November 2011 Moms

NBR: WWYD? old journals

So we are moving.  (Yay!)  And I am doing A LOT of organizing and sorting thru years of stuff.  I've come across old journals/diaries from college and I wonder if I should keep them or toss them.

Part of me says keep them because they are part of me.  My history, if you will.  And there are probably a few good stories in there (I hope)...

But really, my history is a lot of drunken adventures and boy drama and I'm not sure if I want these around for DH (eh, he wouldn't really care and knows most of it anyway (though we didn't meet until a couple years post college)) or DD (awkward!!) to find.

They sort of make me cringe but they also sort of make me laugh at how much I thought certain things mattered.

So....WWYD?  Keep them?  Forever?  For X years?  Toss 'em?  (FWIW, it's not like I've looked at them since last time I moved over 6 years ago....so am I just going to keep moving them around with me?) 

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Re: NBR: WWYD? old journals

  • I say keep them forever.  I still have all of mine from 5th-12th grade.  I quit keeping a diary after that.
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  • Judging from what you said they contain, I would toss them. Unless you hope you publish them as part of a book of memoirs later in life. Yes, going through that helped you be the person you are today, but letting go of the past drama will be healthier for you.

    To put the shoe on the other foot, would you want to come across your H's old journals from college? And certainly you wouldn't want your DD when she's a 13 YO to find them. Just saying.

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  • I'd probably toss them. I threw out a bunch of stuff, old letters such, when we built our house. It's nice to look back sometimes, but I didn't think it was worth hanging onto.
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  • I would go through them and see what entries you would want to save. If most of it is garbage, then just save the "safe" stuff. :-)
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  • Keep them!!!  I kept a journal for a long time but only kept the ones from high school and early college.  I don't know what I'm ever going to do with them, but I do like going back and remembering things about that time in my life.  Maybe DD will like to read them someday and how cool for my grandkids to find them.  I guess if there is stuff there that you don't want to ever go back to, then throw them out.  But I always think that's something you'll regret not having one day.
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  • imagembgreenwalt:
    I say keep them forever.  I still have all of mine from 5th-12th grade.  I quit keeping a diary after that.

    Oh, if I only knew what happened to my diaries during those years!  My parents sold the house I grew up in while I was in college and my parents packed up my room and must have found my diaries that were hiding in various spots. In fact, I think my father even made reference to finding them but "not reading them" (probably nothing too bad in them anyway, just stupid teenage girl drama), but I am really unsure where they are now.  I guess in a box of my stuff in my parents garage.  Who knows when I'll go through that and find them!  LOL...

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  • Thanks for the feedback, y'all.  Maybe I'll scan thru them and see if I find anything either worth saving or so bad it should be thrown out.  :) 

    I am probably romanticizing them way more than I should.  I love, love, love old time-y diaries from say, the pioneers.  But those were so elegantly written (or I guess the ones they publish/share.  LOL) and give such insight to the time period.  I'm not sure how much historical insight my diaries will give to the late 90s.  Heh.

    But it's also good to know some of you have purged stuff like diaries/letters (OMG, I also have boxes of letters and cards....i'm such a pack rat) and are okay with it.  I'm not sure I'd miss my diaries, they just feel like something that shouldn't be thrown away.  *shrug*  well, there's a lot more packing to do before i have to make my final decision of keep vs toss!  

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