Dead Tree Edition

One thing we Latter-day Saints are encouraged to do is to keep a journal, a life history to pass on to our posterity (if any). And I've never been much good at it. Well, I suppose that's not exactly true. I have been good at it for short periods of time, from time to time. But sustained journal writing is not something at which I've ever excelled.

That's part of what has been so surprising about the last year or so. When I began blogging, I never imagined that I'd keep up with it as well as I have. Next month will mark a full year of Michael's Random Musings / The Road Goes On. It's actually been a lot of fun.

I've been using the blog as a journal of sorts. I've made it a point to record my observations and opinions of various events and issues, in addition to the various memes and entries of that ilk. And at the end of the month, I go up to the education building on campus, where printing is still free, and print out the month's entries. I add these to an ever-expanding notebook, and that has served as a journal of sorts.

There's only one problem with this approach. Sometimes, there are experiences or feelings that I want to record, but don't feel comfortable sharing with the cyber-word in general. No offense, loyal readers, but there are some things about me you just don't need to know.

This weekend is one example. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is holding its annual General Conference. I have often made it a point to take notes during the various talks, but I've been limited in being able to watch all the sessions due to work conflicts. This time, however, I didn't have to work at all, so I decided I'd get back into the habit. The notes I make are sometimes rather personal, dealing with very specific challenges, struggles, or mistakes that I'm fighting to overcome. So I don't think it would be appropriate to put that sort of information up on the web for every Tom, Dick, and Johann who wanders by to see.

Then, almost as a revelation, the answer came to me. I remembered that I still had an actual journal - manufactured from processed tree carcasses - that I could use. I even had a good idea where it was. So after the briefest of searches, I dug it out and have begun to put it to use again.

I already feel good about this arrangement, and early indications are that this will be a good combination. Maybe this is the time that it'll stick.