Everyone has that one thing in their life that helps them cope. It could be sports, school, friends, or music. The options are endless.

We all have that one thing that we pour all our thoughts and feelings into because we need to get them off their chest, or we put all our effort into our coping strategy so that we can ignore our feelings for a time.

Everyone has that one thing. And that thing is totally healthy, and I think that everyone should have that thing that they can turn to to help them through things.

And I'm sure you're wondering since I'm writing this article, what my "thing" is that I pour all of my feelings and energy.

And I can tell you that my "thing" is my journal.

In a world that is overrun by social media and constant communication, I have found that the only way for me to truly get my thoughts and feelings out and to make them heard is to write them into a journal that no one has or will ever read. I take all of my thoughts from the day, all of my emotions, all of my darkest fears and happiest moments and put them into words and pictures and fill the margins of the cream-colored paper.

I can be honest in the pages of my journal.

I don't have to pretend that I know what I'm doing with my life or what I feel on a daily basis.

I don't have to pretend that my day was fantastic when I journal.

I don't have to try and remember to say the right thing in a conversation when I'm writing.

I don't have to pretend about anything.

My journal is the one place that I can be truly honest about everything.

I love my friends and family more than anything, and I trust them with so much. But there are some things that you need to keep to yourself. My journal helps me with that. I can be open with myself in the pages. I can tell myself the hard truth that I know no one else is going to. I don't have to pretend to be something that I'm not, because sometimes, that's how I feel in real life.

Having a journal is like having a second half to your soul. It's the mirror to yourself, and it is one of the greatest things that I think that anyone can have. So I encourage each and every one of you to start a journal. Because in its blank pages, you might find yourself in ways that you never thought you needed to.