I recently inherited the personal journal of an ancestor who lived a hundred years ago. You can still purchase very similar journals. His was labeled “A Line A Day.”
Inside, on the only page of printed text, it opens with this:
YOU have neither the time nor the inclination, possibly, to keep a full diary. Suppose, however, out of the multitude of matters that crowd each day, you jot down in a line or two those most worthy of remembrance. Such a book will be of greatest value in after years.
And Elijah Hoover did just that with this little book from January 1, 1905 through December 1909. He didn’t write every day, but he did write many of them. His handwriting is tiny, spidery, and in places, almost like fine printed type. And within these pages he told the story of his ordinary life in rural Illiois, including the increasing madness of his father.
For him it was ordinary. For me it’s thrilling reading and of the greatest value.
The book asks for just a line a day, but I’m advising at least two. You don’t need the journal, but you might enjoy one and find it useful to remind you of your task. The process of writing in it will help you to strengthen your writing, your observational and remembrance skills, and possibly become a great resource of great value for yourself and those that come after you.
Out of the multitude of matters that crowd each day, you jot down in a line or two those most worthy of remembrance.
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