By Joyce Jacobo
[Author’s Note: I love to keep a journal. How about you?]
I gather precious moments in journals
as some might gather shiny pebbles in pouches
or store photographs within thick albums
They include times spent with friends and family
reflections on the world amid everyday life
and concerns about what the future might bring
Page after page written in pen or pencil
on lined sheets that in silence and serenity
hold tight to the words impressed upon them
Someday I will gather all my journals in a box
to read from time to time
or to help me remember the past
The writing will bring all those memories to the surface
as the stories we tell have the power to do
to revisit people and places inscribed there forever
Just little precious moments
written down in simple journals
that can mean so much
The Literary Serenity Archives 
I too keep a journal, although I don’t write in it every day. More often than not, it’s notes on a book I’ve just read, but also health notes.
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Sounds like a nice journal. What are some of your favorite books, just out of curiosity? ^_^
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Love the feelings behind this piece. old journals are the best.💕
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They truly are. It’s fun to see what you were thinking about or feeling at certain moments, and then reflect on what changes have taken place since then.
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Absolutely. Thanks so much.💕
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^_^
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Journals are my best friend, lol. I keep several for specific topics like my health, poetry, etc. Great post, thanks for sharing❣
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Awesome! It’s great that you are able to organize your journals that way, and that this poem resonated with you so much. ^_^ Thank you!
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That’s so true. Journaling never really worked for me. But I think I might be finding ‘my way’ that works. Due to limited space, I often get rid of those snippets of the past but before I do, I browse through them and take out the best ones to save.
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👍
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That’s good. While moving on into the future is wonderful, it is also helpful to be able to hold onto certain things, just to remember precious moments in the past and such.
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet and commented:
Don’t Miss Reading This!!
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Ah, thank you so much!
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👍
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^_^
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My pleasure. Left some info on a comment about Elfchens for you. Check it out. Here is the info.
https://stepsinbetween.com/2020/02/02/youre-invited-elfchen-poetry-potluck/
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Oh whoa, thank you so much! I had never heard about Elfchens before, so that opens up a lot of new avenues and ideas to try. That means a lot. Thanks!
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Really a great post! Journaling allows you to give root to thoughts and feelings for all time. That is a very wise practice and a great resource to mine for inspiration for poems!! Bravo!!!! 😊✨👍
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Same here, and I’m thrilled this piece struck such a deep chord for you. I also kind of feel that my journals will probably wind up getting passed along to any children I have (or I hope that at least a few of them will).
Anyway, journaling is empowering. I love that a journal is really just there for you to express yourself, without needing to worry about judgement by others. Hehe. Like writing poetry or short stories. ^_^
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Well, You know the old saying, right? “If you want something done and done right you need to do it yourself” I would highly recommend that you commit to publishing your journals for at least large excerpts of them. The other thing you may want to do is to use words and phrases from them like “Black Out Poetry” (check it out) or just seeds of inspirations for your own poems. There is a really great poetry form that I love called Elfchens, It’s short, simple and fun to write. Here is a post that is really great on explaining it and some samples – I have mine at about 15th – Come check it out. I think you will find hundreds of Elfchens hiding in your journals just waiting for you to find them, write them and share them with the world – as Nike says – Just Do It!!!
Chuck 😍✨🎁👍
https://stepsinbetween.com/2020/02/02/youre-invited-elfchen-poetry-potluck/
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Goodness, that’s a wonderful type of poetry, indeed. I plan to give them a try as soon as I can. All of the pieces on the blog are incredible.
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I have used journals for 46 years. I have them stored together. The old journals are the best. Like reading about someone else. It is cool to keep the journals safe. They gain value with time.
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Agreed. You’ve clearly been way more organized with your journals than I have, though–I still need to do the same thing and store them somewhere safe.
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You need to. Before you lose control of them. I kept them safe. More luck than reason.
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Thanks, I definitely will.
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They become more valuable later my friend. I want to read Salinger and Hemingway hidden stories and books. Maybe released someday?
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Ooh, I hope so! I did hear that Mark Twain’s autobiography got released a few years ago at his request, since enough time would have passed for the people mentioned in it to have passed away themselves. I need to look for it, though.
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Me too my friend. Salinger books would be amazing. He was a perfectionist.
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Was it true, though, that he didn’t like to do interviews?
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No photos, no new books and he kept writing. A private man. He had reasons. He fought in Germany from 1942-1946. He saw terrible things. Try to commit suicide twice. The publishing companies changed his book. He quit publishing. Supposedly a vault filled with books, never published.
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Oh, goodness. I hadn’t known about the publishing companies changing this book. That’s tragic.
Maybe someday, someone will find that vault. It would be a goldmine of books.
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In his final will. His vault on his property will be open 50 years after his death.
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Ooh, that’s good to know! Thanks!
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