Hello Selene,
I don’t feel ridicoulous when I am writing in my journal. I feel… powerful. I am bold enough to admit to myself what I am feeling, that I am angry for selfish reasons or incredibly happy for a more than stupid reason. For me journaling isn’t about reading it afterwards, sometimes I do it to look back at the journey, but sometimes what I wrote hurts too much to be read again, at least now. I think the magic of it is letting it all go. I am writing it down and it is out of my head. It helps me to sort through my own thoughts and emotions. As Alison said, you do not have to read it afterwards. The act of writing is what gives you power.
And Dear Alison, good luck with your project of starting a daily journal! If you need inspiration and sometimes don’t know what to write about I can recommend the Paperblanks app, it gives you prompts and thoughts on topics you can journal about, like your memories or things like that. I always like to create happy lists or “10 reasons I love so&so”
Journaling has helped me through rough times, so if there is ever encouragement you need or thoughts to share please let me know!