How many keep a journal ?

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by arleigh, May 18, 2018.


  1. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    For several years I have maintained a journal , not so much of the world around me but my live and interaction of those I am personally connected .
    This information is valued for future generations of one's own family , knowing what issues and illnesses one had endured and the stories as well we feel important to pass on .
    I learned young that the life of my dad and grand father and others had a great influence in my life , gives me encouragement to my future .
    It seems to me that people that do not appreciate how they got here , have little hope for the future.
     
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  2. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    I keep a meditation/dream journal so I can compare my actual thoughts to real events and see if the premonitions are accurate enough or not. Nearly twenty years ago it was exciting, but now it's all part of my latest approach to nihilism.

    I woke up one day with blood all over myself, and after much kicking and screaming, here I am. Despite how much beauty there is in the world, I absolutely despise what humanity has become and have zero faith it can survive itself (even though people do have amazing potential).
     
  3. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    No, I don't keep a journal but do keep what I call simply 'Notes.' It's a simple text file that has points of interest for me, things I want to remember or do, date/times of meetings/appointments and junk I am simply interested in...

    For example, one of the folks here on the forum posted a thread about the new Shingle vaccine called Shingrix. It's posted as intend to get it as soon as it is in my area.

    Another is something I got off Fox News, an old WW2 vet is turning 100 yr-old and he's birthday is...6 June. Yep! He was a soldier on board one of the D-Day invasion ships and just about as he was going over the side to go ashore he got assigned a different tasking but he went ashore later just not on his birthday. For his 100th B-Day he wants 100 birthday cards so I am sending him one.

    The name and location of a restaurant I want to take the wife to, the new HK G28 sniper rifle the military going to and its civilian equivalent...anyway, silly things like this that I want to remember, and of course a 'Do List' that seems to grow instead of shrink.

    But, a journal? No. I did keep one in my climbing days but only for a brief time. I have no one that would be interested in it, no family, and, as I have said many times, I have had one hell'va life, unbelievable actually, and people here stateside think I am either lying or a braggart but I understand so...no journal.
     
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  4. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Truth or fiction, may be worth writing a book. I know some monkeys that are literate enough to read it, and might even pay for the privilege.
     
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  5. Tempstar

    Tempstar Monkey+++

    I keep a few. Each scoped rifle has a book of almost every shot fired. I keep a spread sheet of supplies and usage percentage. I also tend to jot down happy things, especially ones that makes the wife happy, 'cuz that keeps me happy. Also my photo journal on the computer of weird stuff I see, but my rule is I have to see it in person.
     
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  6. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    I come from a long line of Journal Keepers... and In the past I have kept a Full Journal.... Now, I just keep a Daily Record of the Wx in the morning and what major thing I did during the day... What vessels third up at my Dock... and what airplanes landed on my Strip, or Floatplane Dock...
     
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  7. Ohiogalt

    Ohiogalt Monkey+

    I actually have two journals. One is nothing but memories and experinces growing up into adulthood for my kids and grandchildren. I began this a couple years ago realizing i missed many stories of my father talking about his grandparents, the depression, the war, hard times, good times, and his experinces growing up in west virginia. My second one my current life, day to day stuff, compliants, good times, and future dreams. I think maybe some later generation might find it interesting to read how their great grand father lived.
     
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  8. ochit

    ochit Monkey+

    AHHH it's called a diary and the answer is no.
     
  9. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    The only journal I keep is my reloading log. I do tag letters and technical stuff of interest to my heirs and save it in a PDF file to save them time chamber casting and slugging barrels. It helps me too when I'm using three die sets to do a case conversion.

    We spend a good bit of time sitting around playing cards, so family history and health information are passed in real time. Complaints of ..."Dad! You always tell us that story!" is probably a good sign that my spoken word family history is working.
     
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  10. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    Yes, my wife and few friends say the same but truly who would believe it. Hell, here I am, alive, well, and prosperous and I hardly believe it myself!
     
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  11. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Who says it has to be believed? Write it anyway.
     
  12. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    i keep a day log just brief one or two lines with appt and what i did, i also have a garden journal but that isnt daily

    I find tracking things from year to year useful for both journals. I do not spend alot of time on either on any given day but its still useful
     
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  13. Ura-Ki

    Ura-Ki Grampa Monkey

    I used to keep a daily log/journal of my experiences in the A.F. especially after I graduated P.J. school! It was recommended that I do it as a sort of decompression as well as a back up to my memory should any thing ever come to question later, especially if it were to have an effect on my carrier! Never happened thankfully! I shared it once with my Bride when we were still dating, after three of four pages she put it down and said she didn't want to know any more! I kept detailed information of every mission I went out on, including every thing I and my team did, saw, or were involved in! Most of it is to detailed and boring, Or censored , but there is a ton of stuff that folks read and go, WTF, YOU DID WHAT, YOU SURVIVED THAT, YOUR ALL FRICKIN CRAZY MUTHER TRUCKERS! that sort of stuff! My Sons have been after me to write a book and include all the good stuff and well as all the heart aches because it tells a pretty incredible story of more then one mans life, it paints a picture of thing, events, and places very few outside the Military ever see! Some day I'm going to sit down and do it!
     
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  14. BlueDuck

    BlueDuck Monkey+++

    I keep one. Pretty simple. Covers the main things I did that day, like what I planted, harvested, caught, or killed. Only the main accomplishments. Comes in handy when I want to check back on what, when or how I did something.
     
  15. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    Arleigh , that will be nice for your family members to be able to read about the life of their ancestors later on. I wish I could have had that.
    I started keeping one years ago when I was in the military , thought it would be kind of cool to pass on years later. It started out as just a quick daily sentence or 2 , the highlights I guess , and a few lines about the monotony of the day. Then 1 day , guys started getting hurt , then killed , and I found myself not wanting to write about those things , so that ended that journal thing. But there's a few of those instances in there . And that thing is packed up in my old footlocker with a few other remembrances. But I guess my daughter will have to sort thru that stuff when I'm feeding the worms , and see what all , if any , of it she wants to keep.
    I think I need to get to work now , laid around long enough. This post started out innocent enough, and for some reason has taken a turn towards sadness.:( But , just got to move on.
     
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  16. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    As a youngster I've heard stories all my life growing up that were never published, these stories are valuable information of the way those people perceived their as it was for them .
    I have read letters written in the 1800 that described their life in day to day fashion ,that made me appreciate the modern world we enjoy today.
    I met a lot of folk that were very glad to forget the "good old days" because things/life was so hard for them .
    The mortality rate was high and people did not freely share then as they do now .
    What we do here is completely unheard of then, talking to complete strangers and sharing our secrets of survival . These secrets were held for one's own family.
    So though one might share hard times, they also show they made it through.
    Though one's story might seem dull ,compared to some one else's great adventure ,it was life as your perceived it from your point of view .
     
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