Week 2: From Stress to Smoke
Although I personally have never kept a personal journal or diary, I think that burning a person journal would be an amazing feeling. As a writer, I think that one of the main purposes of keeping a personal journal is to write down all of your feelings, ideas, etc. that you don't want to tell to others, but that you need to just get off your chest. Some reasons that writers turn to writing in their journal rather than just having a conversation with others is because they don't want sympathy, they don't want to be judged, and they also don't want to carry around the burden of keeping their own feelings and/or emotions a secret. With that said, I would also think that the majority of the writers that keep a personal journal would definitely not want their parents, friends, significant other, etc. reading the things that they have a written in a place that only holds so many deep emotions and possible secrets, in fear that these people will judge them or treat them differently in some way.
Furthermore, the process of burning something in my eyes is to erase something completely, never having the opportunity to go back and look at it. So first, as a way to keep others from seeing your private thoughts and emotions I think that this is the easiest way. However on a deeper thought, burning your journal is like erasing a major part of yourself, so I think that this process could go a few different ways depending on the person. One way, is that the writer has a diary written cover to cover about their sadness, trauma, deepest secrets and emotions, and overall about things that have caused them the most stress. Burning this diary for this writer, would be as if of all those stressors no longer exist, as if it is a sign to finally move past things they have been dwelling on, and as if the world has been lifted off of their shoulders. If not to burn this type of journal, what is the point of keeping it?
On the other hand, there is the writer that writes about happy memories they have, feeling loved, and about the hope they have for themselves and for their future. This writer, would most likely enjoy keeping their diary and would not be afraid of others reading it because this is something that they can read one day and feel optimistic rather than reading about your deepest secrets and feeling guilt. To burn this specific journal, would be to burn some of your own best memories which would simply be a tragedy.
You make a great point on how cathartic it can be to burn a diary. For those who simply want to rid themselves of the painful memories contained within them, this can be a quick and meaningful way to unburden oneself. However, being rid of them forever is what would stop me from committing such an act. Maybe it's my own personal fears of committing to a decision, but I could never find the ability to just burn my journals. I do think certain entries I would never want shared with the world and burning these pages specifically would feel great as it provides a sort of symbolic release from my past heartaches. But my diaries also hold a lot of happy memories, memories I would want my loved ones to read and feel good about. I would not be willing to throw these away so flippantly, so I agree with you about feeling guilt for doing as such. It would be a personal tragedy, almost like losing a part of yourself.
ReplyDeleteYou make some great points. I think writing these journals is a great way to release tension built up from holding on to these emotions alone. Once you work through these emotions and find piece, burning the journals can be symbolic to letting go and moving on. Like you said though, there is something deeper to this. We all have our own individual experiences that we live, but it does contribute to a shared existence with others. What if, once you've moved on and found peace through writing your pain and emotions down on paper, they could help others win that same battle you just got through? What if sharing your life with others could improve how they live? What if you have a son, daughter, nieces or nephews who deal with the same trauma you did decades ago, and feel like they don't have anyone to talk to that would understand. What if your diary is the key to their breakthrough? Just a thought. Thanks for sharing multiple perspectives on this!
ReplyDeleteHey, I enjoyed your take on this topic but i think we all have to understand that when this life is over all we have are memories and how someone has made us feel. A journal could never replace living in the moment.
ReplyDeleteI think your question about why we keep our journals once we fill them is at the crux of the issue for me. If the intention is that these things remain private or we remain anonymous, why would you keep it??? We are redoing our basement, and I came across my journals from college; I couldn't throw them out because they give me an opportunity to see who I was and who I have become. However, I don't want my kids reading them, so I am torn......because as Wadering Witer notes, living those moments won't resonate to anyone but me.
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