Some thoughts on Journal Keeping

Today in Relief Society we had an awesome lesson on temple work and family history. Of course the topic of journal keeping was mentioned. It seems that whenever I am listening to someone talk about family history, the save-all that keeps me from feeling guilty is that I do keep a journal. In fact, I am an avid journal keeper. Recently, however, I have cause to call into question my quality of the practice. When I was young, I was always aware of my Grandma Laura's journals. They were beautiful. Unlike my assortment of mismatched journals (my current giant Dot Candy one being the most outrageous), hers were all beautiful red leather. They were all the same style and color. I just knew that they were filled with so many wonderful things. After she passed away, I had occasion to read through them. I was partly correct in that they were filled with her beautiful penmanship and wisdom. However, like my journals, they were filled with lots of mundane stuff as well. "She had hung the clothes out on the line." "She had gotten her hair done." At that time it was very comforting to me to know that it is OK for journals to be just a log of our routine activities of the day. The trouble is that sometimes, at least for me, those days all look the same. Recently, I have been working on a list that I keep in my journal of my memories of Bill. I don't want to forget important things. Those memories include the things that he said, that he did, that he liked, that he felt, that he laughed at, that he enjoyed, or that he valued. S0 yesterday I had a very valuable lesson taught to me. I was feeling very brave and listening to a Phil Collins CD that has the song "My Girl" on it. This brought to my mind something that HAD to go on that list. My Guy and I didn't really have "a song", but he chose "My Girl" for my ring tone on his cell phone. Everyone that knows us well is aware of that little detail of our lives. What most everyone doesn't know is that every time I called Bill, he would answer the phone singing 'MY GIRL" at the top of his voice. HOW IS IT THAT I HAD NEVER PUT THAT IN MY JOURNAL???? How is it that something that made me smile every day, at least once or twice, and means the world to me now, wasn't included in what had happened to me that day? I think that is was way more important information than the fact that I picked up my dad's prescriptions or cleaned the bathrooms. Lesson Learned: Even though some of those details of our lives are mildly interesting to posterity, the ones that teach us the true character of a person are way more inspiring. I am trying to do a better job of including those kinds of things on the pages of my journal. Anyway, it was an important lesson for me. I am such a slow learner!