How many keep a journal?

[Bisquitlips]

I have kept journals for decades and have found as I get older that they are a source of real enjoyment in my graying life. As I read back over some of my travel journals and our trips to Europe, my stint in Iraq with CENTAF in 2010, and just my everyday journals and thoughts from years ago, I have realized that when I invest some time to write things down in a journal, those writings are a type of buried treasure that I can dig up at any time and enjoy their worth.

This is not to mention what these writings will mean to my children someday and perhaps even my grand children and great grand children. I am sure that 70 years from now they will enjoy reading how my first 90 minutes in Iraq after arriving in Balad were spent being mortared holed up in a bunker and watching the UH-60s looking for something to light up.

If you have never been in a bunker and had a mortar impact 60 meters away it's hard to describe with the spoken word how the air is pressurized, your ears pop, your nose runs, and vertigo ensues for a few seconds. Not to mention that metallic taste in the back of your throat and mild nausea. But I was writing it down while it happened so it is crystal clear when I read it now. And hopefully not just to me, but to anyone who reads it in the future.

Do any of you keep a journal? If so, what kind? Travel? Everyday journal? Book journal? Pen journal with things like ink tests, pen reviews, acquisitions and dispersals. There are many kinds of journals and most of the great men in history kept one or more of them.

[Prestige_Swiss]

I think this is a great topic. I have had an interest on starting to keep a journal but I am not sure where to start at.

[NewEnthusiast]

I started keeping one when I found out that my wife was pregnant with our first child. Partly it was to record the details of my child's early life that would otherwise be forgotten in the haze of sleep deprivation and dirty nappies; partly it was a way of processing my own thoughts and feeling on parenthood (not least expectation v reality).

However, the main reason was to leave a resource behind for my kid(s) and any children they may have to allow them to get to know me as a person rather than just dad even after I've gone.

[BBL]

Bisquitlips
How are you feeling, now? Slow walking a marathon, yet?

This is an interesting post. You are blessed to have survived your assigned tour.

I used to keep a diary, but life took over; the many moves displaced it. I am of the age where I remember ink wells in school room desks , when a mischievous boy sitting behind an unsuspecting girl dipped her long braid into the ink, thusly landing the lad in the principals' office for a non-so-delicate, disciplinary discussion.

And then in later years when fountain pens came along with cartridges, it was a big deal if the ink expired during a final exam. I had to raise my hand for the teacher to come to my desk, and watch me while I inserted a new one.

Mother bought a calligraphy kit decades ago, and loved to scroll. I always like pens, and for appreciation to my wedding party years ago, everyone received a beautiful, engraved (with their name) pen; albeit a slim ballpoint (can I say that word on this subforum ?) that slid neatly into the crease of the checkbook cover.

Now, I'm lucky if I find a pencil that has enough carbon to write down my grocery list!

So, I appreciate the dedicated enthusiasm of this subforum, brings back a lot of memories.

Have a wonderful day, all. DM

[Njtster]

I have been keeping journals since 2002. I use a fountain pen, which for me is part of the fun. I tried many different papers and journals till I landed on the Japanese Hobonichi journals which to me are perfect size.. And the Tomoe River paper is superb! Yes, keep a journal. It's amazing to look back at some of the challenging times and remember how we got through them as well as the happy times and how much joy was there.

[jar]

I try to write daily but I must admit that once a journal or pad is filled I've always tossed them away.

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by BBL

Bisquitlips
How are you feeling, now? Slow walking a marathon, yet?

This is an interesting post. You are blessed to have survived your assigned tour.

I used to keep a diary, but life took over; the many moves displaced it. I am of the age where I remember ink wells in school room desks , when a mischievous boy sitting behind an unsuspecting girl dipped her long braid into the ink, thusly landing the lad in the principals' office for a non-so-delicate, disciplinary discussion.

And then in later years when fountain pens came along with cartridges, it was a big deal if the ink expired during a final exam. I had to raise my hand for the teacher to come to my desk, and watch me while I inserted a new one.

Mother bought a calligraphy kit decades ago, and loved to scroll. I always like pens, and for appreciation to my wedding party years ago, everyone received a beautiful, engraved (with their name) pen; albeit a slim ballpoint (can I say that word on this subforum ?) that slid neatly into the crease of the checkbook cover.

Now, I'm lucky if I find a pencil that has enough carbon to write down my grocery list!

So, I appreciate the dedicated enthusiasm of this subforum, brings back a lot of memories.

Have a wonderful day, all. DM

Hey BBL,

Still another 4 to 6 weeks zero weight on my left leg so still squatting to pee.

Regardless I could take JAR in a one legged potato sack race!

Thanks for asking.

Good thoughts and this is the sum of what journaling is about. Memories! More about this later.

[Bisquitlips]

I don’t suppose there are many of us that have lived more than a few decades that do not look back over our shoulders and stand aghast at the ever quickening movement of time. This is why I believe it imperative; if you want your life to be remembered you should write it down for others to read.

I remember as a boy of about 10 going into a house that was being demolished and finding an old journal on the attic floor in the dust written in pencil. I believe the dates were in the 1920s and 30s and I recall being astonished at how well preserved the author’s thoughts were even though they were in pencil on yellowed paper. I also remember the author. Even today 5 decades later. I didn’t know the author personally, but I knew of their lives. And even many years later I remember them.

I was in London some 20 years ago and picked up a small personal pocket journal at an antiques street market. As I later read through the journal I realized that the young lady who penned it did so many times while hiding in the Tube during the Blitz of London in WWII. She would give her account of being terrified while hearing and feeling the rumbling of the bombs dropping overhead only to later on the same night write of going to the cinema with her boyfriend if their neighborhood was beyond the borders of devastation. I think that was common in those days. To be bombed one hour and to be at the movies the next hour.

I remember as I read through the small journal occasionally seeing white grit and dust fall out of it as I turned the pages and thought it had been stored horribly over the years. dOnly to realize later that the grit and powder falling out of the journal was what was caught in the pages from the ceiling of the Tube as this young lady wrote upon those pages the terrors of the bombings she was experiencing. I still have that journal and I still remember that young lady and the parts of her life she shared. And the grit is still caught in most of the pages.

If you want your life remembered, you should not leave it to the memories of others. But should take the time to invest your life onto the pages of a journal that someone, somewhere, will certainly pick up at sometime and will remember you even though they never met you.

[august1410]

I write a weekly newspaper column for two newspapers here in North Carolina. While not a journal, per se, the topics of the columns reflect how I felt when I wrote them. I never plan ahead and I write the column ONE hour before deadline each Wednesday. Some are better than others and some I have admittedly, well, phoned in, but all give me a clear indication as to where my head was at that particular time.

Imagine Andy Rooney, just a little younger.

[jmiicustomz]

It's something I have always had an interest in. That said I kept one for an assignment in 7th grade and some kids stole it, photocopied the most personal pages and posted them around the school. Between that and my learning disabilities in language arts (spelling being the hardest) I fear ridicule, even if it is post mortem.

To know the future is to be trapped by it

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by jar

I try to write daily but I must admit that once a journal or pad is filled I've always tossed them away.

Hey Jim. I know you have your reasons for tossing them, but I have a story.

My father was murdered some 12 years ago. It was given to me to go through his home and gather anything we wanted and remove it prior to the other effects being sold. Among his items I found his hand written journals. They were not written on fancy leather notebooks or even Moleskine types, but on regular cheap 99 cent notebooks that school children use.

Among his daily musings were entries like: "Walked to the Pig today. (Piggly Wiggly). Picked up a few items. Walked home." "Weather fine." And some other mundane thoughts.

Even though those journals are not profound, but just typical entries of typical activities of a typical man, they are priceless to me. It's his handwriting. Knowing that his hand had touched the paper. My father's words.

There are hundreds of entries, likely because it laid open on his desk and he knew he only had to take a few seconds and jot down his thoughts and a few daily activities and interactions with his friends, he was faithful just to put something on those pages every day. If a major event happened then he would expound, but again the vast majority of this entries were nothing special. Except to me.

The value of a journal is not its contents as much as it is the hand that wrote the contents. Regardless of what they are. It may be that someday someone may take your journal, read it, and hold it to their hearts as they remember you. And somehow feel that you are still with them in a small yet profound way.

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by august1410

I write a weekly newspaper column for two newspapers here in North Carolina. While not a journal, per se, the topics of the columns reflect how I felt when I wrote them. I never plan ahead and I write the column ONE hour before deadline each Wednesday. Some are better than others and some I have admittedly, well, phoned in, but all give me a clear indication as to where my head was at that particular time.

Imagine Andy Rooney, just a little younger.

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by Prestige_Swiss

I think this is a great topic. I have had an interest on starting to keep a journal but I am not sure where to start at.

Start with the internet and google. Do a search on things like how to start a journal or reasons for journaling.

Here is a couple of links that might help.

https://themission.co/10-reasons-to-...l-b667d7a8374b

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...riting-drawing

http://lifehacker.com/why-you-should...urs-1547057185

http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-a-Journal

Google it up. It is endless! Have fun!

[august1410]

I did write one of my columns about watches. I'm not sure about the rules about posting it here on the forum, and I don't want to hijack this great thread.

If anyone is interested, I would gladly PM them a link to the paper in which it appeared.

[BBL]

Originally Posted by Bisquitlips

Hey BBL,

Still another 4 to 6 weeks zero weight on my left leg so still squatting to pee.

Regardless I could take JAR in a one legged potato sack race!

Thanks for asking.

Good thoughts and this is the sum of what journaling is about. Memories! More about this later.

Bisquitlips - you sound so much better. I could sense your pain before this last surgery. I'm glad you'll soon be back to normal, maybe a new normal.

Thoroughly enjoy your writing. Methinks you need to write your own book.

Blessings,
DM

[BBL]

Originally Posted by august1410

I did write one of my columns about watches. I'm not sure about the rules about posting it here on the forum, and I don't want to hijack this great thread.

If anyone is interested, I would gladly PM them a link to the paper in which it appeared.

Column authoring one hour before deadline? Wow! It must be a learned art; albeit, being blessed with the imperative basic of never ending subject matter, superior command of language, and overflowing creativity and imagination.

Kudos august1410.

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by august1410

I did write one of my columns about watches. I'm not sure about the rules about posting it here on the forum, and I don't want to hijack this great thread.

If anyone is interested, I would gladly PM them a link to the paper in which it appeared.

I would definitely like to have the article. Please!

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by BBL

Bisquitlips - you sound so much better. I could sense your pain before this last surgery. I'm glad you'll soon be back to normal, maybe a new normal.

Thoroughly enjoy your writing. Methinks you need to write your own book.

Blessings,
DM

Well... thanks! But I don't think I have a book in me. At least not one that anyone would be interested in reading.

I am feeling so much better and the pain in my left hip is very much improved. I am hoping that the doctor will release me when the next 4 weeks are up, but they seem to think it will be closer to 6 or 8 because the fracture was spiral in nature. I am just thankful that the hip replacement itself hadn't shifted. Had it done so it would have had to be removed and replaced and that would have been taxing to say the least.

Thanks again for the good wishes! I sincerely and deeply appreciate them.

[Superburrito]

Bisquitlips, it's a very interesting topic, thanks for posting. I love writing and fountain pens, but it's hard for me to imagine keeping a journal. No kids, so I don't have anyone to pass the journal along to. And I feel like I've changed so much over time, I don't know If I want to know what the younger me was thinking and doing, in great detail! So instead I just enjoy the moments.

Anyway, heal up quickly!

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by Superburrito

Bisquitlips, it's a very interesting topic, thanks for posting. I love writing and fountain pens, but it's hard for me to imagine keeping a journal. No kids, so I don't have anyone to pass the journal along to. And I feel like I've changed so much over time, I don't know If I want to know what the younger me was thinking and doing, in great detail! So instead I just enjoy the moments.

Anyway, heal up quickly!

Thank you Burrito! (Love that forum moniker!) I appreciate the kindness!

Trust me. Someone somewhere will value a journal written by you. I have several in my collection that I have no idea who the people are that penned them, but they are fascinating in their content.

A couple of them are from the late 1800s and simply journal the day. Daily washing, chores, people in their lives, parties, funerals, growing crops, failures, county fairs, conversations, a bit of gossip, even their anger and contentions with others, and so on. To them I am sure they thought no one would ever value their words, but they are indeed fascinating to someone who lives two generations removed from the experience of their daily lives deemed unimportant.

Write one and you can will it to me!

[Superburrito]

Originally Posted by Bisquitlips

Write one and you can will it to me!

Maybe I will! Thanks for educating me on the journals. I never really thought about what it would be like to read one from someone (not famous), especially from long ago. Pretty cool - I imagine it could be pretty fascinating.