Journaling: More than a Pastime

Journaling is the new form of keeping personal records or writing a diary. It is a favourite pastime for many. It is believed to work as a stress reliever and help improve one’s focus. Journaling can take different styles, including photo journaling, one-word journaling, junk journaling, collage journaling, etc. What is yet to be understood is that diaries can be more than just logbooks and record holders; they can be the witness of what a certain individual goes through in his or her lifetime. At times, these diaries also become an asset to the history that works handy when it comes to understanding the past. In literature, Samuel Pepys is known to be the most notable diarist in history. His diary entries are mundane, simple, yet catchy. During the 17th century, it was quite unusual for writers of that era to share their personal write-ups in such a manner.
Samuel’s diary contains extremely detailed notes on his personal life and two of the most traumatic incidents in the history of England. The Great Plague of 1965 and the Great Fire of London 66 have been well recorded in the diaries of Samuel Pepys. During the Great Plague of London, he even recorded the death toll during the outbreak. Moreover, he writes about how the entire city was turning into a ghost city that was once lively and chaotic. These records hold a clear picture of the social condition. They hold keen details that show both the mental and societal status of the individuals of the era.
Furthermore, by the time the plague was over, London faced another disaster the following year, the Great Fire, a fire that burnt down almost everything. Samuel describes how he was familiar with fire his entire life, yet this one felt different. At times, his diary also shows the evident societal class difference between the rich and the poor of that era.
Where the poor and needy were running into the river of the Thames to save their lives, the rich, like Samuel himself, were busy burying their cheese and wine, which were considered expensive. He also documents how the famous roads of London, like Baker’s Lane and Fish Lane, were burnt to the ground. The generations that came after the disasters learned about the locations that had existed, the extent of the damage, and how much the old lanes had suffered.
Sometimes, a diary can hold visualised evidence of what an entire generation went through, the changes it brought to the world, and how reform took place, being inspired by these sorts of documentation. So, I personally believe that the people who enjoy journaling might value it a lot, not merely as a form of stress relief, but as a meaningful act of preserving history.