I have written more than once in the past about my fondness
for journaling, and I talk about having more than one type of journal in my
post from 8/13/15. I have also
encouraged you to get into journaling, to record your life history. Not
necessarily to be published for all to see, but more importantly for your
family to read long after you are gone. I’m not going to repeat all of that yet
again. Besides, I don’t want this to be a “lecture” about journaling. It’s
obviously a personal choice, so if it’s not something you would enjoy doing,
then you don’t do it! The only thing I will say is that I do wish that my mom,
grandparents, any of my family members now gone had taken the time to keep
diaries. I don’t come from a family of writers, so I’m not quite sure where my
love of writing came from. In any event, I still wish I had something more than
the one-year diary my Aunt Vera kept back in 1933.
The reason I am bringing this topic back today is because I
have a confession to make. You see, I have these two cubby holes as part of my
desk that sit on either side of my monitor. On one side I have my proof copies
of the three books I have written, my Gregg Reference Manual, and a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul—Inspiration for
Writers (which I have to take out and read more often). On the other side
sits three journals, my aunt’s diary, and a copy of To Our Children’s Children, which is a guide for writing down your
life story. Two of the journals are very flowery with a jeweled clasp to close
them, very girlie, girlie, but I love them. I have no idea what possessed me
today, but I took both of those journals out to see what I had written and when
my last entries were. I knew it had been
a while, but maybe only a few months or so?
At least, that was my hope.
One of the journals I have goes with the above book to help
me write about my life, especially my childhood. I purchased the journal in
January of 2013, wrote my first entry in March of that same year and then
stopped. No other entries since three years ago! The second journal was
intended for daily or weekly thoughts, along the lines of a gratitude journal,
but choosing a word of the day, so to speak, such as gratitude, but also
success, possibilities, sadness, and so on. I bought that journal at the same
time, kept up with it throughout 2013, then not again until March of 2014, with
just a few more entries that year and
only one entry in July 2015.
I don’t know what it is about March that makes me pick up
these journals, but I did write an entry today in both.
The reason I mention all of this is because I’m often
writing about getting your own story down on paper, but I realized today I’m
not following my own counsel! The older I get, the faster time moves, no
question about that. I don’t want to find myself years from now wishing I had
kept up with these diaries I started almost three years ago to the day. I have three journals I would like to keep
more up-to-date. I have set a goal for
myself to write an entry in at least one of these three journals once every
other week. I could say daily or weekly, but because I tend to procrastinate, I
decided to make this a manageable or reasonable goal. I don’t want to set myself up for failure
right off the bat, so I feel every other week is doable. I have a calendar in my Outlook where I can
schedule a day for journaling, that way I won’t forget.
