Why do I write my diaries?

Just to remind you, I was inspired a number of years ago by Samuel Pepys, the London diarist of the 17th century. He wrote his diary to record his experiences and observations of life in London during the restoration period.  Pepys had no plans to actually publish his diary, which allowed him to be frank and uncensored. He recorded his thoughts and actions without holding back, including his weaknesses, infidelities, and meannesses.

He also provided an insight into everyday life in London at the time, including what he ate, where he went, and how he felt about other people. His diary offers a candid look at his personal life, including his vanity, jealousy, and the injustices he witnessed. Pepys wrote his diary in shorthand, using special symbols instead of letters and words. He stopped writing in 1669 because he was concerned about his eyesight. His works were first published 100 years later.

Fast forward a few centuries into the age of technology…

I remember reading his diaries and admiring his style and have had no hesitation about basing my writings upon it. For myself I am delighted to do this task, well it’s not a task more a mission. It enhances my experience of the day because I know I’m going to share it with other people and the world in general. I normally publish the same evening if not the next day.  I don’t really mind how many or how few people read it though frankly I think it deserves a wider audience and I must upgrade my attention to social media to get the word around a little bit and perhaps encourage other people to write their own journals.

Technology enables me to publish and share my thoughts with the world at the press of a button as they say. Such a mind-set would have been inconceivable in the time of Samuel Pepys.

So knowing you’re going to share, you make a particular note of the conversations you’ve had to, the sights you see, and anything you have learned during the day.    Unfortunately due to the huge volume of the images about six and a half thousand this is an unpublishable book and even in PDF form it is quite a task for any common or garden PC computer to digest. I enjoy the actual writing because I am caused to review the significance of what happened and draw out the main facts from it. I enjoy reading it afterwards to remind me what a good time or otherwise I had.

Overall the exercise it is an enormous stabilizer and therapy and I am very privileged to be part of it.

Thank you Samuel Pepys for your example.

Brian

PS My speech to text software cannot ‘hear’ the name of my partner Francoise. If I am lucky I get

Franz was
Frost was
France was
Frostwise

in some situations, technology just cannot cope