Are You NUTS? | DearDiary.Net

The other day, I got the wild idea to get all my old journals out and read through them.

(You really are a glutton for punishment, you realize this, yes?)

Well, I thought it might be interesting. I started writing in 1981. Though really didn't get going until a few years after that. This is what I'm looking at:

[album 65561 Journal Jumble.jpg]

I found something right off that really was a blast from the past. A letter from a Kabbalist. I had read his books and wrote to him... because there was no internet. He wrote back. He lived in England. I have the envelope. The Queen is on the stamps. You know, there is something to be said for an actual letter. When I think of the thousands of emails that I have sent, and the fact that I probably only have 20 of them printed on paper, it's kind of scary. If history becomes digital, it becomes extremely vulnerable to loss AND messin' around.

Anyway, I'm going to plow my way through this stuff and see if I learn anything.

(You could skip all that reading and just learn that you are certifiably insane right now...)

True. But where's the fun in THAT?

Comments (6)

mamallama (Legacy)

I have one old journal. Or did I throw it away?
Hmmmmm. I'll have to look.
Great personal history you've got there.
Wouldn't mind reading it myself. :o)

InStitches (Legacy)

I like reading old journal entries so I think you are in for a treat.

Maybe you should print out a few of ()'s finer moments. It might give him a whole new perspective on life. Stranger things HAVE happened you know. :)

Parett (Legacy)

I don't keep journals, but I think I have every check register since 1968 when I was married.

I like to go through them every so often because they tell me much about those times in my life.

God Bless....

someonesmom (Legacy)

One of our essays for my english class was, "are books becoming obsolete to technology?" and I believe they are. You have a valid point that I should use (if permissable) about loss and vandalisim. Anyways, I think it's incredible that you have kept those where you could find them throughout all these years. A true testament to the value of your own written word.

Audstar (Legacy)

Thank you for sharing this entry, about journals and letters. One of the biggest losses in my life was when I entrusted all my writings -- handwritten notebooks from my teen years, in a pile three feet high -- to my "best friend" for safekeeping... and years later found out that her mother had THROWN THEM AWAY. It still hurts, although I have tried to be forgiving... but it felt like a part of my soul, my history, was discarded. Years later, in a recovery group, a friend suggested that maybe NO ONE was supposed to read those journals, and that's why they were really thrown away. It helped me heal... but I still miss them!

Nowadays, I still keep handwritten journals, and even typewritten ones (let's hear it for the IBM Selectric II's out there!), but now, =I= keep them... and when I read them, I realize that no matter where I was at when I wrote them, they are all precious to me. Maybe to me alone, but... they all still teach me something.

Enjoy your journals! And thanks again for sharing.

~ Audstar

Salamander (Legacy)

I used to keep handwritten journals on and off. I've tried recently to do so again, but somehow I seem to write better with a keyboard in front of me now. I should feel like I've lost something, I guess, but I'm not that displeased by it. Now, when I look back over past musings, I can actually read what I've written ....