I missed you

Did you miss me?

For quite a while this summer I was toying with the thought of dropping blogging altogether. I've found that I keep my journals less when I'm blogging from the heart. And honestly? I can't pass a blog onto my great-grandchildren in the same way I can my journals.

First diary, first entry, the beginning of a journey!

I've been keeping journals since my sixth birthday when I received a Diary (with a little lock and key) for my birthday. The format, style, and contents have changed over the years (I no longer start each entry with "Dear Diary"!) but they have remained a constant in my life. They are so important that my mother sat down with me a few years ago, out on the patio, and asked me what she should do with them if I die before her.

I keep them all in a pile, tucked away where no one will stumble on them and start reading. I seldom go back and read them myself, but when I do, it's a huge deal. Last time I read through them, first entry to last, was...almost 10 years ago. It took me over two days of reading, at least 14 hours a day.

There's something about handwriting that brings me back to the moment I wrote it in a way that typing doesn't. I think it makes the writing richer, as the handwriting contributes to the communication of the emotion in the words. (That's my theory, and I'm stitcking to it!)

A small selection of the journals I've filled over the years...

And I've written sporadically and with less passion in the last few years.

Since I started blogging.

But now I miss you.

What to do??

I'm feeling more inspired, more crafty, lately. Whether it's the onset of autumn or a lifting of the massive load of crap I deal with regularly, I can't say. But I'm feeling a desire to make my environment more beautiful, to sew again, to be creative. And those are things that don't journal well.

So I'm going to give the blog one more go - and start sharing this journey into creativity and crafting that I'm feeling. Won't you join me?