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gromit

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I used to write in a journal a lot as a teen and into my early 20s (I'm 27 now). A combination of narration and FEELINGSSSS. It was something I enjoyed doing and that seemed like a good way to sort of decompress at the end of the day. Also recording a personal history is kind of emphasized as part of the religion I grew up in. I have a pretty big box in my closet filled with all of the different journals I ever wrote in. From time to time I've gone back to read through one or two and remember something like an experience I may have forgotten or something like that, but usually they just sit there.

I still write occasionally in a journal, but not nearly so much.

I am starting to get to the point that I feel a strong need to get rid of anything that I don't use or that doesn't have a function in the foreseeable future. I kind of feel as though they have fulfilled their purpose and just want to chuck the box and free up that space in my closet, but I wonder if it's the kind of thing I will regret. I have only regretted throwing away 1 or 2 things. Usually I don't regret it at all, but this could potentially be more meaningful.

What would be the value of saving it?
 

gromit

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I know my mom would tell me I should save it, but she has a problem with saving too much stuff. A lot too much.
 

gromit

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Hm. Space I guess...? Clutter and too much stuff just makes me a little anxious I guess.

I ended up going through a major purge today. Got rid of some stuff, reorganized a bit. My closet is working better. Also I talked to my sisters and they pointed out that those are irreplaceable, which is true, and that they show my development as a person... also true. So I guess I will save them for awhile at least.
 
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I would save them. I regret not keeping journals in the past, I'd find them interesting and useful now. If you ever have kids, they might love a way to learn more about you. I'm curious what my parents were like when they were younger. I'm a purger by nature...my unrealistic dream is for everything I own to fit in the back of a pickup truck. But I'd make room for that. If you're concerned with space, you could make a project of transcribing them or scanning them and keeping them digitally.
 

OrangeAppled

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Artwork & stuff I've written is just about the only thing I save with any consistency (and tax info....arrgh!). I tend to get the urge to chuck stuff otherwise, and rarely regret it either.

I guess I'd ask if the times you went back to read some of it were significant? Did you really enjoy it or find it insightful? Even if you don't do it often, if those rare occasions were significant enough, then they may be worth saving. If you feel "meh" about it, then just toss it. Maybe give it a week & see if the itch is still there.
 

PeaceBaby

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At some point, I simply burn mine. But then, I journal with the purpose of dispelling a lot of personal negativity; it's not an interesting narrative of my life like some folk's journals are. So, this is the rule of thumb I use: if I don't want anyone else to read it, ever, I burn it. And the time isn't predestined, at some point I just seem to decide those chapters are closed. Kind of harsh sounding, I realize, but rather cleansing too.

If you decide to save them for heritage, I think that's admirable btw. Such things are irreplaceable, so I don't necessarily think my way is the right way for you. Just thought I would share though.
 

mmhmm

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I used to write in a journal a lot as a teen and into my early 20s (I'm 27 now). A combination of narration and FEELINGSSSS.

i write in journals too. i have stacks and stacks of journals.
digital formats offer no comparison. i love the tactile. and
even if i don't take them out very often, there's something
fantastic about the ritual of dusting off the covers, untying
red satin ribbons that tie them up in stacks and leafing
through old pages and cringing and laughing at what was
written.

in terms of keeping things: i have three rules:
1. i don't throw away journals.
2. i don't throw away anything that i've published.
3. and i don't trash/ruin/burn/destroy film/photos.

i have a crazy complex organisation system involving
lots and lots of stackable compartments. that i just
hide at the back of my closet.
 

gromit

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At some point, I simply burn mine. But then, I journal with the purpose of dispelling a lot of personal negativity; it's not an interesting narrative of my life like some folk's journals are. So, this is the rule of thumb I use: if I don't want anyone else to read it, ever, I burn it. And the time isn't predestined, at some point I just seem to decide those chapters are closed. Kind of harsh sounding, I realize, but rather cleansing too.

If you decide to save them for heritage, I think that's admirable btw. Such things are irreplaceable, so I don't necessarily think my way is the right way for you. Just thought I would share though.

WOW burning. :laugh: intense. My boss was mentioning how he and his wife were cleaning out their house and they came across their love letters from when they were just getting to know one another (!) and how they read through them and just chucked them, like why would you even keep that? I was a little shocked, but that was before I got really in depth into the nitty-gritty of working with my mom on her house and truly began to understand the very very negative side of over-saving.

i have a crazy complex organisation system involving
lots and lots of stackable compartments. that i just
hide at the back of my closet.

Where did you get the compartments? Do you sort it by year? I might try to organize them better.

Does anybody still write? I write from time to time now, but not nearly as much.
 

mmhmm

meinmeinmein!
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Where did you get the compartments? Do you sort it by year? I might try to organize them better.

Does anybody still write? I write from time to time now, but not nearly as much.

i love the hard pulp cases and the tin boxes at muji:
http://www.muji.us/store/household/storage.html

i split them up by types, i'm fairly consistent in what kind of
notebooks i use: i love love those one subject spiral notebooks
if i'm scribbling at home, drawing pads for different media,
fotos: split for film/digital prints. and in the last 6 years i've
been using an insane amount of moleskines.

and the most important box: shit i haven't sorted out yet.
i knew i had to have something i can just dump stuff in.
and i'll just deal with it later. heehee.
 

Antimony

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I write in journals as well. I think my pile is at least 1.5 feet high. While they take up space, I would personally feel like I may have just wasted time. It doesn't make much sense, but it is records of thoughts and feelings of a past you. Maybe you can learn from them?

I always thought it would be interesting to pass down journals. But maybe not so much.

Also, incredibly ironically- the day you made this post is the day/day after I decided to do a new journal after months. I couldn't bear to write in my other because I stabbed it and it was just all too negative.
 

King sns

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I would tell you to save them, but already tore up all of my old ones, and don't miss them. I'm still young, too though. Things you wrote could either be enlightening or embarrassing later...
 

cascadeco

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It would definitely take time, but if you're a fast typer and have chunks of down time, you could start transferring your journal entries into Word documents/electronic format, and then eventually get rid of the journals themselves. That way you'd still have all of the words/entries themselves, just not the books and the writing. I don't know if the journals themselves hold more value to you than the words, though.
 

Qlip

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Or scan them! I write a lot of things down, and the value I get out of it is mostly in the act of writing it down. I hardly ever look back at notes or journal entries. I don't have any problem tossing that kind of stuff out. It's all about how, or if they are important to you. How important is it to you to be able to flip through them once in a while?
 
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