August 13, 2025

When the subject of journals comes up, I hear people say,

I should keep a journal, but…
I can’t write…
Nothing happens in my life…

My answers to those concerns are:

You should?
I bet you can write a grocery list.
Are you sure?

A recent journal entry of mine:

August 3, 2025

A tree fell as I lay here last night. It was quiet, as usual, then a creaking, then popping sound, not loud like an explosion, just on the same level as the silence that preceded it, insinuated itself and the tree fell and landed unceremoniously as I watched, having turned my head in its direction. And there it was. It wasn’t, and then it was. And the night went on as usual.

(See how fun it is to be able to add a photo, in my Day One app!)

Sometimes I enjoy writing creatively, and sometimes things happen. Compare to an older entry:

December 5, 1976

I have been so lazy today. After I came home from Sunday School I didn’t do another thing the rest of the day. I didn’t go to Sacrament meeting, I didn’t fix a meal. I didn’t do anything but change my clothes and lay in front of the tv all day until now. Part of the time I slept, most of the time I just lay there watching tv.

Um, nothing happened. I wrote about it. And not in an interesting way. A couple more:

December 30, 1977

I don’t feel like writing today... But I am because it’s been ten days since I’ve written. Christmas was great but I’ve been completely worn out and depressed ever since.

September 15, 1978

I am so tired... I don’t know why but the last few days it’s just been creeping up on me. Right now I’m just lying in front of the tv. I just can’t do a thing. I wish I could have days like this without getting depressed. When the phone rings I turn the tv down because I don’t want anyone to know that I’m watching tv. I want some M&Ms.

Into every life some mundane must fall. Sometimes something interesting happens, like, a tree falls. Sometimes it’s something exciting, like when I went with my granddaughter to New York and she sang at Carnegie Hall. I don’t know why I write about all of them, and sometimes I don’t.

Now the other concern—I should keep a journal. I wonder, who made all of us think we should really be keeping a journal and beating ourselves up if we don’t? I can tell you all kinds of reasons why you might find keeping a journal rewarding. But it’s not something that we all must do, or we should feel very guilty about it. If you want to write in a journal, write! Write the mundane and the somewhat interesting and the truly meaningful. If you want to. But I will promise one thing—if you do write your everyday life, you will read back later and find gems. Truly valuable gems that you didn’t know the worth of when you wrote them. Like this:

March 15, 1978

Yesterday, after Primary Jason said to me, “Mama, you wrapped my merry-go-round, didn’t you?” I couldn’t figure out what on earth he was talking about. I kept questioning him about it but nothing made any sense to me. Finally, I found out that his Primary teacher had called while I was at the temple and left a message that I should wrap one of Jason’s toys and get it to her without him knowing about it. Well it got later and later and I hadn’t come home yet so Wade wrapped up Jason’s merry-go-round and took it to her.

This was my husband, who worked 12–18-hour days, ran his own pressure-filled business, and had a head full of numbers and completion dates and other obligations. I had no memory of this incident, until I read it recently in my journal. Jason would never have remembered or realized the significance of it without hearing it later, as an adult.

previously posted journal entries

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