I like using nice notebooks including ones I've made, in fact I've given a few of them to people who like little books. And there have been times when I needed not to forget tasks that involved other people's medical care and wellbeing.
But life as an older woman living alone, sometimes not exchanging a word, can bring days when you wonder. You're no longer a traffic cop of your life, noting and prioritizing and advocating and fretting. And you wonder how valuable your days are.
So I write a little list each evening of things I've done that day, for better or worse. It's very calming seeing that I had a well rounded day after all, and I mostly do.
It's about tasks done, ideas on art to make, books I'm reading, food I've cooked, garden cleanup, give back box mailing, groups I've attended, all that and more, and includes time spent just being.
Doing is a very Western sort of pressure, and if you've done the all-encompassing work of caregiving, it takes years to remember how to enjoy free time. You feel as if you should be on high alert at all times.
It's not about worries or concerns or complaints, just positive things I did or enabled.
So here's my lovely notebook, not made by me, scored years ago at the library book sale. which, full disclosure, I last used, as a garden diary, in 2006. Last entry was February of that year, noting snowdrops. see the binding, how beautiful the stitching, and how it lies flat.
It's on the bedside table, the one I painted faux copper a while back.
So I started up with this approach in November 2018. I thought you'd like to see the notebook, which is a pleasure to handle. The little drawing fell out of it when I set up for a pic, so it's now a bookmark. I don't think the lemon motif is an omen..
Do you do bullet or any other sort of journaling? Some people do it all their lives, some make a couple of entries in the New Year, then by about Jan 4 it drops off..
I guess I journaled long before it was a 'thing'. I have kept a diary every day since 1967. It started as a 'Centennial project' when Canada turned 100 - done in school. Mine isn't quite the same approach as what you're doing but it does record what I've done/where I've been/who with and such. It's amazing how often those books get referenced when arguments are in need of being settled!
ReplyDeleteI never knew diaries could act as arbitrators! That's a power I hadn't thought of.
ReplyDeleteYep - the diary doesn't lie about dates so there's been many a 'discussion' that has arisen over the years that has been ended with proof positive!
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