New Year’s Resolutions – Let’s Keep a Journal for Once

When I moved out of my mother’s house for good, she packed up a box of my old things that she had kept under the stairs.  My cheerleading jacket, my elementary school yearbooks, even my baby book made it into that box.  Going through this box was like being transported back to childhood, to Sunday Pop Warner football games and third grade friendships; sleepovers and crushes.  I loved going through it all, and was so thankful that my mom had thought to save all of these things for me to rediscover as an adult.  Of all the items in this box, though, one excited me more than all the others – my 2^nd grade diary.

A small green notebook, complete with the all-important (and easily picked) lock on the front, this diary was my pride and joy in second grade.  The anticipation of what eight year-old me had to say about the world was practically all-consuming.  With care, I unlocked and opened my history, imagining tales of birthday parties and schoolwork, goals and dreams.  Instead I found two entries.  Two.  Clearly I was never very good at journaling.

Fast forward to December, 2014.  January was right around the corner, resolutions on everyone’s radar.  With my tiny diary on my mind, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I really should try this journaling thing again.  I loved the idea that weeks, months, years from now I could look back and, not only see in detail what I was doing, but also recall how I was feeling.  And maybe those words could even transcend my life into future generations.  I thought about how cool it would be to have the journal of a long ago relative at my finger tips; to read a first-hand account of their time; to learn about the differences between then and now from a person, not a history book.  I decided then that one of my top resolutions for 2015 would be to keep a journal, and write in it as often as possible, keeping a log of my life for my future children’s children to enjoy.

So here we are, at the end of January.  How has my journaling experiment gone thus far?  I will say that I’ve definitely improved since the age of eight, but I could be better.  My original goal was to write in my journal every night, which I was keeping up with for a week or so.  Now my entries seem to be more on a weekly basis, and are much longer than before, since I have so much more to say weekly than on the daily.

As I read back, even a few weeks, my journal has helped me to remember details about days past that I have already forgotten.  I wonder what it will be like to read these stories again in 30 years.  I wonder how much will have changed.  As long as I keep journaling, I will always have a window into my intricate past.  And as for that two-entry diary from second grade – it may just have sparked something much bigger than eight year-old me could have ever imagined.