In high school and college I kept a sporadic journal in a series of blank books with flowery covers. Reading those is still a bit painful; the angst of adolescence is hard to bear, even in retrospect! Not to mention so many embarrassing moments. So glad we all grow up!
For most of my young adulthood, I didn't keep a journal or a diary. I think that I was so busy trying to keep up with my life (years as a new teacher and then enjoying married life). How I wish I had some documentation of those years, even if they would be embarrassing to read today. In 2003 I started scrapbooking, and therefore I do have a sort of documentation or record of our life, but not really the same as what you might write in a journal or diary.
In the summer of 2010 I was traveling and visiting a friend. She told a story about another friend who had visited and had a 5-year journal. I was immediately intrigued. "What was it like? How big was it? How much did she write every day?" I was full of questions. My friend didn't know all of the answers, but I knew that I had to find one of those journals, and soon!
When I got home, I searched online, and ended up purchasing two different journals (this one and this one), to see which I liked better. I'm glad that I did this, because it turned out that my husband was intrigued as well, and took over the book I didn't choose! Since then we have written faithfully in our journals every night. They have traveled across the country, across the pacific ocean and across the Atlantic. Both of us laugh at old memories captured there and we are struck by coincidences and patterns in our lives.
 |
| Our journals, half way through (DH on left, mine on right) |
If you don't already have a journal, I encourage you to find one. Maybe it has a lock, or a flowered cover, or maybe it has lines for every day of the year, spanning five years. It honestly doesn't matter! What matters is capturing your story.
No comments:
Post a Comment