Jeremy’s Journey Through Journals

Day 36

Here it is: my collection of journals

Last week I did a post about a recent journal entry and it suddenly dawned on me that I haven’t really expounded on how I’ve kept a journal for most of my life. And from that a new post is born (and a good thing it happened because I was starting to get desperate!)

The front cover of my very first journal - nice "E.T." sticker!

Notice that I wrote "wood you read this right side up" - whoops!

I originally started keeping a journal for school back in the 3rd grade at the tender age of 8. I’m certain that the main purpose of keeping a journal was to practice writing in cursive, and based on what my handwriting looked like I was certainly in dire need of the practice (not to mention that I couldn’t spell to save my life! Heck, I probably couldn’t even correctly spell most of the words in that sentence!) My first journal entry was on October 4th 1982 and here is a sample of what I wrote:

I love the part I wrote on the 5th, about how I “was about to throw a rock at the window and stay home throwing up in the bathroom.” What in the world was that all about?! Anyway, the last entry in this journal was on July 19th 1983, which consisted of this startling revelation: “Today was sunny and bright.” How astounding.

A few years later I began to journal again, and this time it was an assignment in my 9th grade English class. The first entry was on Tuesday August 30th 1988. I was 14 and my cursive and spelling had improved.

I wrote an entry every weekday, but since I was out of school on the weekends I didn’t feel the need to write for those days. VOLUME 1 ended on Monday March 6th 1989, and VOLUME 2 picked up on the following day and ended on Friday May 26th 1989 - the last day of school. But on July 9th I wrote an epilogue:

Two days later I started my first hard-cover journal (which I had received as a birthday gift). From there on I wrote every day, filling page after page, journal after journal. Each journal covers roughly six months. I missed a few days here and there, but in the last 14 years I have not missed a single day!

Currently I am on VOLUME 46 and writing in my journal daily is as natural, as automatic as brushing my teeth, eating and breathing. What began as practice tool for writing and spelling has now become a major part of myself, something I will always do, a habit of the good kind, a habit of the heart. It's been quite an enjoyable, rewarding journey!