I still maintain a Diary although I don’t write into it regularly. Its filled with interesting incidents that happened to me, quotes or sayings that I might find interesting and sometimes even clippings of articles that I’d like to read again and again.
Word documents and online journals have replaced the actual physical diary to a great extent but I still prefer the experience of writing by hand in a Diary. And I don’t choose just any notebook as my Diary. I choose them with care. They are usually pretty things with designs that catch my eye. Some of them are handcrafted with lovely bright cloth covers and designs. Some of them are sleek and leather bound – very professional looking!
I find writing a diary to be a very cathartic experience. Penning down my thoughts whenever I am upset or confused about something helps a lot. The best way to unravel jumbled up thoughts is to write down whatever comes into your mind without censoring the thoughts. By the time you have poured out all your feelings on that piece of paper believe me you will be feeling a lot better. Reading what you have written also helps to objectively analyze your situation and take a rational decision.
A lot of times I use my diary as a tool for introspection. Writing a diary is a great way to understand your thoughts and reactions towards a situation or life in general and helps you in becoming a better, more positive person.
I also use my Diary to write down all my dreams and goals. Believe me Dreams look more tangible and realistic written down. If they are just in our heads, we tend to forget them or take them for granted. Once they are written down, more so with timelines, you are more likely to take some action about them!
My Diaries have also helped me become more creative. I sometimes jot down random ideas and thoughts into a diary and from them are born stories and poems.
The post popular way to use Diaries these days is as Gratitude Journals. I have one too. Every other day, I list down everything that I am grateful for. It could be something as simple as buying a new book or seeing a flower in bloom. Gratitude journals make you realize how much we all have in life. Believe me they are a perfect way to stop cribbing!
But most of all, Diaries form very good memories. Both my grandfathers wrote diaries and now that they are gone, it’s a lovely bittersweet feeling to take out their diaries and read what they wrote so many years ago! Sometimes I take out the diaries I wrote as a kid and go through them. It’s interesting to read about what I thought or did or felt at that time. A lot of my travelogues are in the form of diaries or notes scribbled during my travels. Reading and re reading them takes me back to those wonderful days and reaffirms my need to travel more and more !
I also use my Diary to write down all my dreams and goals. Believe me Dreams look more tangible and realistic written down. If they are just in our heads, we tend to forget them or take them for granted. Once they are written down, more so with timelines, you are more likely to take some action about them!
My Diaries have also helped me become more creative. I sometimes jot down random ideas and thoughts into a diary and from them are born stories and poems.
The post popular way to use Diaries these days is as Gratitude Journals. I have one too. Every other day, I list down everything that I am grateful for. It could be something as simple as buying a new book or seeing a flower in bloom. Gratitude journals make you realize how much we all have in life. Believe me they are a perfect way to stop cribbing!
But most of all, Diaries form very good memories. Both my grandfathers wrote diaries and now that they are gone, it’s a lovely bittersweet feeling to take out their diaries and read what they wrote so many years ago! Sometimes I take out the diaries I wrote as a kid and go through them. It’s interesting to read about what I thought or did or felt at that time. A lot of my travelogues are in the form of diaries or notes scribbled during my travels. Reading and re reading them takes me back to those wonderful days and reaffirms my need to travel more and more !
Gratitude journal sounds cool !::)
ReplyDeleteI shud try
I HAV too many diaries. I still repent of throwing awya my first tiny red leather bound diary. It was like some mini oxford dictionary. My brother read it and inciddentally I wrote all bad abt him. I tore and threw it in garbage when I was in 3rd standard. After that I wrote many
EVERY year i am gifted one by dad :)
I hav a golden, a black spiral, a grey and brown and some navy blue. I treasure themmm REALLY!
loved this post .. my first choice for D was diary bt suddnly felt like writing some thng else.
Glad u wrote it
Afsan .. Gratitude journals are indeed cool things ! Try one !Its horrid when brothers read your diary isn't it !
DeleteI love the Oscar Wilde quote. I am glad you've started a gratitude diary. Its great therapy. Oh I have what I call my "DQ Journal" too. That is where I pour out my angst, my hurt and anger. It is total nautanki. The mind really enlarges on things that make you laugh a few days later :P It keeps me sane
ReplyDeleteTrue it is a great therapy. Yeah I have a nautanki journal too .. and then few days after the angst has died down and re read what I have written and laugh at my reaction :P
DeleteI jot down my dreams in my diary, and I've used diaries off and on. But I admit I prefer the electronic format. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteI love writing in a diary - using a pen. I suppose I am the old fashioned sort !
Delete"By the time you have poured out all your feelings on that piece of paper believe me you will be feeling a lot better. Reading what you have written also helps to objectively analyze your situation and take a rational decision."
ReplyDeleteBest advice ever:-) You sound so much like me Ruchira, I could bloglift this and use as my own reflection. Thank you for the smiles.
Glad you liked it !
Deletei used to have a mini notebook of sorts where I used to record my angst & happiness. I agree with you when u say that nothing to beat handwritten diary- for introspection and for revisiting those treasured memories. Lovely post as always ruchira
ReplyDeleteThank you Priya :P
DeleteLoved reading this D! I was a diary person as a kid! I had quite a lot of diaries over the years... there's a one which has only interesting quotes/messages/thoughts that I came across in the books I read. One had some beautiful moments. There was another one in which I used to write the birthday/anniversary messages, friendship quotes... those days we didnt had internet and computers, so the diaries were the perfect places to store what you felt, read, thought... I still have a few of them and they are in tattered condition but going through them always brings a smile and transports me in that time of the past! :)
ReplyDeleteIt does take you down the memory lane when you read old diaries !
DeleteBeautiful tribute to Diary. Loved each and everything you wrote about it. Kids of these generations don't even know how great a thing called diary and diary writing is.
ReplyDeleteI believe everybody should maintain a Gratitude Diary. It helps us to count our blessings.
So it does !
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ReplyDeleteOh, I used to keep one too! But now, blogging has taken over. Some posts published, some forever in the drafts but no 'writing' for me these days. It is only typing that I manage.
ReplyDeleteI miss the times when diaries kept secrets and aroma of old pages brought back memories. My hand writing has become so distorted now and I notice it only when I have to sign a cheque.
Blogging can be called a sort of diary too ! I agree since we dont write much these days, our handwriting sucks !
DeleteI was an avid diarist too :) Kept many of them throughout my school and college life . Gratitude journal is such a lovely idea , will start that soon . I really miss the feel and scent of pages that yellow with age and experience :) Thank you for the lovely nostalgia that this post brought about :)
ReplyDeleteGratitude journals are fantastic ways to focus on the positive ! So glad you liked the post !
DeleteOscar was a gem of a person !!! Truly his quotes are the bestest, simplest and truest if I may use that word !!!
ReplyDeleteI didnt write a diary as a kid... though I wish I would have kept one... the only time I wrote a diary was when I started falling in love with my best friend... who is now my wife... I have all those days recorded !!!! :D best to read them from time to time.. :D
So perhaps a novel can come out of that romantic diary :)
DeleteI used to have them too. But I hardly use a pen/pencil now. My thoughts go up as status messages or blogs. Everything is online now :)
ReplyDeleteYes everything is online. But I still prefer the old fashioned way !
DeleteI'm reading and following Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way' and would certainly recommend it to you, Ruchira. Frankly nothing compares to writing by hand. Diaries are treasures...they help us measure our growth...sometimes I look back on stuff I've written and smile at how much emotion I put into something which seems so silly in retrospect!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation. Will surely read it ! I do that so often. Re read what I have written about something that upset me and then I just laugh at my silliness !
DeleteI keep a diary and I write whenever I just want to pour my heart out. Reading your grandfathers' journals must be awesome. I wish my grandkids read mine.
ReplyDeleteYes it was awesome. They were both an integral part fo our freedom struggle and that made it even more awesome !
DeleteI used to write a diary too - and still do. The joy of using an ink pen on paper is unparallelled. And its great to read them years later. I also have a bundle of letters - handwritten, that I cherish.
ReplyDeleteLovely post, Ruchira!
Handwritten letters ! Lost things now ! I so preferred the time of handwritten notes and letters !
DeleteSo true! I maintain a diary and it's so therapeutic! You can pen down everything you feel and think without anyone there to judge you in any way! Lovely post! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you and welcome here. Writing a diary is indeed therapeutic.
DeleteI have 3,4 diaries at any point of time. When I don't find one, I write in another. Ofcourse, it can get tiring to go back to my 23 year old and see what she thought, but yeah I do keep diaries and I like writing in them. I like to think things through.
ReplyDeleteP.S: I should really stop thinking that I could have written this, that every time I read your posts :)
LOL ! But I love your take on A to Z too !
DeleteI am loving this series on Nirjharini, Ruchira. I keep looking forward to the next letter and wondering what you will be penning down :) Journals for me has become digitised these days. Writing is so rare that when I am forced to write some application at the Bank or other places, the handwriting sucks. But going through old entries is great, even when it is only a digital diary. Like many others, I told loved the idea of a gratitude diary. We should all keep one.
ReplyDeletewelcome back I missed you so ! Yes gratitude diaries are so needed these days !
DeleteI did write a diary when in college where I had written all about my boyfriend and crushes. My brother took it one day and that was the end of it. I do feel the necessity of recording some events...sometimes I do.
ReplyDeleteMy diary met the same fate Janu .
DeleteLOL both of you !
DeleteI used to write in diaries when I was a kid, mainly because I was such an introvert that it seemed the only way to release all my bottled emotions! Lovely post, Ruchira, that made me very nostalgic!
ReplyDeleteI was - and still am an introvert .. perhaps that is why I was so into writing diaries !
DeleteLoving the daily series...I have read all the posts but unable to comment from my mobile device.
ReplyDeleteI have written on and off while growing up....my blog and a few handwritten letters is what I have to go back and reminisce.
Good to see you here Sachi. Missed you ! I hope the kiddos are fine !
DeleteMom initiated me into diary writing.I would pour all my thoughts-good,bad,of love,hatred or anger into my scribblings.It served as a great tool for anger management.As Corinne said,it felt silly to read your own reaction to a particular situation in retrospect.
ReplyDeleteYes that's the fun part. To go back to what you wrote when you were pouring out your angst and realize how silly you were being !
DeleteI never wrote a diary. How come?
ReplyDeleteHow come ?? :P
DeleteReading your grandparent's diary, wow! Must be some experience in itself? I also like the concept of diary of gratitude, it's so easy to discount the good people and things in our lives.
ReplyDeleteI used to write a diary in school but I tore it off one day. It had too many personal things and I was scared that someone will read it. :)
ReplyDeleteI think nowadays most of us use our blogs as online diaries.
I used to have my diary when I was a kid or you can say I was in school. I used to write all my experiences through out the day. But the only fear which I had that someone will read it one day and frankly I don't like that. I purchased a diary which had Lock in it but still because of that fear I had stopped writing in it... I want to destroy my diary but I cant because it has sweet memories!!!
ReplyDeleteU can follow me on vaidehivaidehi.blogspot.com.au