Thursday 10 December 2015

Do you keep a diary?

Do you keep a diary?  Have you ever kept a diary?

I think my first diary was begun when I was about eight or nine years old.  I kept it going, on and off for about six years but sadly I destroyed it when I was about 17 on the basis that it might incriminate me (and at least one other person).  I expect it was in a manner I would consider pretty trivial nowadays.
My second serious diary was begun when I was at college but that was more a work of fiction because I had the sense to leave out anything that could be harmful or hurtful to others.  Nevertheless, as a reminder to myself it works quite well. 

From then on the camera became my ‘diary’ and I tended to rely on pictures to tell the story of my life.  Occasionally interspersed would be little bits of diary but anyone trying to piece it all together in order would have a fun time – not!

Quite often recently Partner-who-loves-tea and I have tried to recall when we did such-and-such a thing and have had great difficulty working it out.  So we have decided to create a brief but indexed diary of our years together.  

I have also decided to make a great effort to keep a diary in the future.  One which doesn’t just cover the main events - like where we holiday - but also all the little bits of trivia like local shops closing down.  News of friends, both home and abroad, will also go in it.  It is the sort of resolution I have made on many a January 1st in the past.  I wonder how long it will last? 

28 comments:

  1. I think a lot of blogs are like diaries too. However usually the bad bits are left out, and perhaps that is just as well!

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  2. As for me, i've never figured myself important enough to need a diary. It would only get thrown out by the children someday, and i know i'll never have time to go back and reread it, i'm too busy and hope to stay that way!

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    1. Messymimi, you know how much I love your blog do I hope you'll forgive me saying RUBBISH to your first line. As your children (and perhaps their children) get older the more they will want to know about your history and you will always be one of the most important people in their lives.

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  3. Back in my early teens or so I kept a diary for a while - later destroyed. All my life until the digital camera took over I have kept photo albums with notes attached, though. Mum started it when I was a baby and I took over doing it myself from when I was around 10 or so. They are helpful to remember "the big events". I've also kept small pocket diaries from my 20s and onwards. They all give a very odd impression that life is very eventful in the month of January, and then becomes less and less so throughout the rest of the year... ;)

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    1. I suspect busy Januarys are the case with all our diaries, Monica!

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  4. For a lot of what's going on in my life, I use my blog as a kind of diary. But there are other things that are too intimate to post them, or simply of a kind that wouldn't be approriate on my blog. For those, I keep a diary that contains not only appointments but also personal notes, comments on the weather such as "first snow" and so on. I find both my blog and the physical diary very useful in looking up things I did and places I went to etc.

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  5. I kept a diary on and off when I was in college, seminary through part of my time in my ferst church after ordination. And then I did again for a brief time a few years ago. I know I would find it somewhat satisfying and perhaves good for the maturation process (still working on that at age 64).

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  6. I asked for and got a diary for Christmas when I was 10 years old. I used to hide from my brothers inside the globe. (It came apart and I don't THINK they knew where I hid it!) Come to think of it, I have been writing for a very long time!

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  7. I've never kept a diary. Somehow I consider the letters a kind of diary. Just I can't check them, because my bits of life are scattered around the world...
    Good luck with your brand new diary!

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    1. It's nice to think I have bits of your diary stored amongst my postcards!

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  8. I did keep a diary at one stage but for decades now I have simply kept my day to day appointments etc diary and I have found them invaluable when trying to decide which year I did this ,that or the other. one of the wonderful thing about digital photography is the information in the meta-data. I often have to rely on my old diaries to date photographs pre-digital era.

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  9. I keep a diary. I expect that those who survive me will read it and wish I were with them - so they could break my nose. ;)

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  10. I've never kept a proper diary, but if I can help with your indexing in any way, do let me know. I've spent quite a bit of time dating old photos and also have lists of various things that happened in different years, xx

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    1. Thanks Helen - I'll probably take you upon thia.

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  11. My blog has become my data filled diary. I also pair it with photos. Wish I had a blog when I was so much younger.

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    1. Like most of us I too would have liked to ave had a blog in years gone by.

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  12. I kept a diary in my teenage years right through to my studies at university.
    I've still got them all tucked away somewhere...maybe it's time to get rid of them since my daughter would have a good read of my exploits and wonder what kind of mother I am when I am gone.
    These days I use my blog as a kind of diary.

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    1. Oh Vee, please don't get rid of them. Your daughter will love reading them in days to come.

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  13. I am very pleased to have come upon you blog. I kept a diary for much of my life because I've always had a passion for trying to capture moments and emotions. Now I have my blog, which gives me extra pleasure because I can include photographs... and am not tempted to fill it with " I've gained 2 lbs, MUST go on diet" sort of entries!

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    1. Welcome, Jane. My equivalent of your 'Gained 2lb' used to be 'Smoked 20 today'.

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  14. I kept a diary as a young girl. Happily, I think those were destroyed. A bunch of awfulness. Now, my best "diaries" are my travel journals. I have two from trips to Scotland, one from Italy, and one from Mystic, CT. Hoping to write another Scotland/UK diary soon...

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    1. Some day I want to read your Scottish ones, please.

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    2. I plan to (eventually) type them all up (including my garden journals, which I forgot to mention) and make them into little books.

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  15. Good luck with your new diary. I've kept a diary for years, some years in more detail than others. My younger daughter wrote long, long entries in her diary as a teenager (I didn't start till later in life) and the night her sister and I sat around and read them is a stand out memory in my life. We laughed, we cried. It was wonderful. I hope she keeps them forever.

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  16. I always used to keep a diary until the time came that they filled a suitcase so I stopped. Wish now years later that I had kept them!

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  17. I keep starting journals and diaries, but after a week or two, I destroy them. It's just not safe to leave my deepest most private thoughts and fears lying around for someone to find. What if I died in the night? I would be so horrified to think of anyone reading any of this drivel! For keeping track of dates though, I do use a desk diary which I use to jot down stuff like "Dr. Potter - 11:30 AM" and "B'Day - Helene." And that's really all I need.

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  18. Presumably you get an email when you receive a comment, even on an old post?

    I ended up here again since 'm going through family blogs and saving little snippets and photos that I'd like to remember.

    Did you ever get round to writing your diary with Jo?

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  19. I have started it - done six months so far - only 30+ years to go....

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