In the past, I haven't been so good about preparing lessons in advance. But I am just so excited to be back in the Young Women that I actually want to do a good job. I want to help these young girls who are so adorable. I want them to learn from and enjoy their Beehive experience. I want them to know that I genuinely care about them. So I've made it a goal to at least look at the lesson before Sacrament meeting.
I've already met the goal for this upcoming Sunday. My lesson is on journals. After reading the lesson, I still had a few questions: Why are we told to keep records? What is the benefit? Is it more for us or more for our progenitors? I think if I understand the reasons to keep them, I'd know better what to include. The lesson shares a story about one of Brigham Young's daughters who wrote in her journal about the craziest details about the description of every single room in her house. BOOOORING. Sorry, but really? Am I supposed to tell the YW that they should document everything in their house in the off chance that someday, someone will want to recreate it? I don't think so! But then, how do we all know what to include? And how do we keep it from being so embarrassing when we read it years later?
24 April 2007
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I'm a longtime journal writer. I don't think there's much that a teenage girl can write about that they're going to be able to look back on with anything but shame. It's just the nature of being a teenager. BUT! That being said, for me, writing in my journal was always a great place to express my feelings without worrying about the consequences. I didn't have to edit - I could be mad or have a gushy crush or complain about my parents or whatever. The journal was a great place to let it all hang out.
Of course, because I wasn't the eloquent writer that I am today, I am embarrassed by much of what I wrote. But I also don't remember a lot of that stuff, so it's a funny tender embarrassment.
My advice: Tell the girls to write whatever is important to them. If detailing their house is important, then so be it. Tell them to write for themselves, with the idea that no one will see it but them. If they ever want to go back and edit it for posterity they can, but it's better to be true at the beginning.
i basically agree with all that gretchen said. i'm not really sure what the purpose of journal writing is - but i do like going back and reading certain entries i made the previous year or years ago i'm not much help, so i'll stop writing.
whoops, ben was signed in - but it was really me.
I've never spent much time with my grandma Bingham (the not so crazy grandma)but last fall I went to visit her and she told me a bunch of stories about growing up and trips she has taken. I realized how much I am like her. It was really nice to feel such a strong connection to someone....like I belonged somewhere and that I wasn't alone. I think that someday our journals can provide that type of connection for our families.
Another good thing a journal can do for you is to help you figure stuff out. Like the time I wrote about having to run the 20 minute run in P.E. class. And then a bit later in the entry I wrote about my massive after-school snack of 2 apples, a sandwich and some ice cream. It wasn't until a few years later when I was rereading that entry that I realized I was so hungry because we ran the 20 minute run. It was an epiphany!
Or more recently, when I reread my mission journal and I realized that I would have been a lot more stable if I'd been on some sort of bi-polar medication. ;-)
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