My Two Journals

I keep two journals (or diaries or logs or whatever you want to call them).  This blog is my public journal.  I'm limited in what I can say here.  I don't write anything here that is very personal or private or that might inadvertently embarrass someone (except myself, occasionally!).  My other journal is written with pen and ink on paper.  I can write anything I want in my private journal.  From the mundane to the highly personal.  I only allow one other person to read my personal journal.  I have nothing to hide from my partner.  When I'm gone from this life, I don't care who reads my journals.

Other the years, I've kept my personal journals in binders of all shapes and sizes and in bound books, like Moleskines.  I like both types of paper journals but often find a Day-Timer style works best for me.  It certainly did while I worked for others and then, later, for myself.  Even now that I'm retired, I have enough appointments and events to keep track of that it's a handy style to use.  It helps me to organize my days and my thoughts and feelings.  Sometimes, those binder rings in my Day-Timer get in the way while I'm writing but no journal is perfect.  Keeping this month's two-pages-per-day, plus the next two months, works well for me.

Occasionally, I look back through my old journals.  It's kind of strange when I do that.  Sometimes, I just shake my head at the thoughts I've jotted down.  Often, what seemed like a life crisis 'a way back then' is now just a small event in my life, given hind sight and perspective.  I also tend to shake my head at all the trivial things I've recorded over the years.  Their real value, I suppose, is giving me an outlet for my personal writing.  Once in a blue moon, they contain a needed record of what I did on a certain date, a person's name or address, or something of that sort.  Most of all, those old journal trigger deeper memories.  A few words that I recorded might enable me to recall the details of a part of my life.  It might be a relationship, a trip, a business contract, an important event, or whatever.

I would encourage everyone to keep a journal.  Someday, your kids, or grand-kids, or family historian might find your journals very helpful.  Plus, you might just come to enjoy spending a few minutes a day or week just writing out your thoughts.  Who knows?