Blogs and Journals: Books of Life

Perhaps the Book of Life, in the end, is the book one has lived. If one has lived nothing, one is not in the Book of Life. I have always wanted to write about everything. That does not mean to write a book that covers everything—which would be impossible. But a book in which everything can go. A book with a little of everything that ceates itself out of nothing. That has its own life. A faithful book. I no longer look at it as a 'book.' – Thomas Merton, The Intimate Merton: His Life From His Journals

Since I have kept diaries and journals since I was young, and have them all still packed in numerous boxes, I wonder sometimes what this compulsion is that I have to write. And I wonder what in the heck will become of all this when I am gone. (A later entry will highlight journal depositories.) Now blogging has become just another way to put my life, my observances, and now even photos and art, in some kind of tangible form. It's a probably futile way of fooling myself that I will live on, at least for a while, after I'm gone. And, it's a way to track myself and convince myself of my visibility.

A summer project of mine while I am off work is to continue capturing all those words I've written here on Sacred Ordinary and make a separate hard-copy Bloggers Journal of them. How do all of you preserve what you write in hand-written or art journals, or in your blogs? Or do you even care?
Thomas Merton, the late American Trappist monk and author, has long been one of my spiritual teachers. I wrote my master’s thesis, way back when on "Dialogues With Thomas Merton," featuring dialogue essays and photos based in fact. Entertwined with his actual beliefs and mine on the same topics, I admit to having projected what he might have said about things. It was not "A Million Little Pieces." It passed my thesis committee. My thesis paralleled the work of Ira Progoff’s Intensive Journal and specifically a lesser used text of his called "Life Study: Experiencing Creative Lives by the Intensive Journal Method." Merton's journals, along with more than 50 books, 2000 poems, and a countless number of essays, reviews and lectures have been recorded and published. His personal journals are now being published as well as the 25 years of silence after his death prescribed by his trust has passed. A whole Merton sub-culture flourishes around the world.

If you are unfamiliar with Merton, Wikipedia/Merton has a good thumbnail biographical sketch of him.

This quarter's issue of the interdominational publication "Weavings: A Journal of the Christian Spiritual Life," has an excellent article on "A Book of Life" written by Lisa Davidson, a lay pastoral minister for the Archdiocese of Cleveland. She writes about her own Book of Life kept via her journals and her final sentence says, "Yes, I still use my journal to rant and rave, to spill out grief and longing, but like the paschal mystery, they have been transformed into the Book of Life."

Yes, I really do like the analogy of journals, and even blogs, being Books of Life. Merton did it, and millions of people are doing it and have done it for centuries. And now there are blogs. Sheesh!

Comments

[ellie]

The weblog is a natural progression of the personal journal, don't you think Fran?

BTW, I'm going to run a journaling workshop based on my books beginning in June. I'd appeciate you helping to spread the word.

[Vivian Newkirk]

Recently I heard that online diaries are preserved and able to be read as long as there are computers. Isn't that exciting that in hundreds of years (if the world is still intact)some lonely guy/gal sitting up late reading because he/she cannot sleep will hit upon our blogs and find they are far more interesting than any book or magazine? Just in case this doesn't happen, I think we bloggers should have a hard copy to hand to our future generations.

Your entries are wonderful to read.

[Lorna]

Fran, I promised myself that I wouldn't treat my blog as anything other than an expression of today, but I find that I often go back looking for something I think I've said, or said well. I did print some for my mother, as she knows that the computer in her home is of the devil, but I find that on paper, they lack something. I've been trying, as a professional communicator, to treat writing online differently--to make it live for the screen, and judging by my mother's response, I've succeeded. which of course, and perversely, I'm treating as a failure. XX

[Rain]

For years, my favorite type of reading has been memoirs which were really just blogs

[endment]

Journaling has been a part of my life for years - Blogging is a new addition... I am trying to figure out how to preserve the things I have been putting into my blog... When You figure out - you have an eager reader.

[MaryBeth]

Hi Jennifer,

It is fun to think that are BLOG WILL REMAIN after we go. I find the constant humen interaction that is born our of blogging quite motivating to be more faithful to my daily post though many stay basic in content -at least they are somthing as opposed to nothing.
Come on by and see the most unexpected visitors who arrive in our big tree. A friend mentioned they could be spirit guides following our precious RYDERS passing. I dont know-but exploring the topic spurs my soul.
Namaste,
MB in JT