Reading old journals used to be tedious and embarrassing. It was frustrating to see how many times I had profound, "life changing" realizations, only to discover I've had the same realization over and over again in the years preceding - seemingly never retaining the lessons and ideas.
One thing that helped was building in space for dialogue with myself. Now, I only write original journal entries on the left side of a notebook and leave the right side for future responses. I make a habit of revisiting journal entries from a week, a month, and a year prior, etc, and expounding on the right side of the page with lessons learned later, counter points, and context from an "outside" perspective.
Naturally, this forms a sort of distillation of ideas, refining the concepts most relevant to me at any given moment, and keeping them present in my mind. It promotes a sense of continuity of self, and self-compassion as I'm frequently reminded of my growth and ability to change.
One thing that helped was building in space for dialogue with myself. Now, I only write original journal entries on the left side of a notebook and leave the right side for future responses. I make a habit of revisiting journal entries from a week, a month, and a year prior, etc, and expounding on the right side of the page with lessons learned later, counter points, and context from an "outside" perspective.
Naturally, this forms a sort of distillation of ideas, refining the concepts most relevant to me at any given moment, and keeping them present in my mind. It promotes a sense of continuity of self, and self-compassion as I'm frequently reminded of my growth and ability to change.