For several years I wrote brief descriptions of each day in one of those nifty red journals that you can find in the office supply stores. They are stored away somewhere. I'm currently considering storing them away permanently, in the garbage bin.
Diaries can be dangerous items. Yesterday's wit is today's foolishness and I wrote enough of sad and challenging things that it is doubtful they could be re-read with pleasure. Perhaps a 100 years from now some descendant might look at them, think "What a strange fellow!" and then search for the wastebasket.
Do you keep a diary? If so, what do you see as its benefit?
5 comments:
I keep thinking I "should". I've enjoyed my great grandfather's journals but then I conclude that my web site can be such a document so I skip the formal diary.
Interesting timing. Today, I started a diary for the first time in my life (I'm 67). Mainly in order to leave a reord of my thoughts for a new grandson.
Kurt,
That's one of the advantages of blogging!
Keith,
Go for it! I had a friend - a very wise lady who lived to a very old age - who kept a record of her observations on life and what she had learned over the years. I wish I could have read that.
Michael
I've kept a "diary" for some 8 years now. I started it after reading Marcus Aurelius' Meditatations (better translated as "thoughts to ones' self). I'm no Marcus, but it has helped me clarify my thinking on some topics and forced me to begin each day with at least one thing for which I'm grateful. Not all need this discipline, but it's helped me.
David Trautman
David,
Anyone who reads Marcus Aurelius will write a very good diary. I think you are right on how a diary can clarify thinking. It can be fun to read your thoughts later and see if you still hold the same beliefs.
Michael
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