when I was a teenager, I burned all my journals because I didn’t want anyone knowing my thoughts. Or it was just to fit my dramatic emo aesthetic. Either way, I’m sad to not be able to look back on those times. Little me could have used empathetic older me.
I’ve kept all of my journals since. Some of them are really hard to look back on and bring me back to really dark times in my life. I like having them available to me though. I like to imagine my kids or my grandkids reading through them someday and understanding me as a whole human, not just as mother or grandmother.
I tend to write a lot more when I’m sad or depressed, so I’ve been working on writing during the good times too.
Jun 6, 2024
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I was cleaning today and stumbled upon journals from 8-10 years ago. I’m so grateful that I kept them because they are a reminder of how much I’ve grown, the many lives I’ve lived, and the people that have come and gone.
a side note is that I wasn’t particularly fond of the prose lol
Aug 17, 2024
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I love putting my feelings on paper, it helps me to know that they’re real. Plus, I have way too many thoughts, I can’t hold all that in my head. Some things are best left in a notebook than in the body. I have an incredibly warped sense of time, so I sometimes reread journals to remind myself of what has happened in my life. And wow, there’s nothing more powerful than a preteen’s unbridled emotions and Ashley you will pay for what you did in the 5th grade. If I die and someone finds all of my journals please publish them, there’s some good tea in there and I’m not afraid of burning bridges in the afterlife. Get a good pen, find a nice notebook, and put it all down.
Oct 27, 2023
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Sometimes painful and not for everyone, but goddamn sometimes it feels good to know what you’ve overcome. A HUGE practice in being kind to all versions of yourself, past and present. I sometimes annotate my old ones in the margins, give myself a little “good luck.”
May 24, 2024
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For some reason this brings me into my parasympathetic nervous system
Mar 28, 2025
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FINDING SOMEONE ANNOYING AND IMMEDIATELY REALIZING IT’S BECAUSE THEY REMIND YOU OF YOUR YOUNGER SELF
OH BROTHER THIS GUY actually needs a lot of empathy and understanding
Apr 2, 2025
Breaking my very thin, almost non existent air of mystery because I got a haircut I actually like, my favorite jeans fit again, it’s a full moon eclipse, 70°, and both of my kids’ birthdays are today!! MAGIC IS REAL AND I AM FULL OF LOVE! 💗 💗💗💗💗💗
Mar 14, 2025