Week 3: WAIT! Don't do it!

 After reading the prompt, I obviously began thinking about what it would be like for someone to read all my private thoughts and ideas after I am gone. I also thought about being able to read my parents, boyfriends, friends, family, etc., journals/diaries after they are gone too. I love the idea of both!

Personally, I could never burn all of my journals. I would absolutely want people to read them when I am gone. I feel like since I would be gone, my loved ones would get to feel "close" to me in a way by reading my writing. It almost makes me want to start keeping a journal, even if it was only a few entries a month. I think it would be so cool to have those memories written down somewhere to share with future family members that can get to know me from my stories. 

I know the thought of someone reading all of your thoughts, even secrets or opinions of certain people can be scary. But, once you are gone why would it matter? That is my feeling towards it. If I am gone, I don't care if someone finds out that I don't like them or didn't like something they did. Although, I think most of my journaling would be about the good, fun things I have been doing in life. It would be a really nice memory to be able to look back on for not only my family when I am gone, but also for myself as I get older. I like the idea of being able to look back and reminisce on the fun things I was doing, or what events happened that week or month so I can relive it and be thankful for it. 

Journaling can be such a great thing for not only yourself but for others around you. I don't think anything I write will become famous when I am gone, at least not as of now. I do feel like it could be really beneficial to keep a diary or journal during special times in your life like during a relationship, being able to document things from the beginning and watching your story grow as the years go on. This way could be really cool to look back on when you are married or when you are elderly and want to "relive" your younger years. You would have all of these memories and stories to read about your life and remember how great, or even how bad the times were. You can see how far you've come, how much you have grown, the life you built since then. 

Another fun thing about keeping a diary or journal during your life is for your future children or grandchildren. I would have loved if my great grandparents had kept journals that I could read now, since life was so much different back then. Or even my grandparents now, it would have been so awesome to read about their lives as it was happening to them. After considering all of this, it really does make me want to start keeping a journal for myself and my family to be able to look back on when the time comes that I am old and senile or when I am gone. I would never want my journals to be destroyed because that would be years of memories and history that others may love to hear. 


-notmyname

 

Comments

  1. Truffle SaltFebruary 1, 2021 at 8:11 PM

    Hello, I liked what you said keeping a journal during a relationship may be beneficial. You can watch the story unfold over the years. Whether it ends up good or bad, or even just okay. Our lives go in directions we can never predict. A journal may help us on our way, guiding us though this crazy thing called life. Our history is our life story.

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  2. RsmydraFebruary 5, 2021 at 10:39 AM

    Great point about grandparents. Reading about their lives in their own voices would give us access to people who lived differently and in different times from most of us. I never know my dad's parents and my mom's mom died when I was 8, so I didn't have much time with her either. Maybe reading a living person's diary vs a deceased person's journal embodies different meaning and purpose.

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