I followed The Happiness Project on facebook where this link on keeping a one sentence journal was posted.
I loved this idea for a one sentence journal designed to prompt happy memories. I didn't have a good history of journal keeping. In a college freshman English class I was required to keep a journal for a semester and what an intimidating exercise that was! I couldn't write a word without imagining the grad student instructor critiquing it and snickering under his breath. I bought a nice leather journal a few years ago with hopes of being less inhibited, but my entries were sporadic and self-conscious. But a one sentence journal - just daily notes on what I wanted to remember? That was something I could handle - and I was in love with the idea of being able to look back over time to what had happened on any given day in previous years.
I bought a book for my new sentence journal within a few days of reading Gretchen Rubin's blog about it and have been faithfully recording something almost every day since. I'm almost two months past the one year mark and so I'm able to look back now at 2009.
My dad was diagnosed with cancer in early 2009. By October he had been through chemotherapy and radiation. My entry for October 27, 2009 reads "Daddy received good news at Drs office - all blood work was good - he's maintaining!" The good reports continued until December. He died March 24th. Over the coming months I'll be remembering those last few months of my dad's life as I look back in my journal. It will be hard remembering his pain - but remembering his love and the time spent with him will be a blessing.
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| My dad and stepmother Thanksgiving 2009. |
As Gretchen Rubin says "The days are long but the years are short."
*note: I've also been recording longer and more frequent entries in my other journal as well as blogging here and at Ginny's Garden. As with many other things in life, expressing myself has become easier with practice.
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