I’m in serious cleaning mode, as I need to pack up and move to an as yet undetermined location. (Place I’m renting is being sold, and I’m not interested in buying it.)
ANYway, as I decide, yet again, how to downsize, I’m coming across boxes I haven’t opened in more than 5 years.
I bet you aren’t surprised, since you know I’m a writer, that I have, um, a few journals. And these, um, few journals fill, well, a few boxes. I have books all the way back to my teen years (which really is only a few years ago), when I called them diaries.
Anyway, along with my TBR (to-be-read) pile of books that I am giving away because I don’t want to move crates and crates of books, yet again, I’m trying to decide how to treat all these journals.
Am I ever going to read through them? Doubtful.
With no children, nieces, or nephews, I don’t have anyone to pass them down to (if anyone would have been interested anyway).
I doubt I’d keep them if I move into a retirement community or assisted living facility – if either of those milestones comes upon me.
So, I’m seriously asking – if you were me, what would you do with all these journals?
- (A) Keep ’em a little while longer? (suck it up and move the several boxes)
- (B) Recycle them? (it’s not like anyone could identify me if they were read)
- (C) Have a big bonfire and make s’mores over them? (will need referrals to fire pits!)
- (D) _______________
Thank you in advance for your suggestions!
I wish you a happy Monday and an exceptionally productive week.
Lisa J. Jackson is an independent writer and editor who enjoys working with businesses of all sizes. She loves researching topics, interviewing experts, and helping companies tell their stories. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Live to Write - Write to Live 
Its a very interesting question, one which I have asked myself and the conclusion I came to is, let them go. What is written in them was a part of your journey, therapeutic at the time but of no value going forward, they have done their job which was to help move you from where you were when you wrote them to where you are now. Good luck with uncluttering, its a valuable task to help close one door and open another 🙂
I totally agree. And I’ve done this with some of mine in the past.
I agree about them being therapeutic and could just bring me back to unhappy places. I am enjoying the decluttering – feels so freeing!
That’s a tough one. I used to keep every letter I was sent. I had a huge box of old letters. After my husband died, I had to move into a smaller home so I threw them away. O
Sigh, childus interruptus, Of course I regretted it. Now I wish I had put them into digital format at least. It was very cathartic though.
Thank you for sharing. 🙂 The cathartic part is tempting, as I know how letting the past goes really opens things up… but for now I’m keeping them.
Thank you for sharing. As I’m packing to move things to storage this weekend, I have them on the truck to move. Saving them for now.
I have not been able to get rid of my journals. I still have mine from middle school! So I’m probably not a good one to ask. LOL
LOL. Thanks, Wanda. I’ve decided to keep them for now – going back just as far!
B
Thanks! I’ve decided to move them to the next place, but do think recycling is the option when I choose to let them go.
Scan and store digitally,it could take some time but at least that could reduce weight you have to keep moving around.Destroying them would just be so sad to do
That’s an idea I hadn’t considered until I started seeing the replies here. Thank you! That would be quite a task and I don’t feel the entries would be worth all that time. I’d either keep the journals or let them go. I appreciate having this other option to consider for the special tidbits I might find when I look through them!
Never get rid of them.
Thank you. 🙂 There *is* something special about holding onto them, and for now I am.
I have tons of old journals and I do re-read them from time to time. I love the idea of storing digitally! Mine are in a big box in the attic.
Thank you for sharing. The idea of digital storage is tempting… but a lot of work, too!
In my humble opinion, you’re too young to leave the legacy of your journals behind. I can fully appreciate the freedom of purging tangibles that we must care for and carry from one place to the next, but there is an entire population that loves to read about history through old journals. One thing to consider is scanning them all to digital files; put the files on a USB thumb drive and place it – and other treasures – in a safe deposit box at a bank. If your journals contain special memories involving friends and family, consider using those pages as gift wrap for that person or perhaps make a card out of them by copying onto card stock. You may not feel there is anyone (children, nieces, nephews) to pass them along to at this point in your life, but you do not know the future. Good luck with whatever you decide!
Thank you for the input. I have decided to keep them for now, but the idea of storing — some parts — digitally is growing on me. I’ll have to go through them and decide what to save at some point, but it might happen. 🙂
Interesting. At first, I felt exactly like ‘My Beach Retreat” about the journals.
Then, I read the final comment by ‘A Tired Heart’ and she makes a very insightful point too.
It’s difficult for me to have an opinion about this topic as I don’t save anything. I’m a minimalist when it comes to – Stuff- as the comedian George Carlin used to joke about.
I had some journals when I was going through a rough period in my life and,oddly, saved them for years. The pages had some stories I could write about today. However, those difficult days are in my past and well-forgotten. I’m glad I didn’t save the journals. But, if I had them I’d keep them. I wouldn’t save them on a USB thumb drive. Why???
The handwriting on the original paper has my emotions in the script and my passionate energy. You can’t save that on a thumb drive.
I enjoyed this post. It’s thought provoking and begs dialog. Have a wonderful week …!!!
Isadora 😎
Thanks, Isadora. The replies to this post have been quite insightful for me. Glad I’m not the only one with the conundrum. As I eventually plan to downsize to an RV, and weight becomes an issue, the need to get rid of some of them might be forced upon me – and scanning some portions digitally may be the solution. We’ll see!
Good Luck with you move and journals. 😎
I just let some of mine go, not all, but some. It’s a process.
Thanks, CM. I’m leaning in that direction. Moving all of them now, but think I’ll at least let some of them go before the next move.
I would hold on to them. But just a thought, before you scan them digitally, or put them on USB, keep in mind how fast technology changes. I put all my high school poetry on floppy discs (eons ago) and then threw away the paper copies. I’m kicking myself now, because of course, the floppy disc has gone the way of the dinosaur, and I lost all that work. Definitely go through them – there may be some good material in there. Best of luck.
Oh my goodness, I have some files on the small floppies, too! Still moving THOSE from place to place — but why?? I mean, it’s crazy because I really won’t ever get the files off those things. I will be going through them. Thank you. 🙂
You are young yet. I am 64 and have just recently written my memoirs. I didn’t keep journals as a child or teen but I’m sure they would have been an invaluable aid if I had. Keep them, at least some of them. Someday you may be glad you did.
I agree with you Mary Ann. One never knows if a memoir is in the future, and journals make great raw material.
I’m working with 79 year old woman who is bipolar. She doesn’t have journals and is trying to tell me her story. It’s difficult for her.
Yes, it must be hard. We don’t all have a great memory from which we can resurrect the past, so writing a journal can be a very valuable way of keeping those things we would like to remember. :-).
Thanks, Linda. True that we don’t know the future, so for now I’m keeping them. We’ll see what I discover when I (eventually) read through them. 🙂
Thank you, Mary Ann. I am keeping them all for now, but will minimize them at some point.
Even though you don’t have anyone to leave them to (for now), they might be valuable to you as a writer. Go through them and comb them for stories, or essays. If they don’t yield anything useful, then consider recycling them.
Thank you, Tina. That’s the direction I’m leaning towards the most. I appreciate the reply.
Since my shelves are lined with not only old journals but also old essays, research papers, and speeches from high school and college, you can probably guess what I’d recommend. Plus I sat down on the floor next to that bookshelf just over a week ago looking for evidence of what I was thinking at one specific time in my college life. I didn’t find what I wanted but I found that I valued being able to scan through the pages and see the girl I once was. I still have not only the letters my first husband wrote to me before he died — but also all the letters I wrote to him. I know, as one of your commenters so aptly put it, that I won’t take these with me to a nursing home — or in the RV my husband threatens or the beach cottage of my retirement dreams. So this might be the perfect time to do something with them — either go through them and pare down the volumes to the essentials, and scan and save them in some format (although another commenter pointed out how fast technology changes, so electronic files are no guarantee). Or… you could preserve each entry as a blog post. 🙂 Some of mine are far too embarrassing for that!
All such wonderful ideas, Sara. Blog post per entry — that would keep me writing forever and a day! 🙂 I appreciate the ideas, thank you!
Hi!
I think that I would condense them, reduce them as much as possible and take that with you instead of lots of. boxes . Write the most important things that happened and keep that with you. If you want. It’s always Hard for me to get rid of Any reading material. Have a great week!
Thank you for the ideas… condensing and saving certain portions is appealing. Just means making the time to go through them. 🙂 For now I’m moving them with me, and I’ll have to figure out what to do before the next move!
Reread, reread, reread, reread … them … Which is a great way to startle memories out of repose … and look back and wonder how you ever survived … and relish your powerful personal improvement … and look forward to clean new journal pages today. Now, me? I plan to follow this advice. Got me thinking. Thank you.
Thanks, Anthony! Very good advice… startling the memories and seeing how far I’ve come can definitely be confidence boosting. 🙂
Keep the journals donate the books to a school or prison library.
Thanks, K.S. I do donate books to schools and assisted living homes. 🙂
That’s really cool.
Reblogged this on B. Shaun Smith.
Thanks for asking the question, something I need to consider as well, and appreciate the responses.
Haven’t the responses been fantastic? 🙂 Good luck with your decision, too.
Thank you!
I’m eagerly awaiting responses as well. I have diaries going back to childhood and recent journals in boxes of their own. I know future generations will not want to read them. My grandchildren barely have time to read a letter. The move to assisted living? Probably sooner than I want to think. Perhaps a bonfire of celebration. BUT recycling? possible but what if an ‘important bit’ got into the wrong hands? O dear what a dilemma. Hope someone has a suggestion! Thanks for blog.
Hi Faye, I think we have a lot of great ideas here, I hope you’ve found something that works for you. For me, saving them all for now and getting them into storage. I like the bonfire idea, but would most likely recycle. Think I’ll end up saving some portions of some of them!
Keep them and reread them, so you can learn from old mistakes, remember forgotten dreams, and stay motivated when times are tough. I always keep my old journals. I never throw them out. I have a huge trunk full of things I have researched and written.
Thank you, Elizabeth. I’ll be going through them at some point — maybe I’ll even get to remember dreams I’ve forgotten about!
I had over 10 years worth of journals that I took to 2 new houses with me. On the third move, I read through some of them while I was packing and realised that while they were a necessary tool at the time, reading back over them was incredibly painful. They were written during some horrible, dark years in depression, and were incredibly therapeutic at the time, but I realised that keeping them and looking back over them would undo a lot of the hard work I’d put into recovering. So, I let them go. I still journal now, sometimes in notebooks, often via blog posts; I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever stop doing! But at the end of the day, only you can decide what’s right for you and your memories!
Thanks for sharing your journey with journals, Jess. You’re right about only I can decide, but all this wonderful feedback has helped me think beyond my own vacuum of ideas. 🙂
I just went through this process. As I have moved a few times as well, I keep down sizing. So…. I went through the horrible chore of opening each journal, notebook, old letters, etc. and as I read them asked myself if it made me HAPPY to have this. If it was a memory that made me smile, I kept it, if not, I paper shredded it. Why keep sad memories. As someone else mentioned, sometimes journals / notebooks, etc. are meant to get us through a tough patch and then we move on — same with certain friends, we know when it is time to move on and we don’t look back. GOOD LUCK!
Thanks for that story. I will probably be going through them – might keep a mix of happy and unhappy, depending on the stories. Have probably grown a lot more from experiences than I remember! I appreciate the reply. 🙂
You can scan them onto external hard drive than have a goodbye bonfire 🙂
Scanning them sounds good in theory, but time sucking in practice. I think I’ll end up sharing some and not all… at some point. For now it’s all of them. 🙂 Thank you for the reply.
Your welcome 🙂
Don’t throw them away. I did that to mine and I felt a bit like I lost myself for a few days. Donate them but don’t destroy them. For any written word deserves a chance to be cherished- or at least made into a hilarious meme
Interesting about “losing yourself” – weren’t you concerned about throwing your privacy to the winds?
I did think it through and so I shredded them, poured them into plastic bags and threw them away. Then it felt like I was floating around, weightless, as if I had erased a third of my life with disposing them.
If you did it, it means moving ahead was what you needed 🙂
Yeah you’re right I felt better afterwards but I wish I kept it
LOL, hilarious memes — yes! Great idea! Letting them go *could* feel empowering, but it could also feel like you experienced. I do know that decluttering feels great. 🙂 For now, I’m holding them. Thank you for the reply!
IF…which is a big if, you have the time to reread them and pick the journals that express different thoughts and phases of your life, then you can save those. So many of my journals express similar laments that can be repetitive and dull reading. Thw journals where I am on a trip or am introduced to a new person etc are interesting; these are the ones worth keeping. I am a bit of a hoarder so I have no right to assist you but this is what I would do if I was moving. Glad I’m not!
I like your “If” idea and finding those that can best show different phases of life. That’s a nice focus – as opposed to particular happy or want-to-remember stories. Moving isn’t for wimps, that’s for sure! Thanks for the reply. 🙂
Keep them, definitely keep them in some form or another. The journals are your own testament in your own words, at least you’ll know it is your version of your life that you are passing on or leaving.
Thank you, Robynne. Great advice. 🙂 I appreciate it!
Good question, you started up a storm of pretty emotional responses. I regularly downsize my library but it’s not easy, but journals I haven’t yet managed to deal with. Most of mine are actually not straight diaries, but from attending coaching -related seminars and spiritual retreats. So I keep thinking they’ll come in handy one day, which is probably doubtful…
Yeah, I can relate to the ‘handy one day’ way of thinking. I am enjoying reading all the replies, lots of great tips and ideas and emotions and thought going into the replies. thank you!
I would keep them and read especially those containing the idea of having a blog when my inspiration is rans away.
Thanks, Dawn. Great idea — blog fodder! 🙂
Keep them. Everything else sounds like giving up part of our identity. I am sorry but I am not good at giving advice to such a question, as I am a collector of stories and texts…
I appreciate your reply, saminana. It’s good advice! 🙂
Keep them.
Thanks, Gail! 🙂
I keep them. My eight year old daughter just finished her first children’s book and I want her to have the work that I did as an inspiration if she continues with writing.
that’s fabulous, Don, to be passing on the writing passion! 🙂
Thanks
We talked about this topic when I was teaching my first Preserving Your Family History course at Blinn College earlier this spring. The majority of the students saw value in keeping old diaries even if they seriously doubted family members would ever be interested. The consensus was that in time to come, diaries like yours might be important to a writer or researcher who was interested in learning about how women lived, who and what they cared about, what they valued, etc. It might be worthwhile seeing if local repositories such as local libraries and museums have a guideline for how old materials like this need to be before they would consider it. If sharing your private thoughts concerns you, maybe you could hold onto them in some form for a few years. Who knows? When you are 75, you may wish to write your own life story!!!
Thank you for this, Elaine. I should think of my journals as having value of some kind. And when I’m older it might make for fun reading… maybe I’ll hold them for that time! 🙂
I’m a packrat and could never fathom the idea of throwing away journals, so I’m sorry I’m no help. Good luck with the move. 🙂
I appreciate the reply — it’s helpful — gives me something to ponder. Thank you! 🙂
You are welcome Lisa. 🙂
I hope you keep them. You never know what the future holds and they may become important to you at that time. I tend to regret the personal things I eliminate.
Thanks, Lisa. I’m holding them for now and hope to get to look through them sometime in the next year or two… see what I’ve forgotten about, how much I’ve grown… anything. 🙂
At lot of good suggestions! My handwritten diaries I gave to a literary Archive which collects my books and manuscripts. So they are kept for my daughter, and I still have a way of looking into them from time to time. Diaries which I still write now i’m doing digitally on my PC, so I don’t have to scan them. By the way, there exists a diary museum in Germany which collects not only diaries from famous people, but especially those of everyday People, as a collective historic Memory (http://tagebucharchiv.de/) – they also have contacts to diary archives in other countries. Good for research!
dont worry, with all my bravado from my previous post, I havent thrown mine away either like I thought I would. No, I have placed them carefully in a box along with momentos of my late mother who for now is ‘taking care’ of them as the last time I reread them they evoked too much heartache for a particular memory which took many years to heal as a family from. This was such a wonderful post with everyones insights and I particulaly liked who wrote that our journals remind us of our younger selves something I had not thought of and it made me realise, there are not too many things which can take you back to a different time, revisit a younger you and remember those thoughts/ideas/conversations which were written down with so much emotion, it makes me smile to think off them, so yes, keep them, store them and occasionally remember them for its in the remembering that we realise just how far we have come…thanks for this post and everyones input, it has made me smile 🙂
It’s perfect time to make some plans for the long run and it’s time to be happy.
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