I wanted to expand on my last post about journaling, because a couple of interesting things have come up recently on the same topic.
First, a nice lady named Cate emailed to ask a question about my article on releasing the past. She wanted to know if holding on to old journals can keep us mired in old stagnant patterns. What an excellent question! Honestly, it’s something I never thought of, even though I’ve been keeping written journals since 1993. Since I’m also a big fan of clearing out the old to make way for the new, I had to think about that for a moment.
I don’t believe that our old journals can hold us back. I see them as a testament to the hard work we’ve done (and continue to do) on ourselves. It’s a record of how far we’ve come. In addition, looking back through old journals can be incredibly helpful in spotting repetitive patterns in our lives, especially if we keep getting “stuck” in the same types of negative situations. It’s so eye-opening to go back and read entries you wrote years ago. Half the time I’d swear that someone else wrote my earlier journals. 
It’s amazing how much we grow and change over the years.
I still have all of my old journals, and I’m fanatical about protecting them. That’s how important they are to me. I imagine I will keep them forever, and if I end up living a really long life (God willing), I’ll have trunkloads of them to pass on to my kids, grandkids, great grandkids, great great grandkids, etc.
Anyway, as I was composing my response to Cate, I guess she was browsing through her old journals, and after reading my answer, she said she felt exactly the same way. So she didn’t need my input after all. Still, I’m glad she posed the question because I don’t know if it ever would have occurred to me.
Then today, I saw an article in the New York Times about a doctor who died in the Vietnam war, and the man who kept and preserved her journal for more than 30 years. He finally located the doctor’s mother, and returned the journal to her. I can only imagine how grateful the mother is to have this small piece of her daughter again! She said in the article, “For me the information in the diary is not the important thing. What is important is that when I have the diary in my hands, I feel I am holding the soul of my daughter.”
How powerful! I often wonder about the people who will read my journals later, after I’m gone. Will they feel connected to me in some way? Will my words have an impact on their lives? I sure hope so. Not to mention that future generations will get a chance to laugh at how archaic we were, driving gas-powered automobiles instead of zipping around on solar-powered hovercrafts! LOL
Same thing with our online journals, I wonder if these posts will still be around 100 years from now. Someone could create a great content site with links to old-fashioned blogs. 
Shoot, the internet as we know it probably won’t even exist by then. Instead people will have a direct link-up in their brains, connecting them to all other people on the planet. Who needs computers anyway?
In the meantime, keeping a written (or online) journal is a powerful tool for self-growth, not just for us, but for anyone who reads it later! Keep your journals. Treasure them. Honor them, because they are a part of you, now and forever.
Wendy
CreationThoughts.com
WingsfortheHeart.com
VisualizeProsperityBook.com
