Do you keep a journal or preserve a few pictures of your life? If so, how? What do you write about? Are there times you find it's easier to write? Are there topics that inspire your or pop up in your journals more than others?
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
I kept an almost daily journal during a period of rapid growth and important decisions. It's unbelievably interesting to go back and see what I was doing 10 years ago today.
These days, I'll take a brief 30 second video of my kids on birthdays and major holidays, asking them what they think about stuff.
Actually, I think I'll start asking them the same questions. 20 years from now, that record will really be interesting.
Hmm - any suggestion of questions?
* What do you think about your birthday? * What do you think about your family? * What fun thing happened recently? * What makes you worry?
LM
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And I'd discuss the holy books with the learned men, seven hours every day. That would be the sweetest thing of all.
I had a sporadic off and on affair writing in one of those things when I was a teen but frankly I was bored to tears reading my own entries. My life is pretty boring and since nothing I do has any real significance to history I just don't see the need. I don't even like reading other people's journals either. The only one I ever read that was interesting and that I own was the diary of Fredrick McKenzie who was an officer in the American Revolution. It is also very short which is probably why I like it.
I know we are encouraged to write in journals by church leaders but my life is pretty mundane from day to day which is how I like it. Get up about the same time, eat the same thing for breakfast, drive the same route to work, do the same work day after day, drive home. I don't have the exciting life of a general authority or historical figure thank goodness. I wouldn't want to read about my life and have had not desire to read about my own relatives and ancestors. I'm a freak that way.
The closest thing I have to a Journal would be my dive log which details when I went diving, where, with whom, how deep I went, water temperature, average depth, dive time, no decompression limit, surface interval, etc. Even more boring except I need the info for a record of my dives and for safety.
Sheesh, those questions are a bit deeper than the ones we ask on videos...
What grade are you in? How old are you? Who are your friends? What's your favorite food? What's your favorite animal? What do you like to do for fun?
I better get deeper...
I've kept a journal off and on since my baptism. It's really been slow the last several years. I need to write more. I know I'd like to read ancestors' journals, if I had any... In the past I've written the basic events or what's going on and then I'll write my feelings on things... I try to make it "worthwhile" and not just Something that people could walk away from and actually get something out of it.
I've also kept some "journals" that were destroyed. More like self-therapy.
I like to take pictures of the kids and of our vacations and doings. I hate scrapbooking, however, if you define it with multi-colored paper, multi-designed scissors, multi-dimensional stickers and all that fakey stuff people do and think they're artists. *ducks* I've made basic photo books (don't worry, I get the acid-free paper and sheet protectors) with the dates and location and a little bit about what happened. I used to do this for every child, but I'm thinking I better just make one for the whole family (so I can actually DO IT and keep semi-caught up) then they can fight over how to copy it and stuff when I'm dead.
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Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
I write in my journal every day... (unless, I am very sick) It is the thing that keeps me grounded to my life; otherwise ugly reality would overtake me and cause me to sink into the abyss that is Lupus. I do not write about myself. I write about my world that is wonderful... My family, my callings, my blessings, my friends... etc. Some of you get in there
I have volumes of books for my yearly journals that possibly no one will EVER want to read, They are searchable and electronic as well as printed at the end of each year they are also therapeutic for me... I find them a grand place to put my thoughts about my gospel studies and my hopes for eternity, as well... Its like have a place for dreams that no one can spoil I love journaling. If I get to the point when I cant do that, I think it WILL be time to go home.
I used to keep a weekly handwritten journal. That petered out a couple years ago. Now I do a typewritten page a couple times a month just about the whole family. I record Mr. Boo's milestones, what I do to keep busy, and whatever is going on with DaKnife. I also record extended family news. The thought is that someday Mr. Boo may want to see a record of his early life, or we can pull it out and say, "guess what we did on our second anniversary!" Just stuff like that.
When I started college, I was commanded in a blessing to write in my journal every day and to only write good things. So I started a habit that lasted me about ten years, and it really changed my life. Changed my perspective to be much more positive and changed how I was able to look at things. I have realized that the important things in journals are not so much what happens as much as how you FELT. That's what makes it interesting. Not "I had crunchberries for breakfast" but rather "I had crunchberries, I LOVE crunchberries! We never get to have crunchberries but this week I decided to splurge. I love how the yellow crunch stuff is almost buttery and everything else is so crisp and fruity. I know a lot of people don't care about breakfast but I just love food so first thing in the morning getting to eat something so tasty is very special to me."
Now, some would call that second entry just plain weird. And of course I wouldn't write something like that every day. But an occasional note like that can really reveal a lot about you, and it would surprise you how special things like that are to your descendants.
Anyway, I got married and practically stopped writing after that, though I put in an entry every 6 months or so. I just don't have the observations on life that I used to have. :-/
for some reason having more of a life makes it so much harder to write in a journal! I was so good in high school when I would come home, get on the computer, and write in my online journal. For one of my young woman projects I printed up hundreds of pages of journal entries. After I graduated, and was around people constantly, and didn't want to avoid people, I got much worse at writing in my journal. I tried summer 2006 to get back into the habit because I was riding the bus everyday, so I was doing all right. My problem is that once I start writing, I write for about an hour or so just about my day. Well, I guess it starts about my day, but then it turns into thoughts I've had, and ideas that I've had/my take on situations, and it turns into a long writing that's 100% my attitude. I love the freedom of writing in a journal! I just wish I had more time, especially to keep track of our first year of marriage! yikes!
*mental note: I LOVE writing in my journal. So I should just do it!*
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Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
— Oscar Wilde
Something that people could walk away from and actually get something out of it.
More like self-therapy. 
I love journaling. If I get to the point when I cant do that, I think it WILL be time to go home.
