Picture
this, you are in your room looking down at your new red journal, not a thing
written down on the paper. You write down a single phrase and your journal come
to life. In the book Belzhar by Meg Woltizer, Jam and her friends from Special
Topics English are able to get through their troubles by writing in their
journals. Jam's parents Jam sent to The Wooden Barn, a boarding school in
Vermont, that is supposed to help Jam get over the grief of loosing her
boyfriend. The journal symbolizes the hope that Jam will get past her
grief.
The
journal helps Jam get through her grief, but at first it isn't so easy. "I
open the journal now and pick the pen, but I can't bring myself to write a
word." page 46. It takes some motivation for Jam to write about what she
has gone through. It's hard for her to face the reality of what happened to
her. Once Jam is able to get herself to write in her journal it helps her get a
better understanding of grief. "'I guess I feel like grief is this huge
part of everything,' I say in a burst. 'But you're not supposed to act like
it's not. Like, if you lose someone, how are you supposed to go on caring about
stupid day-to-day things?'" Through the journal Jam is able to get a
better understanding of herself and what she's been going through.
In
life it's hard to get over loss and being hurt. We can't just sit around and
hope that some day it will all be better. You have to go out into the world and
do something. Whether it's writing in a journal like Jam did, or whether it's
just talking to a friend or someone in your family. The thing is if you don't
move on you will waste your life feeling bad for yourself.
