c” with a slash over it mean “with”. It makes the writing go a lot faster.
Hi Zura,
Yes, that’s the kind of thing I mean. It really does mean you can write a lot faster, I agree. Thanks for sharing. I tend to not write the entire ‘ing’ on a word, just ‘g’ instead. Or arrows for up, down, across, etc. I appreciate you commenting.