I like to journal which is a combination of keeping a diary and sketching.
I’ve been journaling since 2011 and the things I love most about the process is that it enables me to combine my love of writing and sketching but it also allows me to document the bits and pieces of my life like work and my children.
I don’t follow any hard and fast rule and I certainly don’t write a daily account of my life unless I feel the need to.
Keeping a journal is a great way to write down your feelings and events as things happen.
Writing about the week or jotting down ideas and thoughts about people you’ve encountered events that have happened to you or how you are feeling on any given day is kind of cathartic.
As a new year begins and my final journal is closed ready to be put away, it is nice to read over things that I did in the year gone by.
It makes me feel warm and fuzzy when I read or see a sketch or a photo of something my family and I did and it allows me to think back to that moment.
There is one recurring theme that runs through all my writing and that is time.
TIME is the thief of the heart most definitely.
What do we all want but never have enough of, TIME?
There is one thing that you cannot recover in life and that is TIME after it has gone.
I don’t necessarily wish to go back to my thirties after all, who wants to go through the nappy and toddler stage again?
Since becoming a quinquagenarian I am conscious of time passing, of mortality and death.
We are all culpable of falling into the trap of saying “I wish, or if only’, wanting to go back in time to a special moment, place or reliving a memory.
Being overly reflective denies us the joy of life and appreciating where we are at that precise moment.
We all do it and wish for it, but sometimes stepping back and taking a look at our world can make us appreciate just how much we have.
When my father was working he was forever lamenting about wanting more time: “how the heck did I manage to fit in my day job, now I’m retired I have less time than when I was working”.
But with every passing decade, there are wonderful experiences to reflect upon.
Our twenties were full of energy and vitality we were constantly seeking new challenges and we had the freedom to be whom we wanted to be.
We were still learning through new experiences at the same time coming to terms with adulthood and the responsibilities that go with it, but generally, we had fun.
By the time we reach our thirties we are more self-assured and confidently able to determine our course even if life decided to send us in a different direction.
In our forties, we rely on our life experiences and can pass on advice and reassurance when asked to do so.
In our fifties, we have navigated choppy waters may be made some life changes such as a career, relationship or moved abroad.
In the decades that lie ahead, we can look forward to planning and doing exciting things.
The children have grown and left the nest leaving us more free time to explore and try new things giving us the time to take stock of our lives and where we are because it is never too late to make that change.
In the words of John Lennon: “Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted”.
Further reading for you
https://onewomansview.co.uk/how-life-has-changed-since-i-reached-my-50s/
https://onewomansview.co.uk/my-autumn-reboot-and-hello-september/
https://onewomansview.co.uk/the-sweet-smells-of-childhood/
