The Dangers of Keeping a Journal

When I was five years old I got a journal. I know that I was five when I got the journal because my journal says:

"We went to target and mom bought me a really cool journal. I am five years old." (spelling corrected).

At the bottom of the page was a note: "Written by Alec (older sis)" I always get disappointed when I read that because it kills the illusion that I was a five-year-old genius.

When I read this I sometimes wonder what my mom was thinking when she bought me a journal. I was five years old. Even though I could count really high, my writing skills were still lacking. Also, it's comforting to know that my love for office supplies has been with me since birth. What other five-year-old asks their mom for a journal from Target?

It's things like this -- having record from being five years old and knowing "I have a great mom and dad. They are very nice." -- that make people think keeping a journal is a good idea. It is also the reason that I have 12 journals from the past 17 years of my life. Well, that and my love of office supplies.

However, I want to warn people about the dangers of keeping a journal. First of all, I have 12 journals just sitting around my room. Those things start to get heavy. Plus, at least two journals are from before middle school. No one needs a daily record of what happened in elementary school.

[February 18, 2000 - I changed my report to a rat.]

But the real problem with keeping a journal is that some things are not meant to be written down. And if they are written down, they should be burned. Which is what I realized when I started looking back at some of my journals.

Unfortunately, the state of Arizona is in the middle of fire season and lighting things on fire is discouraged.