86
Journal keepers of Lemmy: Do you go back and re-read old entries?
(sh.itjust.works)
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
Search asklemmy ๐
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~
I did this recently. I wanted to refresh my memory on how I dealt with a personal problem several years ago that seemed to be coming up again.
Surprisingly, the details that stuck with me the most over the years were pretty different from the details I focused on in my writing at the time. I remember going through a lot of problems at that time, and I give them pretty equal weight in my memory. But my writing was hyper-focused on one or two things, while everything else was kind of in the background.
Unfortunately, the issue I felt was coming up again recently was one of those things that was in the background in my writing. So I don't think the exercise was all that helpful for my initial goal.
Less surprisingly, my writing made me seem pretty cringe. I was expecting that, since I was looking back on a younger, dumber version of myself going through a hard time. But it's still a bit strange. Like, I thought I was acting as rationally as possible at the time, and I give myself a fair amount of credit for that looking back on it. But when I try to read from a more objective perspective, my missteps and character flaws are a lot more apparent.
Sorta makes me wonder which of my present-day actions will make me say, "What was I thinking..." in another 10 years.
That sounds like some incredible useful insight and perspective.