13. Write Things Down
I recently rediscovered a box of all the journals I've ever written. I kept a journal off and on from 4th grade (1994) until about 6 years ago.
I've been rereading them in chronological order, and let me tell you . . . they are horrifyingly hilarious. So cringe-worthy! I kind of want to burn some of them . . . or at least tear out a few pages! But at the same time, they're fascinating. It's amazing how much I've forgotten about my own life. Haha. And it's eye-opening to read it from the perspective of a parent. There are pages of rants about my parents' unfairness and how they never took my side. But, now, as a parent myself, I read about the situation and think, "Yep. I'd have responded the same way my parents did."
Aside from all the teenage angst, it's been so fun to read. I was an awesome kid. (Lol - sarcasm) Check out this entry from 8th grade.
Hahaha. There are frequent mentions of playing ridiculous games with Sharon. Many times we hid from Nazis or pretended to be Amish or played "pioneers" as above.
It was also fun to remember the beginnings of my crush on Justin (and a few other guys, if I'm honest. Lol). But it was most interesting to watch myself grow as I move from journal to journal - not physically (although I did keep very depressing logs of my weight throughout high school), but in maturity.
And then, a few years ago, I moved on to blogging. I don't know who ever had the brilliant idea of publishing our diaries for the world to see - or how I became so obsessed with it - but here I am! Haha. I hold back considerably more than I ever did in my paper journals. Consider yourself lucky! But I still love reading back through my old blog entries - especially the ones about my kids. I love having all their milestones recorded here (because I do a bad job about recording them in their baby books). I often think, "I wonder when Levi will start crawling. When did Lena crawl?" So I go back and look it up. Or I think, "What was that book I read about motherhood called?" and I click on my "books" tag and search until I find it.
200 years from now, if nothing dystopian happens and the Internet is still accessible, historians are going to love me for my obsession with recording life.
So the life lesson here is this: write things down. It's probably too late for most of you to start recording your high school crushes, but you can start jotting down funny things your kids say, or taking notes about books you read, or just writing down what you did that day. You don't have to publish it as a public blog for all to see. You don't have to make a fancy bullet journal or be able to draw all artistically. Just get a notebook and start writing. In a few years, you will love looking back on it.
To help you get started (what a segue, eh?!), I have a giveaway! Well, not really me. All the participants in Write31Days were invited to share this giveaway on their blog, so it has nothing to do with me. But I'll share it just for fun. Enter below to win a $100 shopping spree at DaySpring.com. You could definitely afford some nice journals with $100!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
To see more from my Write 31 Days series, click the image below:
Aside from all the teenage angst, it's been so fun to read. I was an awesome kid. (Lol - sarcasm) Check out this entry from 8th grade.
 |
| "I'm at Sharon's. Today while I was at her house Kelly Carter came over. We played pioneers. We dressed up and went outside in the freezing cold. We played that our husbands were gone trapping when our house burned down so we had to fend for ourselves. We built a fire in the snow (after 30 tries!)." |
It was also fun to remember the beginnings of my crush on Justin (and a few other guys, if I'm honest. Lol). But it was most interesting to watch myself grow as I move from journal to journal - not physically (although I did keep very depressing logs of my weight throughout high school), but in maturity.
And then, a few years ago, I moved on to blogging. I don't know who ever had the brilliant idea of publishing our diaries for the world to see - or how I became so obsessed with it - but here I am! Haha. I hold back considerably more than I ever did in my paper journals. Consider yourself lucky! But I still love reading back through my old blog entries - especially the ones about my kids. I love having all their milestones recorded here (because I do a bad job about recording them in their baby books). I often think, "I wonder when Levi will start crawling. When did Lena crawl?" So I go back and look it up. Or I think, "What was that book I read about motherhood called?" and I click on my "books" tag and search until I find it.
200 years from now, if nothing dystopian happens and the Internet is still accessible, historians are going to love me for my obsession with recording life.
So the life lesson here is this: write things down. It's probably too late for most of you to start recording your high school crushes, but you can start jotting down funny things your kids say, or taking notes about books you read, or just writing down what you did that day. You don't have to publish it as a public blog for all to see. You don't have to make a fancy bullet journal or be able to draw all artistically. Just get a notebook and start writing. In a few years, you will love looking back on it.
To help you get started (what a segue, eh?!), I have a giveaway! Well, not really me. All the participants in Write31Days were invited to share this giveaway on their blog, so it has nothing to do with me. But I'll share it just for fun. Enter below to win a $100 shopping spree at DaySpring.com. You could definitely afford some nice journals with $100!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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