Thursday 3 October 2013

I Really Don't Know

I've been writing a nightly journal for nearly five years now.

In my mind, it's poetry, poems, but it's also just to keep myself writing and to get something out about the day.

I write these sort of poems every night before bed, before I pick up whatever book I'm reading, and I write them in a moleskine diary type book.  Blank, daily pages.  With lines.  And my ink pen.

But I don't know why, quite, anymore.

Not that I don't enjoy the writing and the ritual of it, and I'll sometimes flip back to earlier in the year to see how I felt about something (like, Jay, for example) but now I have three or four of these books just sitting in storage and I don't know what to do with them.

I've never re-read any of the old things I've written and I don't know that I want to, particularly.

Should I go through and look and see if there are any actual poems in there?  Or things worthy of saying in a different format?  Or things worth remembering?

Or should I burn/shred/destroy the old journal/diaries... or what?

I really don't know what to do, if anything, but I'm not sure of the point of keeping them.

And I guess the point of continuing to write every night is just to be writing.  Every day.  Or night.

Or something.

5 comments:

Jonathan said...

KEEP THEM! One day, they will be a treasure trove for future generations. You might even look back on them yourself after 20 years. Who knows.

I have two Moleskines... I should really write more often in them, but end up sharing the censored version online instead.

Kate said...

I have all of mine from age 9 on-wards. I'm not sure what to do with them either - I certainly don't want to re-read those teenage angst years or the other sad times that have come since... But something just makes me hold onto them.

Victoria said...

It was actually one of your Moleskine photos that made me think of this Jonathan...

I hear you Kate. I wonder if it would be interesting to read someone else's?

Kate said...

I re-read a holiday journal from when I was 18 to my best friend who was on the trip with me (15 years later) and boy did we laugh! It was definitely great to re-live our 18 year old selves :-)

Victoria said...

That would be so fun to read Kate! I bet you guys had a great time remembering :)