Reluctant to shred paper journals

[Citygirl]

Hi all, now I have had my journals scanned onto a disc, I have the originals back but they are now loose pages bound together in the books with elastic bands. My plan was to shred them, that was the whole purpose of having them scanned. Now it comes to, I am reluctant to shred them. I am finding I still like writing in my paper journal and am reluctant to get rid of the old ones. So now I feel I have wasted my money or is it a good idea to have scanned copies aswell as originals? Privacy is still an issue by the way.

[bunnys]

Was it really that costly to scan it on to a disc?

I do a virtual journal and then about every 6 months I delete it and start over. However, if I had always been a paper/pen kind of girl, I'd want to continue with that.

I do what I do exclusively bc of privacy. If you now have two copies, sounds like you're courting trouble...

[Citygirl]

Hi Bunnys, it cost me £145 to get the scanning done which isn't really cheap.

You say you do a virtual journal because of privacy. Hope you don't mind me asking but why is this? Do you feel safer doing it on the computer? I am just asking because this is why I had my journals scanned in the first place so am interested in your views on it.

[bunnys]

Well, primarily I do it on a computer because I can write a lot faster and more than I could longhand. But once the time arrives that I have to purge, it takes 2 seconds and it's gone. And also, no one is going to "happen upon" my journal lying on a table and take a peek. They'd have to open my computer and hack into it and look for my journal. That's why it's safer and easier for me.

No, £145 isn't exactly chump change. Why do you want to keep them, anyway? Do you ever really go back and read them? Why I try to go back and read mine I find it's so banal I think "whoa, it's time to purge."

But in reality I know that most people are so self-absorbed they aren't going to bother to spend much time reading my journal anyway. Instead, they're spending all their time writing their own!

[Citygirl]

I do sometimes look back at my old journals, somehow handwritten diaries have more appeal and seem more real but like you I worry about them being read and also I can type more these days than I can write longhand.

I do like to save what I have written so wouldn't purge any computer entries but I would feel safer journalling that way as even though my paper journals are locked away they still cause me worry. However, some people say that paper is more durable than computer files but these days most people keep stuff electronically don't they?

[bunnys]

I'm SURE paper is more durable. I'm sure nearly everything tangible is more durable that nearly everything virtual.

[peggy]

What kind of privacy issues are you afraid of? I mean, have you written about national secrets, or maybe family secrets that would truly change the course of history in your family? I know you don't want anyone to read them now, but how about in 20 years? 50 years?

I ask this because I believe there is value in family journals in the writers own hand. It has a very special meaning to future generations. We have documents and journals written by famous people and politicians, but rarely do we have family documents and journals in our ancestors hand. In our family we have several letters my great grandfather wrote to his daughter who left the family small town to find her way in the city. It is full of love and encouragement, as well as advise. And these letters are precious to us. First of all, I was surprised to see how encouraging and supportive this father was of his unmarried daughter. He wasn't urging her to find a husband and have kids, but really to 'find herself' so to speak. We often think of families from that time period as only wanting family lives for their daughters, but here is a father encouraging his daughter to follow her own path. We never would have known about that sweetly human, and surprisingly modern aspect of our ancestor without those letters.
You wonder if paper is longer lasting that computer disks. Obviously you do want your journals to live. Tie them up, or lock them in a box and put them in the attic, or where ever they can be safe, but know that someday someone will read them. Possibly after you are gone. And then the explosive information in them still might be a surprise to whomever reads them, but more as an interesting family footnote. IN my own family we have an abortion (in the early 40's) and an illegitimate child (the other side of the family) but even just 2-3 generations removed from it and it isn't earth shattering.

[Citygirl]

Hi Peggy, I understand what you mean as I am researching my family history and its helpful to find any kind of information but my journals do contain my private thoughts, things I have done which no one else knows about, thoughts I have had about others close to me which I wouldn't want them to read, either now or after I have gone. I certainly don't want my family to have to rifle through my journals if I go first, they wouldn't learn much from a family history point of view, moreso my emotions, feelings and bad feelings after arguments etc.

[early morning]

I love reading old journals, and plan to keep mine - which are really really boring, because I DON'T put in anything I think my family would find hurtful. They are more of a record of my day-o-day life. Like bunnys, I do my cathartic writing online and then delete. I loved the movie "Bridges of Madison County" but took away a hard lesson - NEVER commit personal transgressions or hurtful information to paper. What if Francesca had died before her husband? What a horrible thing to do to someone - to leave them a record like that. And how selfish, to think that after death it's more important to have someone "understand" you than to allow them to keep their happy memories of times with you! And you are gone, and don't have to deal with the fallout. (Not saying that this is at all your case, Citygirl...) JMHO...YMMV.

[Citygirl]

Hi Early Morning, this is just the kind of thing I worry about, leaving behind hurtful words and wrong images of me.

[early morning]

I think you've answered your own question. Burn, or edit heavily, lol.

[creaker]

I think you've answered your own question. Burn, or edit heavily, lol.

I checked because I thought it was a funny idea, but yes, you can go out and buy redacting kits :-)

[Citygirl]

Thanks all, I think Early Morning's idea is what I will go with, writing anything that may be hurtful to anyone on the computer and keep a written journal for general entries, also for letting off steam and getting things off my chest but not if its going to affect anyone else. I do still love the thought of a paper diary but can't be doing with all that hurtful informaation hanging around to be found some day. I don't mind though if someone happens to come across a journal where I am saying I am fed up at work, or just had a row with my boyfriend and I am annoyed with him (which he will know about anyway).

Early Morning, do you find it works well keeping two journals, one on the computer and one paper one?

[Gardenarian]

Citygirl,
I used to use pretty books, but there came a point where I had an enormous stack of them and they all seemed full of bad news, so I burned them. I have not regretted it.

I like to write all the time so I have several ways of journaling:
1) Journal on the computer. I just write an email to myself and send. (I mean to go through these sometime in the future.)

2) Recycled paper binder. We use a lot of paper where I work and most is printed on only one side. I use this paper in a three-ring binder for journalling, brainstorming, writing lists, and so on. Once in a while I will go through it and pull out stuff I want to keep and then recycle the rest. (I also have another binder that I use for just fiction writing.)

3) Have a datebook in which I write daily events, weather, garden stuff, and gratitude. I keep these (at least for now.) They are thin, take up little space, and are not very personal, or at least not intimate. Nothing I'm not willing to share.

[early morning]

Citygirl, I've never had a problem with keeping up two journals. I seldom keep the online stuff for very long - generally I delete it as soon as it's been written. Once in a while if it's an issue I want to pick through carefully, I may email it to one of my short-term accounts and delete the sent one, so I can revisit it if need be. But I have to admit lately I've been pretty sporadic with my regular journal. Gardenarian, that sounds like a good system. I put my garden notes in my regular journal and then can never find them when I'm looking for something!