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.