Blog Post #2: "On Keeping a Notebook"

I found Joan Didion's essay to be very interesting. A notebook is incredibly personal in my opinion. When she describes hers, we find that it probably would not make sense to other people. In fact, the people in her life strongly disagree with what she says at times, and other times simply question the details. She writes little blurbs of information that seem to make no sense, but when she thinks about it, she remembers a time that was important to her. She remembers her frame of mind and how she felt. She remembers who she was. We all change so much over time. I do not currently keep a notebook, but I did for a couple of years when I was a moody pre-teen. I recently looked back over what I wrote, and I realized that I am a completely different person now. How nice it would be to have my biggest woes of the time be my only cares! Keeping a diary at the time felt like an expression of myself. It was not intended for others to read, but was rather an outlet for all that I was feeling. Therefore, I do not believe that keeping a notebook is narcissistic.

In a way, I guess it is about keeping in touch with who you once were. It is easy to be swept back to a time in the past when you look over what you wrote in a notebook or diary. I made the decision to throw away my old diaries. Actually, I shredded them. I saw who I used to be and was glad that I had grown into the person I am now. There were some fond memories and thoughts associated with that past, but I no longer found it necessary to keep in touch with my old self. I remember who I was and how I felt. I have a very vivid memory, and remember small details about long ago in my past that keep it all fresh in my mind. There is no need to look to the past, because everything about who I was then and all the decisions a made in my past made me who I am today. I know this.

The great thing about time is that not only do we change as we grow, but so does society and technology. We have this great thing now called social media that did not exist in Didion's world. Or perhaps it is a curse, as it is all the more permanent. Now rather than writing in diaries, we make status updates. We blog. We tweet. In a way, this is quite the same as keeping a notebook. We are expressing ourselves. We share quotes and songs we love, we tell the world how we are feeling, and we tell of great experiences. Maybe we are not as open with the public as we would be in an actual notebook. Maybe we don't share quite as much or share our deeper feelings or secrets. However, I do know those who seem to use Facebook as their notebook. They share all their business, even things that would be best kept in secret. These social media are our outlet to the outside world. It tells our friends and family and those we would like to know just who we are. In a less extreme way, it accomplishes the same thing. I would say that this is much more narcissistic than keeping a notebook in traditional sense, because everything you post is telling the world, "I want you to know this." The great thing is that whether you keep a notebook, or a Facebook, the end result is the same. We still have an outlet to express who we are, and to create memories.