disalarming

Yesterday, I took out my journal and began to write again. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve journaled the way I used to in high school. When I was a senior in high school, I wrote in a paper journal every day. I slacked off my first semester of college, but I picked it up again second semester and the summer between my first and second year of college. Once I began sophomore year, though, I didn’t journal at all.

Actually, that’s a bit of a lie. I wrote one journal entry for the entirety of the year. I wrote it after a relationship exploded in my face, and I remember thinking that writing it out would help me put the situation in perspective. And it did, as writing always does. But what really irks me about that entry is that out of all the numerous events of the year I chose to document in my journal, I chose that one. Of all my successes and failures, I wrote about someone I no longer care for in the slightest and don’t even speak to anymore. I mean, really? The guy flat-out used me and that pretty much says all there is to say about the entire situation.

Anyway. Seeing as that I have some breathing space this summer, unlike my crazy schedule last semester, I figured it’s about time to put pen to paper once again. There’s a lot I need to get through, but it’s better to catch up now than later!

In the years to come, when I look back on my teen and college years, I’ll have various digital and online journals to reflect on, like this blog and my LiveJournal. But I know I’ll want something more personal to read, which is why I’m keeping a paper journal. It’s where I write about all of the ups and downs, the good and the ugly. It’s uncensored, unedited and written without an audience in mind. My paper journals are essentially me in paper form, and that’s something that will only become more valuable and more precious to me as I get older.

Question of the Week: Do you keep a journal? Is your journal in paper, digital and/or online form?

Cross-posted from breakthesky.net. Please leave any comments there.

Olga passed this award along to me this past Tuesday. I was very pleased and flattered to receive it (thanks, Olga!), and as a Kreativ Blogger Award recipient, it is my job to post the award on my blog and link back to the person who gave it to me. Also, I must pass along the award and list seven things I love, and seven blogs I love¹. So, here goes:

Kreativ Blogger Award

Seven things I love:

• My fantastic work supervisor. I’ve always known I was lucky to have such a great supervisor, but this week I realized she was there for me not only as a supervisor, but as a friend. That’s an incredible feeling to have in the workplace.
• The internet as a tool which allows me to keep in touch with my friends overseas. It’s been a lifesaver lately.
• My Embodiment journal. Last month I wasn’t all that dedicated in keeping up with Embodiment, but some recent upheaval and decisions I’ve made in my life has left me needing an outlet to bounce off ideas, and my journal has been fantastic for that.
• Etsy! Last weekend I bought some knitting patterns for cupcakes and donuts, and I’m very excited to make them once I am done with school for the semester.
• Google Analytics. I’ve only recently started using it, and it provides so much information about any website’s stats.
• The third season of The Tudors! I still miss Natalie Dormer as Anne Boleyn dearly, but season 3 is still as good as ever!
• The song “Believe” by The Bravery. I’ve been listening to it on repeat lately; it’s really good.

Seven blogs I love, and pass along the Kreativ Blogger Award to:

• Alice; Only Anne
• Amanda; Jingwen
• Clem; Oh Clementine
• Kaylee; Reliquesce
• Krissy; Girl Disappearing
• Melody; Bittersky
• Rose; Life as Rose

1. I’m abandoning the “five” theme I have for Fridays; I figure an award is as good an excuse as any to bend the rules for a week! [↩]

Cross-posted from breakthesky.net. Please leave any comments there.

My blog was down for the majority of yesterday because my host suspended a bunch of accounts by mistake. I am assuming things are back to normal now because my blog is no longer suspended, so my apologies for the downtime yesterday. I managed to get a post in before the suspension occurred, so for those of you who missed it, Monday’s Internet Find was A Twilight Parody.

Those of you who were curious to see what my handwriting looked like, wanted to read what I wrote in my personal journal, or just felt like being sneaky in my Every Hour on the Hour (2/09) post and viewed the full-size image of my paper journal photo read that I am taking part of Embodiment once again. Essentially, Embodiment is where you write something in a paper journal every day for a year. You can express yourself however you want, with words, drawings, or some other form of creative expression, but it must be done on paper and not in electronic format. It’s a nice change to revert back to “old school” journaling in this world of blogs and online journals, and I really enjoy keeping my paper journal and participating in Embodiment.

I started on January 1, 2008, and wrote an entry every single day until my 18th birthday. I’m not sure why I stopped writing on such a monumental day, but I did, and there’s this huge gap in my journaling from August 23 to December 14, which is when I started journaling again. I then stopped yet again on January 20, the day of Obama’s inauguration, simply because I was so exhausted and I just forgot to journal, and then was too lazy to put pen to paper for the following weeks. And I started again on February 19, and have kept up with it since, and vow to do so for the rest of the year.

Every time I stopped journaling though, I really missed it. I like having a written account of my days and the events that happen in my day to day life, and I like writing it all down for my eyes only. I’m not going to blog or LiveJournal about who I sat next to in class or what homework I had to do or what restaurant my friends and I went out to. No, that’s something I feel belongs in a place that’s just for me, because only I will be interested in those facts. And it’s pretty astounding to read back on some of my earlier entries in 2008 and be able to recall my days in startlingly clear detail, and the funny little memories that I had forgotten about but wrote down at the time.

In a world of digital cyberspace, I think it’s nice to have an account of my teenage years written on paper so I can carry it with me always no matter where I go in life, rather than on a public or private site that could end up being deleted in the future for all I know. It’s a nice feeling to know that everything I need to remember about my years are written in my collection of journals. I really recommend joining/participating in Embodiment and trying out the paper journal thing. Writing a little bit down every day is really not as hard as it sounds!

Cross-posted from breakthesky.net. Please leave any comments there.