You may have stopped writing "Dear Diary" when high school ended, but now may be a good time to pick up the habit again. According to Ruby author Cynthia Bond, the exercise is therapeutic for anyone, even for those who aren’t writers. "It is the reason I am here," Bond says in an interview with The Huffington Post. "At times, I felt that my mind, my spirit, all of it was like a fine gold necklace, and it was tangled. It was too tangled to ever parse apart. I never saw how I was going to be able to do that. But I wrote. I just wrote."

Whether you’re going through relationship troubles or stressed out at work, keeping a journal can help you get a better sense of your emotions. Do you suspect your man of cheating? Write your feelings down in your diary. Fear your career is going nowhere at 30 years old? Put your thoughts on paper. Bond says that "once the words are on the page, negative thoughts can leave your body."

Oprah Winfrey, who made Bond’s book a part of Oprah’s Book Club 2.0, agrees. "That's why writing in a journal helps if you're not interested in being an author or a novelist," she says.

Interested in giving journaling a go? You can buy an actual diary or create your own blog!

PHOTO: Instagram @evilkittygirl