Diaries, Journaling, Discipline
By momiecat
@momiecat (997)
United States
April 22, 2013 12:19pm CST
I have recently been watching the day to day revelations of an active trial involving a female who admittedly murdered her boyfriend/ex-boyfriend. Throughout the unraveling of the defense and prosecution witness testimony, it has been revealed that the female has kept diaries throughout her teen years through the present time. This woman is now 34 years old. Aside from the rich history these diaries reveal, they also provide an inside look at the events, feelings and thoughts of this woman throughout the years. I personally wish that I had kept consistent diaries throughout the years to refresh my memory of fading events and long forgotten happenings of earlier times in my life. I imagine it takes a lot of discipline in order to consistently journal, a part of my personal being that needs to be improved upon. This woman's diaries were all handwritten, which makes it seem an even more desirable feat to me, to be able to "pen" in your own handwriting your innermost thoughts. With the advent of typewriters up and through time to the advent of computers, it seems a lot simpler to journal using such instruments, yet the allure of having a tangible, hard copy of your lifetime events and thoughts still seems to be a well-worth-it goal to try to attain.
1 person likes this
8 responses
@mensab (4200)
• Philippines
22 Apr 13
this is incredible and amazing. i always admire those who keep track of their moments in life. of course, special and ordinary moments account for our purpose and meaning in this world. i could only wish to have written similar diaries and journals. but i am too lazy and active in the worldly things that i often ignore to reflect and deepen my experiences with a thoughtful activity such as diary.
@momiecat (997)
• United States
22 Apr 13
Yes, you are right. The ability to discipline oneself to writing daily or even every other day will reap many benefits in the future. I think it would be helpful to set aside a specific time each day or every other day in which to write down a few thoughts about the day's events. We must encourage each other to get in the habit of doing this as there is so much to enjoy in looking back at earlier times in your life, the good and the bad, to see how you have spent your days and thoughts through the years. Time passes so quickly that if we want to help slow it down a bit, I think journaling is one way to do it. Preserve the memories!
@celticeagle (166761)
• Boise, Idaho
22 Apr 13
There are many ways in which to journal. I have kept a journal for years off and on. It seems when life gets busy it is difficult to find the time. I do try to make some basic jibberish written about that time also at some point. I feel the same way as you do as far as this journaling helping the memory. And journaling can be very cathartic and helpful in so many ways. Not just with memory. A lot of people like to run over in their minds the events of the day. It is rather easy to get in the habit of just pulling out your journal and writing these thoughts down. And when there are emotional things happening in ones like it is a good way of working though things. A nice way to relax at the end of the day also.
@momiecat (997)
• United States
22 Apr 13
All very good points. It is good to encourage one another to keep on writing as it has many valuable rewards when looking back over life's events. Good point about writing at the end of the day. May be a good trick to help the discipline issue is to make a certain time and be consistent about setting that time aside for your journaling, i.e. make it a habit!
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (166761)
• Boise, Idaho
22 Apr 13
Consistency is key. Just so you are continually writing and not falling short on that daily. That is the important thing.
@momiecat (997)
• United States
22 Apr 13
Another good point. Consistency is the key to discipline, making it a habit, setting aside a time of day to reflect and write down a few key thoughts. It does not have to be pages upon pages of writing but a brief summary of your thoughts and events of the day will be valuable in the future to recall events that get hazy with time.
1 person likes this
@imaging_1 (64)
• United Kingdom
23 Apr 13
I used to keep diaries when I was at school. I wrote everything happened in my life or what I thought about. When I read them I just feel very interesting and lost myself with the memory, even though maybe I felt boring when I wrote them. But when I step in to social life and have to work, I throw my diary book out of my window. And one day half months ago, I suddenly felt that I should keep diaries again, just write down the most important things and some ideas, and list the plans next day to do. By writing this, I feel more meaningful of my life, especially when you do according your plans.
@momiecat (997)
• United States
23 Apr 13
I am so happy for you that you have the desire to write again. I hope you kept your diaries from your younger days and did not literally throw them away. Like I said previously, nothing is boring about ones life. Different things happen every day. You can even write about the news of the day and what is happening in the world. It is a great historical memory book which will be so much more significant in the future in looking back.
@vidhyaprakash_2 (7116)
• India
24 Apr 13
I am not interested in diary writing. My wife is having this habit. Before my marriage during her teen age she wrote all the events in her diary. Still she keep her diaries safe to cherish her past. Now a days to stopped her habit, as she don't have time for writing diary.
@momiecat (997)
• United States
24 Apr 13
Journaling is not for everybody. Nowadays it is even easy to record your life events with a camera. The age of digital camera has made it super easy to take hundreds of photos and store them in small media format and have the ability to recall them with a few keystrokes. What will the future hold? Even more exciting innovations, I hope!
@randomarts09 (1405)
• Indonesia
24 Apr 13
It's a desirable one for me too. To be able to constantly write a diary or journal throughout my life events. That's a good way to keep memories about the events which otherwise you'll forget. And yeah, you're right. It's surely take a discipline to keep writing a diary. Since I have experience it too, I began to write journal about my life events but only stay to write it for a week. And then I either forget or too busy to continue it. So it's indeed hard to keep doing it.
@momiecat (997)
• United States
25 Apr 13
It can be hard to keep writing but it is well worth it in the long run. I think some of the suggestions here are very good in terms of helping to keep the writing going. It does not have to be writing every day but judging from all the previous comments here, it seems well worth the time it takes to be able to have a treasure book of memories for future perusal.
@celleDJ406 (196)
• Philippines
23 Apr 13
Journaling for me is de-stressing. It helps me go back to the past and re-learn from them. It helped me in my walk of faith by remembering the lessons from the truths of the gospel and how I got up from failures and how I moved on from heartbreaking circumstances.
I have been journaling since my early childhood years, some notebooks I have lost from transferring in one place to another. But when the new technology came, it was more feasible for me to continue. Much were kept in the highest security settings just so this will be for my private use only, while some were shared.
It's never too late to start a journal. Lately, I started on a new notebook called, TravelBuddy, where I documented the places I have been to so I could share them to friends who want to go to these places someday.
@momiecat (997)
• United States
23 Apr 13
I love what you said "It's never too late to start a journal." This is such an important point. Some of us wish we had started journaling in our very early years but if we did not take that opportunity, we can start now. I also like the TravelBuddy idea. When my mom and dad used to travel, my mom always wrote about their travels when they returned home. I had actually forgotten about that. I need to get with her and see if I can convert those handwritten notes to typewritten notes in the computer so they can be shared with the family. Great ideas!
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
22 Apr 13
Ya know what? I have tried to journal, but it just feels like my life is SO boring! I've written more about my life in the years I've been here, than any other time in my life.
I'd hardly call it journaling, but it has become a kind of written document of my last 5-6 years.
@momiecat (997)
• United States
23 Apr 13
No ones life is boring. There is always something in ones life that others will find interesting. I know you have kitties and that in itself is a story, all their daily antics. You have been very faithful on this site and you are correct in assuming it is a kind of "journal". You are to be commended for your steadfastness and dedication to this site.
