“The dullest ink is better than the brightest memory.”
A few weeks ago, I listened to a rabbi touch on the importance of journaling. Tonight, I further contemplate the wonderful benefits of documenting events and thoughts and processing through things by doing so.
I have always been a journaler. Well, off and on. Since I was 13 years old. Back then, it was a means of expressing my emotions and getting them out. My entries were anything but deep, most of the time. I expressed frustration over a friend or ‘enemy’ at school, pined over some attractive boy in my class, and vented about home happenings. My journals were my haven, my release, my sounding board.
They often got me in trouble.
Today, I mainly write to God in my journals. Sometimes, He writes back. (That’s always fun). I process through my desires and my circumstances, presenting everything to Him. I take notes of little messages that shape or change my thinking throughout the day.
My notes are really fun to look back on, even just a few months later, as change occurs and time passes.
I like to write my prayers. I make requests. These entries are REALLY cool to look back on a few months later to see what has changed and what has happened.
I write down my dreams. I seek to understand them. (Can we really argue that they have no meaning?)
Sometimes, I write notes to people that I’ll share with them someday.
I find that when I read back into my old entries, my memory comes back into the place where I was and reveals more meaning and message from the circumstances I was documenting. It is a truly amazing experience. (Hindsight IS indeed 20/20, right?)
This is a little tidbit rant of a post to encourage you to write. Even if you’re not a writer. Write something. Anything. Or, maybe, you prefer pictures. I have a friend who has an Instagram account solely for her own memories.
I also remember seeing something a few years ago – an individual took a 1-2 second video every day for a year, and at the end of the year they pieced all the moments together into a video. It was incredible! It not only made the person look into one little amazing moment of each and every day, but upon seeing the clips in the finished product, many experiences, thoughts, and emotions were evoked within a short amount of time.
Life can really be beautiful if we choose to see it that way. It truly is a choice.
Today’s dare: I dare you to slow down and pay attention to something today. In one moment, stop, think, and be aware. Enjoy a single moment. Document it in some way. Process a thought through it. Find something, even if it is so incredibly simple, to be thankful for. (And, feel free to share it!)
aubreyeicher 