Hello Dino, super interesting post. I kept a diary as a child and teenager, and have done so off and one as an adult, especially during moments of deep depression. But then I worry about someone reading them and worrying about me more, and then I spiral about that! It’s a weird one. But I do know that if I don’t write everyday, which I am not doing at the moment as I have guests, I get very antsy. And I use my poetry to smooth and soothe my system a lot as I write my next novel. Would love to discuss this with you! xx Francesca
I do not. For the longest time she was a cloistered nun. I met her when I was 15, in Spain for a year, and fell madly in love. I never heard from her after I came home, she never wrote. By the time I got back to Spain she was in the monastery. I get the sense she is not cloistered now.
So first off, sure we can talk about it. Secondly, it is important to remember that it is a notebook, somewhere in your house. I do not have many people over to my home, but my old journals are in a place that they would have to make an effort to find, and if they did that I would wager they are not really my friends. I do not think my friends are going to randomly end up in the basement rummage. Just some perspective.
I greatly appreciate this. I’ve been thinking a lot about my lack of journaling as a child or adult and my current writer life. Everywhere I read I see how good of a practice it is and yet I’ve always had fundamental problems with my penmanship and composing with a pen and paper. As a kid I played piano competitively and I’ve often correlated this activity to the fact that I find transposing thoughts through a keyboard more effective for me. It’s almost like a vehicle for creativity. Even so, it’s not like I keep an online journal but I realized something in reading your post today. I’ve been writing blog posts for my entire adult life - akin to the early days of social media you mention so aptly, I found something magnetic in putting my thoughts out there for public consumption and discovery. While many of the platforms of yesteryear are no longer, this exercise was its own form of journaling. Thanks Dina.
Hello Dino, super interesting post. I kept a diary as a child and teenager, and have done so off and one as an adult, especially during moments of deep depression. But then I worry about someone reading them and worrying about me more, and then I spiral about that! It’s a weird one. But I do know that if I don’t write everyday, which I am not doing at the moment as I have guests, I get very antsy. And I use my poetry to smooth and soothe my system a lot as I write my next novel. Would love to discuss this with you! xx Francesca
And for a bit of kizmit, Gemma is the love of my life from when I was 15. This is her now. https://delaruecaalapluma.com/2018/01/31/espiritualidad-y-actitud-orante-conferencia-de-gema-juan/
Gemma is a good name, don’t you think? Do you still speak to your Gema?
I do not. For the longest time she was a cloistered nun. I met her when I was 15, in Spain for a year, and fell madly in love. I never heard from her after I came home, she never wrote. By the time I got back to Spain she was in the monastery. I get the sense she is not cloistered now.
So first off, sure we can talk about it. Secondly, it is important to remember that it is a notebook, somewhere in your house. I do not have many people over to my home, but my old journals are in a place that they would have to make an effort to find, and if they did that I would wager they are not really my friends. I do not think my friends are going to randomly end up in the basement rummage. Just some perspective.
I greatly appreciate this. I’ve been thinking a lot about my lack of journaling as a child or adult and my current writer life. Everywhere I read I see how good of a practice it is and yet I’ve always had fundamental problems with my penmanship and composing with a pen and paper. As a kid I played piano competitively and I’ve often correlated this activity to the fact that I find transposing thoughts through a keyboard more effective for me. It’s almost like a vehicle for creativity. Even so, it’s not like I keep an online journal but I realized something in reading your post today. I’ve been writing blog posts for my entire adult life - akin to the early days of social media you mention so aptly, I found something magnetic in putting my thoughts out there for public consumption and discovery. While many of the platforms of yesteryear are no longer, this exercise was its own form of journaling. Thanks Dina.
If you ever want to talk about it off Substack, send me whatever this DM thing is, we can exchange emails and I can talk FOR EVER!