“Dear Journal…”: An Autoethnographic Case Study of Intrapersonal/Self-Communication Evolution

Abstract

This chapter demonstrates how individuals can execute studies of their own intrapersonal-/self-communication (SC) via reviews of journal and blog entries. The author shares serializations of his journal and blog entries from a time-period of over 20 years, since his junior year of high school—i.e., at the age of 16, through today, at the age of 36 (as of writing this chapter/book). Overall, this chapter demonstrates an example of a process via which an individual's SC voice evolves. In addition to such an evolution, an individual can also cultivate a habit of metacognition—closely examining their own thinking and self-communication processes. As other upcoming chapters will demonstrate, such metacognition and SC-audit processes enable personal and professional growth.

Key Terms in this Chapter

Blogging: The regular upload of new entries or posts—often written in an informal style—to a blog, a personal or small-organization website designed for that purpose.

Journaling: Regularly writing in a personal journal for purposes of personal self-reflection and record-keeping.