I have been thinking recently about originality – how can I be an original thought provoker, and not just a consumer of content?
These thoughts have been motivated by a recent purge – I have been getting rid of possessions, and when I came upon a pile of my old journals, I wasn’t sure if I should burn them, or keep them?
I’ve been consolidating a bunch of journals I want to keep – mostly vacation logs, into my bullet journals, which are much more attractive and concise. Then I’m burning the original journals. But I have several notebooks full of depressive babble. I had wanted to write every day, but didn’t have much to say. Do I keep these journals, or burn them?
I am leaning toward burning them. I just don’t care to re-read and re-hash a bunch of depressive nonsense over and over.
I am thinking about legacy – if I were to die tomorrow, I wouldn’t want someone to suffer through reading about my whining and psychobabble. I’d rather leave behind pretty bullet journals that are organized and fun to look at. If it’s embarrassing, I’d rather burn it.
When I was 15 years old , my mom read my diary. She read about my drinking and making out with boys, and I got grounded. I was so upset that I burned my diary. I was sad for a long time that I didn’t keep it. But maybe it’s better that I burned those stupid pages. Do I care now about the stupid thoughts I had at age 15? Probably not.
Life is a constant rejuvenative process. If I lost every possession I owned in a fire, I would be ok, as long as my pets and people were ok. I am just not that attached to possessions. Better to sift through the crap now, and keep the jewels that are worth keeping. Much of my writing is not jewels, and most of my thoughts are not that unique. Maybe it’s time for a bonfire!