What Will You Do With Your Journals?
If you’re like me, you keep a journal. Actually if you’re like me, you have over 30 years of journals, stored in boxes in the garage. What do you plan to do with all that material? What if you don’t want people to see them, but you drop over dead and there they are? What if your state secrets get into the wrong hands?
I love reading my old stuff – except sometimes it backfires. I wrote about that here. Now I’m thinking that maybe I should pick a certain milestone birthday in the future and start weeding through all those years and years of scribbling (longhand, often in fountain pen) and cull the best parts for my family. Make it into one book, a personal one, of course. Print it at the local office supply store. Then get rid of everything else. Maybe spend the night in a campground with girl buddies, our RVs circling a campfire, and feed the rejected pages into the flames.
What about you? Do you have years of journals and if so, what do you plan to do with them?
PS: Apologies to those who read this post in its earlier form. I drafted, scheduled, and forgot about it. Oops! Hope it makes more sense now.
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Me neither, but it seems like a fun thing to do when I'm slowing down. If that ever happens.
I have oodles of journals including those I kept while I was teaching. Only when I run across some tucked into the back of closet or when I'm cleaning out my bookshelves do I even give a thought to what I should do with them.
I like your idea of pulling out the best memories, fun stories, and thought-provoking materials and making it into a book safe for family viewing. Hmm, great workshop idea for your writing association group. Frankly, though, I'm not ready for the bonfire yet--but someday.
All the best,
Bev