It can take a while to reap some of the benefits of daily journalling. One of those is building up enough entries so that you have something meaningful to look back on.
Since I started the 5-year diary, where I write a one sentence summary per day (it only takes two minutes!), I now have a bank of entries from which I can and be instantly transported back to a day once lived, but that would’ve slipped out of my memory had I not taken the few minutes to write down what happened. It works equally well for activities and emotions. From a quiet walk in the park to a stressful period of work or travel.
I anticipate that looking back on “a year ago today” memories and being able to relive them with a moment’s glance will become more valuable as the years go on.