Interesting men and women of the past kept diaries. They would record, often daily, without the aid of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates (or Thomas Edison for that matter) thoughts, observations, joys, sorrows, all threaded through a running narrative of their daily lives.
Do they still? I really don’t know. I don’t.
In Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Beyond commentary on his family and his city, Bates filled the pages of his diary with observations of the changing seasons, the progress of his flowers, and the phases of the moon. He celebrated the first crocus each year, his elm trees shedding seed, oaks in full tassel, tulips in their prime. (page 67)
Goodwin goes on to note that Bates was a “contented man”. That in and of itself is a rare thing.
Taking time to regularly take note of one’s place in life and to reflect on the rhythms around us by recording our narratives would be beneficial, especially for those who process life by writing, and could perhaps serve to feed contentment.
Why did such men and women keep diaries? Were they kept by only certain social strata? Did they keep them with the expectation that they would be read? If they lived now, would they trade the diary for Facebook, Twitter, or a blog? Did anyone ever begrudge them the time spent in their diary keeping? Where did they find the time, discipline, and motive to keep a diary?
Those questions could make an interesting study, which I’m sure has been done. But my real interest is whether anyone, perhaps among my readers, yet keeps a diary. If you do, please share some of your thoughts with the rest of us.
Jenifer Hanson
I have kept a diary or journal since 1973. I haven’t the discipline or the inclination to write every day, but I do write often. For me, one of the reasons for doing so is that I haven’t other outlets for deep reflection. And I find that, when I don’t take the time for reflection, I feel cast adrift in both my own life and the universe. The minutiae (such as writing about the first crocus, etc.) helps to ground the reflection in a time and place. Prayer and meditation may provide this outlet for others, but journaling is what does it for me.
Its funny you asked that question today, as I just finished a short blog entry to publish tomorrow about my diaries/journals.
Randy Greenwald
See. This confirms my theory. INTERESTING people keep diaries.
Thanks for your thoughts, especially about the minutiae, a word I could not spell before now. It does seem to ground the extraordinary in the ordinary rhythms of God’s world.
And where does one find your blog?
Mike
I do not journal and probably won’t ever start. HOWEVER, I dabble in photography and find it fills the same sense of grounding Jeni references. Especially now that I use a digital format, I can take hundreds of pictures of “nothing” and catelog my reflections. Yes, there are the obligatory photos of friends and family, but the majority are of the minutiae, the somber and the dull. My thousands upon thousands of digital photographs are my journal, albeit without words.
Randy Greenwald
Nice slippage of the ‘somber and dull’ into the mix! Thanks for the observation. Artists do reflect their hearts in their work. Sounds like what you are doing.