Thursday, March 14

The Desk Series: Yearly Diary

The Desk Series :: My Meeting Place 
Yearly Diary  - Part 3

Part 1

The little habit of keeping a diary may sound like an old-fashioned thing to some, but since I am just an old-fashioned type of girl, I wanted to add it to this series. Some of you no doubt remember the diaries of your girlhood...the yearly books we would get at the beginning of each year with the clasp and tiny key. Most often my diary was started with fresh excitement and the best of intentions. But, a few months down the road it was forgotten, stuck in a drawer and most of the pages left blank.



This year I have been keeping the elusive thoughts of diary writing alive and am enjoying it very much. Could be the love I have had here at The Simple Woman blog over the past 10 years of daybook-ing or the time I now have that I did not when raising children was in full swing.

The concept of keeping a diary has not changed, it is the same in taking the time, remembering the moments and keeping a standing record. There are days when I leave a blank spot and while that bothers me, I do not beat myself up. If I remember something from that day that stands out I will go back and add it, if not, it is fine.

I greet the space at the end of the day, recording the weather and always something about nature and the beauty of it. Then, as you would imagine I add simple thoughts about what stood out...where I went, what I did, a meal I made, a birthday, a visit from one of our kids and anything of special interest that happened that day. Sometimes the recording of the day will coincide with a prayer that I then add to my prayer journal.

Here is one of my entries from February 12th...

"An ugly day-snow, ice, sleet and now fog is settling in. I am trying to be patient for just a tiny bit of green to show itself. The Mock orange is coated in ice and no doubt feeling as heavy as I am with the weather. The heat from the wood stove feels so good to my ole bones. I lit my candle, supper dishes are all cleaned and put away and now I will settle in with a hot cup of mint tea. Tomorrow I want to fill another box with things from the kitchen I no longer need or use, but deep cleaning will happen next month. Just be patient."

If there is one thing you know about me, if you've been reading here for any length of time, is the fact that I am a down-to-earth, plain and simple kind of girl. Everything about me holds a bit of simplicity and that is true of the writing in my diary and the writing of my blog.

Maybe this little idea is one you have held to for years, but maybe you think how neat it would be to re-visit writing down your day. Another idea is to use the daybook prompts in a notebook and fill them in...either way you look at it, every day begins with a blank page.

16 comments:

  1. Anonymous3/14/2019

    Oh Peggy ... in a day where technology has become the norm, it is such s joy to go back to just sitting down with pen and paper and share your thoughts. When you return days, weeks or months later, you see how our GOD has blessed us each day.
    Thank you so much for sharing and for inspiring all of us to refocus. ... Maria

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    1. Hello Maria, even moreso now that we live in this constant battering. I fear generations after us will be so left out in this lost art.

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  2. I keep an old fashioned journal too!! I don't often have time to write in it every single evening but I'm purposing to do more of it....i'm the type that just loves and loves words so I tend to be wordy. but my home is becoming more minimalistic so maybe my journal writing will too!! :) I enjoyed this peek into your life.

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    1. Ha, Faith...I feel I am too wordy too at times. And the same with my home as well. I do tend to like order.

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  3. I've journaled for years, but it has only been the last few years that I've been keeping a daily diary again. Sometimes it's just a line or two, often times longer. It's such a gift to go back and read those diaries now. Unlike the diaries of my youth, I make it a point to write about the good things in my life.

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    1. Isn't it fun...to look back. And yes to the good things.

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  4. I have been sporadic with keeping a daily journal and would like to get back to it more often. I often write when I sit outside making a note of what the weather is like. But when I wrote daily inside I never thought about noting the weather of the day. That's a good idea and also some thought of nature. Blessings to you! Thanks for sharing this series. It's great!

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    1. Great...yes, the weather, the temperature that day, animals, birds you took notice of. Thank you so for telling me you are enjoying this series. :-)

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  5. Thank you for sharing this Peggy. I remember when I was a young girl how excited I would get looking at diaries. I had one or two of my own that I started and never finished. In my teen years I started loving planners. I ran into the same problem of starting and then sitting to the side. I lost interest which resulting in leaving pages blank. For some reason I kept being drawn to diaries, planners, and now journals. I have successfully kept at using my daily bullet journal for 3 years now :). Anyhoo, all that to say that I can relate to what you have written here and am now inspired with more ideas for daily writing. I really do want to preserve some of my memories to pass down to future generations. Thank you for sharing. Have a blessed day!

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    1. You are welcome, Tajuana! I enjoy the very same, but I have to watch at how many I keep or I will get overwhelmed and I really want to keep this good habit up. lol Preserving memories in hard copy are important I think.

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  6. Anonymous3/18/2019

    An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a coworker who was
    conducting a little research on this. And he in fact ordered me lunch due to the fact that I found it for him...
    lol. So allow me to reword this.... Thanks for the meal!!
    But yeah, thanks for spending the time to discuss this matter here on your website.

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    1. Well, you are welcome for your free lunch! lol Thanks for stopping by.

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  7. I used to journal and I used to blog. Through your blog and friendship I have a desire to do both again, especially something special about pen and paper, so this is a goal I am working on right now.

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    1. Great, so glad to hear this. I think, maybe we have gotten away from our blogs because there is so much other social media out there. There was a time before all of that, that we would have a chance to focus on our writing.

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  8. Hello Peggy, your posts have become such an inspiration. I too kept a diary all my years but as a teenager I hated that my Mum read it, it's so personal and she would rant at me. I burnt them. Then when I got married the same thing happened. Nowadays, I'm okay I write and write what I want, I've been through so much and wish I'd keep those diaries which were so special to me. I will write more. Kind regards Mandy xx

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  9. Mandy, it is always nice to come here and find a comment from someone who is enjoying my blog. But, it is the comments that let me know that I have inspired or encouraged someone that is the icing on the cake. Thank you so much!

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Thank you for taking a moment to share your thoughts.