My love of books that chronicled, even if fictitiously, the daily life of a girl my age led to another life habit: I started keeping my own journals. They started off with a journal my best friend gave me when I was about 10 years old. It had a special compartment with a lock and key. I'm pretty sure I only kept my cute pens in there. Then, I found that my parents' desktop computer had a journal application. Whoever thought that was a good idea, I will never know. Suffice it to say that you could make your journal password-protected, and I'm super good at forgetting passwords. And, as I should have seen coming, our old tumor of a computer was headed to the curb in a few years, along with it the ramblings of a girl who wrote about everything. I've learned my lesson (physical diaries are definitely the way to go).
When I was a young high-schooler, a good friend who is like an aunt to me gave me a beautiful diary for Christmas. "Fill up the whole thing," she told me. And I did. From my life in high-school, to planning for my first mission trip, to getting nervous about my karate tests, it is all there. And, as fate would have it, I have continued to receive journals as gifts from friends, right after the other, so that my life story has been beautifully recorded in these precious diaries. My journalling fate, however, was not meant to stop at writing words on a page. For my 20th birthday, another good friend gave me my first Smashbook. I was in love. Smashbooks are meant to become a messy, mash-up of your life, filled with writings but also any knick-knacks, ticket stubs, Yogi tea tags (in my case), and whatever else reminds you of great memories. I wrote in my Smashbook for that year, through my first experience living apart from my family at GA Tech, and through turning the big 2-1.
When it came time for me to start my Faithful Nomad adventure, I bought a travel-themed journal just like the last, and it now weighs about 10 lbs from all the momentos and memories stored inside. I have continued writing my thoughts and daily happenings in a journal my friend gave me when I left DC last year. And just the other day, I stopped by Michael's and picked up my 3rd Smashbook. Because, even if I am not on an around-the-world adventure right now, I want to remember each moment. Just as it happens. And just as I am experiencing the emotions and my thoughts are fresh, I want to be able to capture them for future reading and remembering. A page in my new Smashbook sums up my thoughts quite well:
"THE TRUTH IS THAT IT'S NOT REALLY ABOUT THIS STUFF AT ALL.
IT'S ABOUT THE EVIDENCE OF LIVING, THE PROOF THAT I WAS HERE:
THOUGHT SOME THOUGHTS, LIVED SOME LIFE.
THESE BITS ARE SIMPLY MEANT TO JOG THE MEMORY INTO REMEMBERING - AND REMEMBERING IS PERHAPS THE BEST WAY TO RECYCLE."
Every life is worth writing about. Every person has a story to tell. These bits may turn out to be a precious jewel that you hold dear throughout the years. Are you writing it all down?
