Saving Your Life

In Writing Alone and With Others Pat Schneider, author and writing workshop leader, writes about keeping a journal. Schneider calls it “saving a life.” By this, she does not mean saving someone from death, although someone could certainly argue that journaling has healing properties. Rather, Schneider meant that keeping a journal meant one could literally save the moments in one’s life — archive elements, memories, feelings, even images. Whatever form it takes, a journal “saves the perspective you have of this day as you are living it.” So this week’s Wrap-Up is about saving your life.

1. Describe how much you agree or disagree with the idea that journals and blogs are a way to “save” your life?
I think that journals do serve that purpose for many people, though there are certainly other things that come into play. The sharing of thought, the catharsis of writing and creating art are all reasons why I write, beyond that saving of my life.
2. How often do you reference other blog entries you’ve written? How often do you link to those blog entries as documentation of your history?
I seldom reference other entries, as I like each to be somewhat stand alone. Refering to the previous post is common for me, but otherwise I won’t refer to another entry.

3. How many entries does your blog have? What are the top two topics you most frequently write about?
I have around 700 entries in my public journal, and likely 3 times that in my livejournal. I write most often about music, as it is one of my biggest passions.

4. Have you ever rebooted your blog to erase your previous online life? If so, why? If not, under what circumstances would you ever consider it? No, I have never done that and most likely never will. I like having a sense of history and concrete evidence of my mental growth.

5. Share a blog that you best feels “saves” someone’s life? Why did you pick it?
I won’t share the url, but my dear friend Alisha’s journal seems to be the journal that best does this. She captures so much about her situations that other people would likely overlook, and tells it all in a way that is art rather than mere chronicle of her day-to-day.

Taken from Weekly Wrap-Up #75

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