Dear Diary – Someone is Listening

The diary is a helpful tool for reflection

According to one source, diaries have been in use for thousands of years (National Today, 2025). They provide an opportunity to think out loud in a quiet way. Some of us need moments of contemplation where we can review our thinking; or an opportunity to recount the days’ events with objectivity. In that sense, the diary is a helpful tool for reflection (National Today, 2025).

There is a difference between a diary and a journal, according to one professional (Prannyk, 2024). A diary is more of a day-by-day or regular chronology of events as they happen. A diary can be useful for capturing thoughts, but generally records different events in our daily lives. That is why historic diaries have been very insightful in bringing to light how people groups have lived in the past (Ruiter, 2024). A journal is more of an intimate space for reflection, where the writer seeks to be transparent about events that they have experienced (Prannyk, 2024). But who is listening?

Dear Diary: It seems that perhaps you are the only one who understands what I am facing right now. There are doctors and a small minority of people with similar symptoms who are struggling to find the answers to this disease crippling my body. The doctors don’t have any solutions, and there are no pills that can be taken to eradicate the cause. There are only therapies and medications to reduce the ever-worsening symptoms. So we struggle with basic functions, stumbling around like drunk partygoers and trying not to embarrass ourselves. I’d love to wear a sign that says I have a neurological disorder, so people can sympathize with why we are struggling. But then they would just feel sorry for us. We already feel sorry for ourselves. That is really not productive or helpful. It is just hard to find someone who understands…

The idea of a journal seems to be more inclined toward reflecting on the events of life, in light of what we understand about the world. It is best suited to a quiet place, preferably with a Bible nearby. For how can anyone really understand this journey we call life and what might be happening in their lives without reflecting on the broader picture? Of ourselves we are only able to view our existence in a finite way, and truly as the Bible says, we see as it were in a mirror dimly (1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV). A diary or journal without a corresponding eternal perspective cannot fully help us to break the limits of our understanding, or to grasp that there is a greater Power that loves us (1 John 4:7) and is dedicated to rectifying our sinful situation (Matthew 20:28), helping us to become all that we were destined to be.

Dear diary. It’s late. I am so tired. It seems that I have only so much fuel in the dopamine tank. I know that exercise is the most important thing when you are dealing with things outside of your control. I can control what I eat, and I can work for better physical health each and every day. It is important to maintain as much exercise as possible, and not to give up on yourself. I am doing everything and anything that I can do to fight against the slow progression of this disease and loss of control. But sometimes at the end of the day, I feel like a rung-out dish towel.

According to one healthcare network (Lyra Health, 2025), in the United States, loneliness is so widespread that it was declared a public health crisis in 2023 (Lyra Health, 2025). According to this same source, in the workplace lonely employees are likely to be disengaged, have sleep issues and struggle with productivity. This healthcare network created a manager's guide in order to assist leadership in addressing this issue (Lyra Health, 2025). These might be the kind of people who could fill a diary or journal with their struggles… but what then? In this same resource, managers were encouraged not to discipline people demonstrating these behaviors but to listen better, to build relationships with their employees and to align employees with their passions. These lonely people need someone who can listen and empathize... but also take action on their behalf.

One mental health research paper explored the diary as a therapeutic tool for people demonstrating potential mental health issues (Alexander, McAllister and Brien, 2016). People experiencing these mental health challenges could use a diary as a form of communication to promote better self-understanding, while relaying their thoughts to mental health professionals. This type of narrative therapy has been effective in person centered recovery-based approaches (Alexander, McAllister and Brien, 2016). While it is too bad that the managers would not have access to the thought processes of troubled employees in order to be more empathetic to their challenges, perhaps an Employee Assistance Program referral might see value in using this ancient tool as a resource to help people who aren’t sure what they are facing to help them convey their thoughts to a professional. Even better would be to connect these folks with the Great Physician (see Luke 5:27-31).

Dear Diary: it is often hard for people to fully understand and appreciate the challenges that this disease has created. I want to avoid dumping information on unwilling hearts, and I seek to avoid engendering pity for this condition. Through all of this, I know that as the Psalmist wrote, “I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8). I’m grateful that my Heavenly Father never leaves me and is with me (Hebrews 13:5) to walk through this. I have His presence, and I have my wonderful family. My wife is amazing. She continues to support me and is so encouraging. I also know that there is an amazing destiny waiting for me, and I hope some day to hear my Lord say, “Well done, good and faith servant” (Matthew 25:23). I long to live out my faith in the midst of this most unusual and difficult time.

My diary can listen, but it can’t do anything about my plight. It can’t comfort me, it actually can’t say anything back at me. It is all my thoughts alone – yet without context. But my God can listen and answer back through His word, through impressions, thought small victories and through the kindness of family and friends.

I need the eternal perspective. I need to be reminded that this world is not my final home (Hebrews 13:14-15 NLT), and that working to maintain a life here is a fruitless endeavor, because I was designed for something greater. I also need to remember the truth of God‘s word which my diary can never reflect back to me. I need to understand that even Jesus suffered greatly here on earth, and all so that I could spend eternity with God (1 Peter 3:18). The great preacher Charles Spurgeon preached this truth for you and for me: “The medicine you have to drink is very bitter, but the unerring Physician measured all the ingredients drop by drop, and then mixed them in the very way in which they could best work for your highest good. Nothing in this world happens by chance” (Spurgeon, 1863)

Dear Father, I thank You that You have not left my side, but You are preparing me for something so much greater than I could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20). I will put my trust in You even through the darkest times. I know that You hear and I know that You answer every sincere heart’s cry (1 Samuel 1:9-17; Jeremiah 33:3). I hope to be faithful and to live out my beliefs through each and every day that You have given it to me on this side of eternity. For your glory’s sake, O God, Amen!

Sources:

Alexander, J., McAllister, M., & Brien, D. L. (2016). Exploring the diary as a recovery-oriented therapeutic tool. International journal of mental health nursing, 25(1), 19–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12179.

Lyra Health (2025). A Manager’s Guide to Addressing Loneliness in the Workplace. Lyra Health. Retrieved from https://cdn.intelligencebank.com/us/share/d23K/AE0L1/l7w6R/original/Addressing-loneliness-in-the-workplace-guide.

National Today (2025). Dear Diary Day. National Today [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://nationaltoday.com/dear-diary-day/.

Prannyk, P. (2024, November 26). Diary and Journal: Learn the Difference in this Article. olpr Leather Goods Company [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://olpr.com/blogs/articles/diary-and-journal-learn-the-difference-in-this-article.

Ramya, V. (2025, August 20). Rasmika Mandanna on Dear Diary, Dreams and Discoveries. The New Indian Express. Retrieved from https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/2025/Aug/21/rasmika-mandanna-on-dear-diary-dreams-and-discoveries.

Ruiter, G. (2024, August 27). Historical Diaries and Journals as a People's History. Facing History and Ourselves: Ideas Week [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://www.facinghistory.org/ideas-week/historical-diaries-journals-peoples-history.

Spurgeon, C.H. (1863, September 20). The Gospel Cordial. Spurgeon’s Sermons (V57) #3236. Retrieved from https://ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons57/sermons57.vi.html.

Vaghani, R. (2025). AI Diary. Retrieved from https://aidiary.io/.