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Journaling still a trend?

Thinking back to elementary/early middle school, I can count on one hand of journals I had filled with my chicken scratch of handwriting from the first page, to the last. In the process of helping my mother move, I found these long lost old friends. I couldn’t believe how much things had changed over the course of that time. Let alone fathom as to why my mother kept them for so many years.

Nonetheless, it was quite the neat find. Instead of unpacking the rest of boxes in the living room, we hunkered down on bean bags for the night to enjoy a glass of wine and a few eligible journal entries. Who would have thought little Timothy stealing my crayons would be such a tragedy? Let alone have the privilege to fill three pages on the incident in my sparkly Barbie diary? I wish the old me would have updated on the incident after it happened. Now I will forever be left in suspense.

Amongst all of the rubbish and boy trouble in these diaries/journals, I did find quite a few interesting historical events. I caught myself by surprise as I went into elaborate detail about possibly having Barack Obama be our first black president in history. Not to mention, in previous journal entries, I also stated about the sudden rise in gas prices on the gas station signs before I started my first day in third grade. I even quoted my mom from that time stating that she wished the recession would be over with already.

All of this and more made me question just how many people have written journals similar to mine? Of course there was more than likely several pre-teen girls spilling gossip onto each page as if it was a listening ear. I am more curious to know how many may have said something, even if it was just in passing, about a part of history?

Along with these questions, I also wonder how many people keep a journal to this day? How many people write as much as they use to? To be honest, I have tried numerous of times to get back into keeping a journal and failed miserably. However, if you were to ask me how easy it is to come up with a blog post or a column, I would tell you I could spend an hour a day everyday writing about something. Yet I find it so hard to keep a handwritten journal?

Maybe blogs are the evolutionized version of a journal and I am reading too far into this. Although this may be the case, I can’t deny the differences between the two. Handwritten entries are so much more personal than a simple post on social media somewhere. They hold more meaning. Which begs the question, is journaling still a trend or is it a lost art? If it is, how can we bring it back?

Hannah Hobbs is a millenial, a wife and a college student living in Hubbard Lake. Her column will appear bi-weekly on Saturday.

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