I saw a post on a lovely blog by a gifted aspiring writer who decided she was going to take on the challenge of keeping a diary for a certain amount of time.
A few weeks ago, I spent a day reading old notebooks and journals – some were only half-full, some had only had a few scrawled pages. It was a fascinating journey. I was able to catch a glimpse of my own life from a new perspective. I re-visited forgotten moments and discovered new stories in the midst of my past. I was able to purge moments of my life and use them to fill the gaps of half-written projects. I uncovered springboards to new stories in the scribble of my own words.
Our journals are stories waiting to be released. They are the curator of our lives. They allow us to breathe new life into future stories through our own experience. No matter how full or empty your pages may be, there just might be a hidden jewel waiting to be extracted.
I need to start keeping a journal. Reflecting on my ideas, my life, my day…. I think it would be a great tool in a lot of respects. Thanks for the reinforcement of this idea!
I’ve started and stopped many journals over the years, but I kept them and it’s really an interesting read to go back to them years later.
Thank you. Your blog post mentions one of the reasons why I started to keep a diary in the first place. Lovely article. 🙂
Good luck in sticking to your goal…but even if you don’t, hang onto what you started – you may find yourself starting again at different times of your life.
I definitely will. Thanks for the reminder. This time I hope I’ll be able to follow through with my goal. A writer never likes the taste of failure. 🙂