Sunday, November 6, 2011

Words of the Past

So here I am again after too many months away. I think I need to make a goal to write at least every other week so I can keep up with my wanting to blog. I have my good bestest friend John Barney, who by the way is not related to Barney Rubble, Barney Fife, or Barney the purple dinosaur, to thank for inspiring me to write again. He is a very good blogger and I recommend you read his blog because he is witty and spiritual all at the same time.

Now, on to the reason I am taking up your time in reading this. On 2 November 2011 I finished another journal. To be honest I don't know the exact number of journals that I have written. I know that it is around 47 or so. That is all in the span of almost 25 years. I would have more but there was a period of time that I got bored of writing every night and losing sleep. Then there was a time during Basic Training and A.I.T. that I let it slide. During both of those times events happened that I wish I would have kept a record of. Live and learn.

I have pondered why it is that I keep writing about me life every night. What makes me think that anyone would be interested in the little uneventful things that happen in my life. Who is going to want to read all of those journals? When I read back on some of them I don't even think they are interesting. So again why do I write?

It all started in 1985 in Paradise, California. That is where I met Joey Dinsmore, the guy that introduced me to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I had met a girl at a dance and wanted to keep getting to know her so we went out a few times. Sadly she was from Denver, CO and would only be around for a short time. After she left to go back home I made plans to visit her. I told my friend Joey about it and he told me to keep a record of what I do so I did. When I returned from my trip I let him read about my trip. He made some comments about how he liked what I read. I guess that is all I needed to plant the seed. I wasn't as consistent as I am now. It wasn't until after I joined the Church that I really got hooked.

Now I am so hooked that I can't not write. I may not write every day but I keep notes of what I did that day then a day or two later I will go back and write about those days. I can't imagine letting a day go past that I don't write about something. I feel like there would be a hole in my life and I don't like that feeling.

I also think that there is a greater reason for me writing that I am totally unaware of. All I know is I am compelled to write. And even though what I write seems meaningless to me at times, there are other times when I have a life altering and spiritual experience that I want to share and always remember even if I may forget them for a short time. I know someone will read what I have written and it will mean something to them. I feel at times like I am writing scripture. Even as I write that I feel the Spirit testifying to me that I am. I wonder what the Prophets of old thought about what they were writing. "Is anyone really going to read what I am writing? And if they do will it mean to them what it means to me" Yes!

Which brings me to another reason why I write. My memory isn't what it use to be. I don't necessarily owe that all to older age as much as I do just plain lack of memory cells. Back in "the day" before Heavenly Father found me, I had done my best to kill as many brain cells as I could through a life style that I never wanted to life, I just didn't know how to get away from it. When I read some of my journals I don't remember the events or the people. That makes me sad. And other times I read an entree and smile because I do remember.

Here is a quote I found that even motivates me:

"Get a notebook,... a journal that will last though all time , and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it you goings and comings, you deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies"

President Spencer W. Kimball

So with another journal finished I get to start another one and that makes me happy!