Read Being Mortal recently. It's beautiful book. I am big fan of your podcast, everything is everything and your occasional newsletter. Keep it up.
Memories of past keep us alive today. At this age (I am in my late 60s) memories are precious especially our childhood memories. Now is miss digging out more from my parents about their childhood. Lesson for future generations...keep asking till it's too late
I have my father's notebooks, recording every book he had read in his post-working years. Maybe inspired by that, or becoming aware of my own deteriorating memory, I too have been keeping a record these last few years.
My father also had a notebook full of poems/snippets of poems that he had copied.....
I have been keeping private journals since childhood. It did help me sort myself frequently. However, in later turbulent years after college, I rendered journalling ineffective by writing too much. I would try to encourage myself by writing motivational quotes from others and ask myself to get done with things, to push limits, to be disciplined again and again, day after day. It seems a burden to go through journals of those years or even hope that somewhere in the heap of straws, I would ever find a worthy memory or something useful.
I love your writing and learn a lot about how to actually sort my thoughts, document experiences and navigate life in words which would help make sense of any experience, however banal. Thank you so much for writing so well
Sometimes it is better not to write because the pain is just too much to recollect on a google doc. It is better to let the events fade and then leave some strain of a moment or two that can help with the hurt and pain. Like someone I admire said in a newsletter post today said —> These stories don’t have to be true; they just have to be useful.
What a beautiful meditation on the mysteries of memory and its profound yet often unexamined influence on our identities and emotional lives. I was especially moved by the reflections on your parents and the bittersweet process of piecing together their stories after their passing. It's a reminder of how much of our loved ones' inner lives remain opaque to us, and how precious those glimpses we do get are. The point about writing as a tool for deepening self-understanding also landed with me. I've always journaled sporadically but this has inspired me to make it a more intentional practice. Thank you for the vulnerable and insightful writing as always.
Amit - I'd recommend you read the book "The man who mistook his wife for a hat" for an indepth view on how people loose their sense of self when they suffer memory issues. The extent to which our memories determine who we are today, is an underestimated topic. This book will give a perspective unlike others.
You have once again inspired me to write my journal again, which I had started after your Blue Book episode with Amitava Kumar. But despite being very good and motivated in the beginning I drop out if I take a break which has been happening now and then due to other priorities. This has unfortunately happened three times to me and each time I end up by being paralyzed by my inaction and abandoning my writing. But as you said in another post stop thinking and just do, or write to write, I will begin again for the 4th time. Please keep inspiring me again and again. It works.
Thank you for writing this. I journal my private thoughts a couple of times a week but your question " In one, you journal every day for five years. In the other, you do no writing for five years." makes me realise I can do more and I have a lot to say/reflect on. Love your line of thinking.
Read Being Mortal recently. It's beautiful book. I am big fan of your podcast, everything is everything and your occasional newsletter. Keep it up.
Memories of past keep us alive today. At this age (I am in my late 60s) memories are precious especially our childhood memories. Now is miss digging out more from my parents about their childhood. Lesson for future generations...keep asking till it's too late
I have my father's notebooks, recording every book he had read in his post-working years. Maybe inspired by that, or becoming aware of my own deteriorating memory, I too have been keeping a record these last few years.
My father also had a notebook full of poems/snippets of poems that he had copied.....
I have been keeping private journals since childhood. It did help me sort myself frequently. However, in later turbulent years after college, I rendered journalling ineffective by writing too much. I would try to encourage myself by writing motivational quotes from others and ask myself to get done with things, to push limits, to be disciplined again and again, day after day. It seems a burden to go through journals of those years or even hope that somewhere in the heap of straws, I would ever find a worthy memory or something useful.
I love your writing and learn a lot about how to actually sort my thoughts, document experiences and navigate life in words which would help make sense of any experience, however banal. Thank you so much for writing so well
Sometimes it is better not to write because the pain is just too much to recollect on a google doc. It is better to let the events fade and then leave some strain of a moment or two that can help with the hurt and pain. Like someone I admire said in a newsletter post today said —> These stories don’t have to be true; they just have to be useful.
Loved this
What a beautiful meditation on the mysteries of memory and its profound yet often unexamined influence on our identities and emotional lives. I was especially moved by the reflections on your parents and the bittersweet process of piecing together their stories after their passing. It's a reminder of how much of our loved ones' inner lives remain opaque to us, and how precious those glimpses we do get are. The point about writing as a tool for deepening self-understanding also landed with me. I've always journaled sporadically but this has inspired me to make it a more intentional practice. Thank you for the vulnerable and insightful writing as always.
Amit - I'd recommend you read the book "The man who mistook his wife for a hat" for an indepth view on how people loose their sense of self when they suffer memory issues. The extent to which our memories determine who we are today, is an underestimated topic. This book will give a perspective unlike others.
I love Van Morrison and am fascinated by memory! Have you read “in search of memory” by Eric Kandel?
You have once again inspired me to write my journal again, which I had started after your Blue Book episode with Amitava Kumar. But despite being very good and motivated in the beginning I drop out if I take a break which has been happening now and then due to other priorities. This has unfortunately happened three times to me and each time I end up by being paralyzed by my inaction and abandoning my writing. But as you said in another post stop thinking and just do, or write to write, I will begin again for the 4th time. Please keep inspiring me again and again. It works.
Thank you for writing this. I journal my private thoughts a couple of times a week but your question " In one, you journal every day for five years. In the other, you do no writing for five years." makes me realise I can do more and I have a lot to say/reflect on. Love your line of thinking.
beautiful ✨
This evoked a lot of emotions in me. An excellent piece.
This is a great piece. As per usual. Could you check out blog too. I have only just started. I would love to know how I can do better.