A Note to the First Man with a Journal!
By: Abdul Rehman
Tags: History, Diary, Notes, Writing, Journalism

Dear Sir,

Allow me to steal some of your time; I assure you that it will be worth it. You are probably not aware of it, but you are doing humanity one of the biggest favors in history. You are introducing them to DIARIES! Believe me-Diaries are going to be in every room in every home. They are going to be instrumental for truth. They are going to be the best friends for millions. Listen to what a 21st Century Diarist has to say:

“Diaries are the best portrayal of a person.”

Diaries are a good companion for lonely times. Who do you talk to when no one is around? When going near someone can mean death? When the streets, the parks, the cafes, all are barren. Many turn to their diaries. They tell these little notebooks what is going on, how hard it is, the ugly things, the beautiful things, the little things that matter, and diaries listen patiently.

At the beginning of Anne Frank’s Diary, she writes that she considers herself the best amongst all the people she has met. Why could Anne write such a bold statement? Because diaries do not judge you. They do not put labels on you. They are, perhaps, the most loyal of friends.

Reading diaries, we learn how similar we all are. How greats and the ordinary, the black and the white, the eastern and the western, are the same. All diaries from all the different walks of life, classes, and nationalities ponder on similar questions. They discuss the same ordinary happenings. They are, in fact, the best proof that we are one.

Diaries boost mental health in ways more than one might assume. Diary writing is the best practice for mood regulation. When you write down the thoughts running around in your mind, you can consider the facts without getting lost in feelings. This analysis helps to make your decisions and judgment more reasoned and less regrettable. Thus, letting you think before leaping.

Research has told us that diaries help people fight bad habits because writing about yourself and your day allows for self-analysis. Self-analysis, by far, is the best way to improve.

Leafing through a journal, one will find many questions. Diarists question the ordinary things in their day: the conversations at the bazaar-the little things overlooked. Their primary concern is the average person’s average day. A diarist ponders long and deep, spending long hours with a pen in his mouth, and his perspective is of note.

These times are unparalleled in history: a fatal pandemic, attacks on democracy, food insecurity, and God knows whatnot. These times are going to be remembered for the centuries coming. But who is recording them?

The News? The media? I don’t think so. Relying on them is going to be quite a huge mistake. The forbearing forms of this media have lied to us of times before; what safeguards are in place to ensure that it will be any different this time? As happened in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the lies will become the truth.

Our rawest insights into history, throughout times, have been through diaries. Benjamin Franklin had one. In which he used to write down his thirteen virtues. Anne Frank had one-she used to document her days in hiding during World War 2. She recorded the days and nights, the whole air surrounding those dark years, unadulterated. The media outlets were busy selling stories that brought in the profits; whereas, the diarists were writing for the mere pleasure. They had no incentives to corrupt the news and were not afraid of putting down their feelings. They told us of the conversations in the marketplace, the bad coffee in the morning, the roses near the brick walls. They told us how life was for the layman.

Today, we are going through difficult times once again. There are a million things going haywire. Corporate Media has never had more things at hand to sell to the public. We have a responsibility to preserve these days as they are, without interfering with the facts and the atmosphere. Diarists must tell the coming generations of how it all happened-what it felt like living through them. What were the fears; what did the marketplace look like; how was the coffee? And the roses near the brick walls. We have the responsibility to record chaos. And we are doing that in our journals.