My mother used to keep a daily diary...she began it when she was 12 years old in 1945 and wrote in it every day..My Dad used to buy her a new diary every year for Christmas...but when she tragically died on 31 December 1991,her 1992 diary was left empty.My Father asked me if I would be able to make use of it..I said yes..and I have written about my day, every day since then.( you can see the original 1992 diary bottom left of the pile.) I wanted to post this picture because when I go to bed tonight and write about today, it will be my 6000th. entry.It's funny. I now have in a suitcase in the Attic, all my Mothers diary's. whilst she was alive, she made us promise never to read what was in them...and we never did. I have made the same statement..and my diaries have remained viewable only to my eyes.
I wonder, do you keep a diary?..what do you use it for?I like to think that at the end of the day, I can 'offload' my day onto the pages. i also mark notable events and all sorts of peculiar stuff.It makes reading them years later very interesting, and also enlightening to see how my ideas, concepts and thinking has changed. What will people make of me when I'm no longer alive?...Well, I'll hardly be in any position to do anything about it will I?
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14 comments:
I love this post, Niall! It has to be my favourite of all times here :)
The photo is fantastic, for starters and the rest is really moving.
I never had the persistance to keep a diary for too long. There was a time when I wrote everyday but probably because I was broken-hearted.
I agree that it's really interesting to read afterwards and I believe it is a crucial tool for our growth and our understanding of our lives so far. Astrologically speaking it is precious to analyse past transits and such things...
As you I'm trying to write every day now, for all of the above reasons.
oh my god! Is there anything hotter than a man wearing glasses next to a stack of books?! I submit to you that there is not! Well done!
If I were near those diaries, I would certainly read them. I would probably tell you that I didn't, too, because I'm a scoundrel.
DM...thank you..it was in fact your recent post that inspired me to post this..you mentioned about all the note books you have and your determination to write every day..I'm here to say, it can be done!
Julie...No one has ever refered to me as 'Hot'..how wonderful!
If I were to find you reading my diaries, it would be your turn to be spanked! :-)
I kept a diary from when I was 13 and till about 22 years. The only portion of it I have preserved is the time time I was "going around" with my husband...I would jot down my daily feelings. And I would still read it once in a while ....its good to know once in a while "what made me decide this is the "right man " for me."
You are too good not to read your Mom's diaries......especially after she's gone...I would have definitely read them........and probably said I did but definitely only after she's gone...I view there would be great learnings in them....and perspectives.....and innate character that will be revealed....
VJ...They are something very special you should treasure.What I did not mention was that I have read portions of her diary since she died..I felt only able to do so only recently. Of particular interest to me was the day I was born...also the very first instalments which basically painted a picture of what it was like to be a teenager just after the second world war.
I used to keep diaries but I stopped when i realized that I was writing it to be read one day..so it was becoming rather pompous and fanciful...
moreover i have this dirty habit of peeking into people's diaries..absolutely no value for other people's privacy...i shud be shot but i know too much :)
Sexy New pic!! To use the Gen next lingo-"you rock"!
I have kept diaries ever since I was sixteen.Sadly tore up many.(It was getting too cumbersome carrying them around as we are constatly moving)Now i keep just one--started it in 2003.I write in it only when i'm really upset about something.
Your Mom's diaries--what a treasure to have.
I love that you took up the diary writing baton from your mother, writing every day is quite a commitment. I have never kept a diary. I don't wnat anyone to read it and when I lived at home there was no way I could trust my siblings!
Congrats on your 6000th entry and on your award. What award you say? Well pop over to my blog and find out!
I kept a diary while I was in college, but that was about it. Sometimes I'll start writing a diary, but then somehow I forget. My mum writes one though, just in note format.
Wow... this is great, Niall! I know what you mean by reading them years later being so interesting, because even if I don't write daily diaries, I sometimes write about my thoughts and ideas, or some events, and I when I come across those writings sometime later I feel like I'm talking to myself face to face in the same space but in different time frames.
Well, congrats for your 6000th entry and have a very happy 6001st one!!!
Maintaining a diary, seems like holding onto your life's precious moments. Earlier I used to write into my diary every day, but then I guess time , routine changes , had me writing only some really important things from my day into a diary....and now when I read back, it really feels so precious.
Love this pose....so perfect
Dear all...Thank you for your comments here. It has obviously sparked some interest amongst you ..I will hopefully get all my Mum's diarys out of the Attic and photograph them for you to see..!!
wow!!, your mom's diaries...what a treasure...
wish i had kept up with mine...i stopped when i realised that i could hardly read my own handwriting!!!
and this photo is a rocking one!!!
Ah, diaries. And nice you have your mom's. . .the keeper of her past. I write things down that I've seen or heard so I don't forget, whenever I remember and a lot of times keep a journal in my head.
Someone said as she aged she decided to burn all of hers because she didn't want anyone to read them after she died. A little hard core perhaps?
Thanks for sharing this great post.
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