tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post5676755836791038733..comments2024-03-29T12:39:21.582+00:00Comments on Shadows & Light: WritingSteve Reedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11684120060438252945noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-53262350508868740082008-04-29T13:17:00.000+01:002008-04-29T13:17:00.000+01:00Great post! I think of blogging as journalism of a...Great post! <br><br>I think of blogging as journalism of a brand new variety. Journaling is a very different activity, at least I think so. I do keep a hand-written journal into which I put things I would never dream of publishing. It also provides space to sketch, doodle, glue cartoons, tiny pics and in which I can tuck flowers to dry, etc.<br><br>Maybe I'm more a scrap booker than a journaler, who knows?<br><br>So glad you haven't shredded the old handwritten books. They're precious, one of a kind, can not be reproduced.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-66624755127061457812008-04-29T14:27:00.000+01:002008-04-29T14:27:00.000+01:00Dennis loves this post! Dennis reads his old journ...Dennis loves this post! Dennis reads his old journals and thinks "Boy, was I ever a Dork!" or "My priorities have changed so much" or "Why was I acting like Doris Day back then???" <br>The only ones he saved were the drawing and sketch books which reveal as much or more as the journals and have dates on the illustrations and doodles. <br>But even doodles age--a friend of Dennis' showed Dennis some drawings he'd kept that Dennis had done when he was young, and they too looked like someone else had drawn them, there was zero recognition. so maybe we are different cats as we go along through the years!<br><br>Dennis is going to follow Reya, and just work on his scrapbooks and doodles more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-70913038379292688892008-04-29T16:26:00.000+01:002008-04-29T16:26:00.000+01:00great post steve! I have been a fits and starts d...great post steve! I have been a fits and starts diarist (or journal keeper) since junior high school. during my last year in college on a flight home to visit my parents, I lost a bag that had all my h.s. an college journals inside - I was traumatized for years. <br><br>like many folks I often turned to my journal when I was going through a particularly difficult time or if I had 'issues' with people in my life....can you imagine finding a bag and discovering the writings of a young woman (and the era late 60s through mid 70s).... I often wonder if anyone opened up my bag and read the journals or if the bag just went to some warehouse for lost bags....I tried to find/track down this bag for the longest time... <br><br>I have long enjoyed reading the journals and diaries of people from different eras - coincidentally just a few days ago I picked up a new book from the library which I had on hold called: "the worlds best memoir writing" edited by eve claxton. so far it's absolutely marvelous - creatively organized by stages of life - from birth (trust st. augustine - often considered the father of autobiographical writing to write about his infancy!) to being an aged (100) person.<br><br>montainge said "every man has within himself the entire human condition"....probably why I've always been fascinated by the medium...and also probably why I enjoy so reading blogs (and blogging) - and like you steve, I find blogging gives me yet another avenue to channel some of my (creative?) energies....<br><br>look forward to reading menand's article. thanks for supplying the link!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-57732574225337413252008-04-29T16:57:00.000+01:002008-04-29T16:57:00.000+01:00I started my blog to record my thoughts for myself...I started my blog to record my thoughts for myself. It never occurred to me anyone else would read it.<br><br>Since I am not an accomplished writer or thinker, it clearly isn't to satisfy my ego. I find it to be therapeutic for me and something that forces me to take time to think about what I'm thinking about.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-52843026650143639172008-04-29T18:18:00.000+01:002008-04-29T18:18:00.000+01:00Mouse-- I'd be upset if I lost a bag full of journ...Mouse-- I'd be upset if I lost a bag full of journals too-- bad enough a friend of mine has kept all of the letters I wrote her over the years--I cringe at the thought of the contents of those letters (written from age 16 to 26) Yikes. <br><br>Steve--I still keep paper journals, only because people still give me gifts of blank books! I will follow your link now. Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-676725068181047542008-04-29T19:24:00.000+01:002008-04-29T19:24:00.000+01:00No Journal shredding!Besides...I have a good many ...No Journal shredding!<br><br>Besides...I have a good many of yours in MY house!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-65296138016299684842008-04-30T11:44:00.000+01:002008-04-30T11:44:00.000+01:00Interesting post. I find the whole question of "w...Interesting post. I find the whole question of "why keep a journal" rather odd, like asking "why think" or "why contemplate your life." That isn't to say writing a journal is the only way to think or contemplate your life, but it certainly is one way. So why to we have to denigrate that by asking (as Menand claims some do) whether journal-keeping is obsessive or narcissistic.<br><br>These days my notebook journals are a mishmash of deep thoughts, to-do lists, class notes, and other minutiae. In that regard, they aren't pretty, but they pretty accurately capture any given day in my life. And that's why I keep rather than shred them. I figure one day when I'm old, I'll want to remember what it was like to be a younger me, and both my journal & blog are memory-aids to that end.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-14954476459562777392008-04-30T17:29:00.000+01:002008-04-30T17:29:00.000+01:00I love to read about how others view blog writing/...I love to read about how others view blog writing/journal writing because I have so many thoughts on the subject myself. I have kept a journal since HS and I have always found it very comforting. Sometimes my writing was of the 'what's happening' variety and sometimes I only wrote about deep issues and big life questions. <br><br>These days I still keep a journal but do not write as often as I did before the days of blogging. I do think that there is a big difference between journalling and blogging, at least for me. I only began my blog after deciding on a focus. My blog is fundamentally about documenting my journey as an educator so that means I have chosen to restrict myself by remaining true to that theme. Although a bit of my personal life finds it's way to the screen I try to keep it to a minimum. <br><br>Steve, great post. I would love to keep writing but perhaps it is better to continue this conversation in person.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com