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Does anyone else out there keep a journal? I started doing it several years ago and find it very therapeutic. What I'd like to know is what do you do with them when they accumulate? When I had a huge change in my life,I threw away about five years worth and now in my new life,I've accumulated about that many more. It's fun, enlightening,and informative to look back on them....but for how long? Should I keep them indefinitely? forever? What do you all do? Just curious.
Last edited by 2goldens; 02-05-2010 at 02:24 PM..
Reason: Moved from Other Topics
Well, it's up to you. But if you decide to save it, I think you should get one of those drive disk (?) that you insert into the computer and will save your files. It's tiny, you can put it away and it has plenty of storage to keep all your journals in there. It cost between $19-$36, I believe, depending on the storage capability.
I found some old journals I wrote back in junior high and high school buried away at my parents house...I want to sit down and read them sometime, but after that I may not keep them. I guess it depends on how much I can relate to them now or if they are just teen rantings...or if they might make me the next Laura Ingalls Wilder!
I like Alice's idea of saving them to disk...much less space and then you can keep them forever if you want!
Well, it's up to you. But if you decide to save it, I think you should get one of those drive disk (?) that you insert into the computer and will save your files. It's tiny, you can put it away and it has plenty of storage to keep all your journals in there. It cost between $19-$36, I believe, depending on the storage capability.
Great idea except my journals are in writing in real book journals....not on the computer. I am a very good writer,have a nice handwriting and enjoy writing. That's what I meant by accumulating because I have all these many filled journals. Right now I'm keeping them in a bed bench with storage along with my photo albums,but at the rate I'm going,someday I'll run out of room. Does anyone else have yours in a book and not on the computer?
I don't journal but in my opinion, I think you shouldn't throw those out. Well if you must condense it, go through them and keep the ones that have the significant events in your life. It's really good to keep them for reminiscing sake (good and bad, it's all life lessons) and who knows... if you're comfortable, you might pass it on to your great grandkids down the line....
I'm surprised anyone throws out their journals! Unless they were once therapeutic and have become distant memories you never want to relive, I just can't imagine it. They are physical evidence of your existence! Something you can look back on later in life to relive your childhood memories, or give your grandchildren so they can read about your life.
I've simply stored all of my journals in a box in my room. In my opinion, they are my life and if someone were to discover and read them, I wouldn't be ashamed of anything. Therefor, I don't really feel the need to hide them, but not that that's not all right.
Journaling has had such an impact on my life that I even made a website dedicated to the art of keeping various journals.
Check out [mod] No outside journals, blogs, personal websites, Myspace, FB links allowed. [/mod] for more info.
Great idea except my journals are in writing in real book journals....not on the computer. I am a very good writer,have a nice handwriting and enjoy writing. That's what I meant by accumulating because I have all these many filled journals. Right now I'm keeping them in a bed bench with storage along with my photo albums,but at the rate I'm going,someday I'll run out of room. Does anyone else have yours in a book and not on the computer?
I'm like you, I always write with pen and paper.
I've accumulated quite a few journals over time but I keep them all, I just don't want to get rid of them because some day I might/will feel like reading them.
At age 16, I started writing in journals, and I still do to this day. There are 8 "volumes" to date. I don't necessarily write something every day; I try to include the important stuff. If I've had a totally routine day, I may not have anything significant to write.
My journals are extremely important possessions to me. They've allowed me to express my feelings during sad times (and happy times too.) And a big bonus is that they serve as a detailed history of my life. Many times, I've used them as a reference, to get the dates and details of events. Sometimes I just like to look back in amazement at what I was doing 5, 10, 15 years ago.
I keep a journal, but I get lazy and don't always update it. I try to update it at least once a week and it usually takes me two or three years to fill up one journal (mine are much bigger than a composition notebook though). I like to re-read bits of them every now and then and see where I was during a particular time a few years ago. I, too, use them as references and go back to check dates sometimes. I've always enjoyed writing with pen and paper, and I read somewhere that it's more therapeutic than writing on the computer because you're actually going through the motions of writing rather than pressing meaningless buttons.
I also think journals are a neat way of recording history. A few years ago I got to read through my grandmother's journal from when she was in high school. It was really neat and really made me consider how much has changed over the years (especially around town, since my family has lived in the same small town for generations). Plus, I never got to meet her, so it was nice to read something she'd written in her own hand about her own life.
Even if you don't keep a traditional journal of all your thoughts/feelings, it is still a good idea to keep one with a note of various things that happened that day. (car repairs, bills paid, medical notes, etc.) One day you may have to remember when you did something and you can always go back and check your notes. I have found this to be more than helpful. I now keep one on a free online site.
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