Hi, my name is Leo. I'm a student from China. This random tip is for all English learners who

listen to NPR to improve English. Whenever I listen to the show, I take out my notebook to drop

down interesting things and try to look at the unfamiliar words at translation.

If you've got a good tip, leave us a voice mail at 202-216-9823 or email us at lifekitatnpr.org.

This is NPR's Life Kit. A lot of times on Star Trek, the episodes start like this.

Captain's Log started 439-30-0. This is a captain's log. The enterprise has been in attendance at

the biennial trade agreements conference on pages. We, the audience, know that it's a way of

table setting, getting some plot points for the episode out of the way. But in the world of the show,

it implies that the captain of the ship, Jean-Luc Picard, in this case, the person responsible for

making all the decisions that will affect his crew puts a lot of value on getting his fuzzy thoughts

and ideas into words. Some might call this journaling. It's that great first step to opening up and

learning who you are and what you believe and how you feel and how you see and understand the world.

That's Rashonda James, a licensed therapist, YouTuber, and a big booster for journaling.

Journaling is for processing, logging things down, and really just kind of bookmarking where you are in life.

I'm Andrew Limbong, Arts Reporter for NPR. On this episode of Life Kit, if you've ever thought

about journaling but don't know where to start, we'll give you a hand. Or if you're like me and

you're skeptical about putting your feelings out there, even if it is just in private,

well, we're here for you too. Journaling can mean a lot of different things. You might keep a

log of all the birds you see in your neighborhood. Or write down different things you saw on a recent

road trip. Some people keep a dream journal to log their adventures from the night before.

We're going to talk about journaling in the more general sense here. The sort of, I've got a lot

going on in my life right now and need to write it down type of journaling, which on its own can

...