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I recently discovered a new book of writings by one of my favorite
authors, British novelist Virginia Woolf. It features creative
nonfiction works written from a recently unearthed 1909 notebook of
hers. She intended this notebook to be a “writer’s sketchbook”
of sorts, wherein she wrote small scenes that could later be used as
part of a longer work. However, most stories could stand on their
own, as each narrated her thoughts and observations of different
aspects of life around her during that year.
In a recent Time Magazine issue, I read a
feature on a recently published diary of a Holocaust victim. Dubbed
as “Poland’s Anne Frank,” she was about the same age as Anne
when the diaries were written, and also featured horrific stories
and sketches of tender moments with their families.
Both these journals and notebook prove that
writing could very well serve as concrete and creative records of
history. While Virginia’s scribbling was intended to become
literary pieces later on, the sketches nonetheless narrated details
about life in the places she extensively wrote about. The two Jewish
girls’ diaries, on the other hand, became accidental pieces of
literature that characterized what life was like living under the
Nazi rule and how two teenagers coped with the everyday goings-on of
their already unsure existence.
Most people pooh-pooh journal writing because
they think it’s a juvenile exercise, and a fruitless on at that,
as journals are not intended to be published. They think that only
“legit writers” should write journals because these could be
published in the future, or that writers are the only ones who could
record life very well, which could turn into a book of memoirs later
on. This is not true.
Writers don’t have the exclusive privilege of
writing about life. Anyone who is literate enough to put their
thoughts on paper should keep a journal, as each path of our lives
is truly unique no matter how much we share some intersections with
others. Journal writing could be a way of recording one’s personal
life as it happens or a good way of recollecting earlier memories
before we forget about them.
Diaries and journals serve as a person’s own
historical records not just of his or her own life but of their
society as well. Imagine if we could unearth more diaries of
Holocaust victims, or even read the journals of our great
grandparents. Imagine if all our great grandparents wrote about
their lives. What colorful stories, anecdotes and commentaries they
could have narrated. It doesn’t matter if none of them were famous
or “significant” members of society. What’s important is that
they wrote about being citizens of this country and they had
something to say about their society at that time. Their journals
could serve as very interesting personal records of our collective
history.
So start a journal now. Who knows what
interesting tidbits you may be able to record for history’s sake?
Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay.scribevibe@gmail.com
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