BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Journals I burnt my journals. What do you do with yours?

That's a great idea, to keep a pair of journals. One that is private to help you sort out your feelings and emotions, and another that is public that you can share your life and path.

My great-grandmother left behind diaries of her life in the 40s and I find them fascinating reading. It is so great to get that window into what a normal farmer's wife went through back then. It really reminds me to count my blessings in our modern life. I think each of us has something to share with future generations.

So I'm a strong proponent of public / shareable journals.

I also feel private journals can be *amazingly* helpful in helping each of us grow, change and expand our lives.

Angela - what a lovely idea to have a Gratitude Journal that everyone can read. My journal tends to cover everything and anything depending on the mood I'm in at the time of writing. I'd never burn them though, I did burn one once when I was much younger and I've always regretted it but that's got to be a very individual decision. As you say our personal journals are our 'personal' journals and should remain so - at least until after our death. Penny

One idea for people who burned their journals or destroyed them and now regret it - get a special journal for "repair". Write down in everything you can remember from that time. Even those memories would be better than nothing!

I once read about a diary repository where you could "store" your journal instead of destroying it. I think you could even submit the diaries with stipulations such as not releasing them to immediate family or to hold them until 20 years after your death, etc.

I'll have to find out more information about that and write an article. I think this might be a good option for those who want to "eliminate" an old journal for closure, without having it in an easy-to-access location for privacy reasons.

Angela <><

I wrote a lot as I was growing up and then when I reread my journals, I was sooo afraid someone would read them that I disposed of them.

How I regret that!

I wrote a series of letters to my adult self so I would remember what it felt like to be young. I wrote stuff like, "TRUST your daughter!!!" and such. Laughable. But I wanted to write a series of letters back to my young self and thought it would make a great little book. But I threw out all of those letters.

Maybe I can still pull a YA novel out of what I recall.

There was a really private journal that I burned. For closure. But I wish I didn't do that either.

I do like the idea of a super-safe storage area where things are completely safe. That way if you change your mind later on, they still exist. I completely understand the need to "purge" - but I also know that years later, a different desire to remember that part of one's life might be strong too.

I write lots of personal things in my journal, but for some reason, I don't worry about others reading them. Even when I was 16. I keep all of mine, tho they are beginning to pile up.

My mom read my diary when I was 17 and it caused a big brou-ha-ha. She kept a diary so you would think she would have respected the privacy issues and understood how important it was for emotional health to have one.

Now that I'm an adult and only my boyfriend is in the house I don't have any privacy issues at all - I don't think he'd ever open one of my diaries.

I've kept my journals from the past 30 years, but just this year tore out the pages that mention others in a personal light.

P.S. My sister asked me never to write about her as either a fiction or non-fiction character, which I've respected ...

edited to add P.S.

That's very interesting, that she made that request. Had you written about other family members in some of your stories?