We all journal. I seriously doubt that anyone who is visiting this site does not keep a journal of some kind. I know it because I personally, only started visiting blogs because my own journalling habit.

I'm no novice when it comes to the internet. I've been reading and posting in the online community since 1993. I've personally found that the sites I visit are the ones that have a journal-like quality. Even sites like Television without Pity that recap television shows has the quality that keeps me coming back everyday. I have to feel like I know the people who write for a site or blog if its going to keep me interested.

So, I know that you are only here because you want to be entertained by someone else's thoughts. With that in mind, I wanted to ask you other diarists what it was about keeping a journal/diary that made you keep doing it. I can remember having the urge to just write down what was in my head. I remember my first journal and the reasons I started keeping it (and someday I will tell you the entire story). But, I want to know why you write in yours.

There's a reason I want to know about your journaling experiences. If I can get you to relay your reasons, maybe you won't get offended when I hit you up for a donation. Its not to me. Its to kids who may or may not be exactly like you.

You know when I came to realization of how this book drive has been a selfish enterprise for me, I figured I wasn't alone. Its a big deal to realize that you have the power to influence someone who may or may not have been in a similar state. Its the power of knowing your influence.

As someone who has supported the causes of books and banned books, I understand the influence of the world as it comes at an impressionable mind. I believe that a parent should decide what is and what isn't appropriate for his or her child. I also believe that the decision is personal to the individual parent(s).

But what about the child? I abided by my parents' rules. I abided by my teachers' rules. But I had my own thoughts. Those thoughts were shaped by my parents and my teachers and the things I saw in everyday life. But, they were still my thoughts.

There are plenty of people out there who need to have someone tell them what they should think or how they should feel. But what about the rest of us? What about those of us who needed to write down just how much they disagreed? Or, those of us who needed to write down just how much it sucked to be where we were just then?

The whole point of journaling is to chronicle something. Whether its some rite of passage or just a phase in your life, you wrote it down because you needed to. You needed to know that it was something worth saving, or figuring out, or pointing to as an explanation.

If these things are true, then you know where I stand. You know how important it is to have that small space to be your absolute self. You understand how much of a premium that small space was. You know how important it is to put a journal in the hands of a troubled youth.

When I think about journalling, I think about all the things I've gained from it. There is a sense of calm that can only come from knowing one's self. Its that soft place of reason when everyone or everything else is being unreasonable. Or, its that hard jagged place when you know you can only make one choice and all choices seem bleak and unworthy. But its real and its true even if no one else will ever know.

So, I'm begging you to give. Give a journal to a troubled child and give them an opportunity to speak. Let them know that their voice is important. Giving is easy. Just go to the wishlist and place an order. Then, forward me your shipping confirmation. I will ship just as many as you have. Just like that you have doubled your order with out spending any extra money.

Seriously, put my money where your generosity is.