I've been keeping a diary on and off since childhood. In recent years I've been pretty rigorous and writing daily, and can usually finish about three journals per year. If you look at my bookcase, you can see my collection lined up on one of the shelves, although most are empty and ready to be used in the coming years. Today I listened to a podcast about diaries and it brought in ideas I've never thought of before, like an audience. Many people seem to run into a mental block about this and wonder whom to address. Some name their diaries, like Michelle or Clare, and then use that in constructing sentences: "Michelle, I had a tough time today at work."

To be honest it was natural for me to just write down my stream of thought, and upon reflection I realized why. The podcast also said what made a good diary: Write the facts about what happened and then your opinions about it. If you just write the facts, you'll forget how you felt at the time. Write only your feelings, and you'll forget what you're so emotional about. I tend to do the former, and for that it doesn't really matter who the audience is: It's literally just what I did that day. Occasionally I'll throw in a line — "Yeah, and that whole process really pissed me off." — but I never delve deeply into my psyche. I suppose it boils down to why I write a diary. For some, it's a cathartic experience. For me, it's more like being a historian. Ten years from now, I'm going to be interested in what I was doing every day. I suppose if I just blandly describe my sentiments, I'd still get that historical note that the podcast described: After all, my point of view now about my past is different than what it was at the time.

Which makes it all the more regretful that I lost those diaries in the fire. The ones from my middle school and high school years in particular would've been fascinating to read since those are a very tumultuous era in anyone's life, although I get the feeling mine would just be about Harry Potter and Naruto with poorer spelling and grammar.