Diary as Therapy......

Someone gave me a nice compliment recently when they indicated that they enjoyed reading my little blog. That made me feel good. And also made me wonder just how this started and why I find it so satisfying.

I think it was about fifth grade when I got that first diary. I remember it had a pink plastic cover and a little gold key to lock it so the private musings would be "safe". (Of course you could pop that lock with a hairpin or paper clip!) My best friend, Sally, also kept a diary. And we were faithful about it....I wrote something every night before bed. Usually comments about fifth-grade stuff.....teachers and boys and parents and boys.

When Sally and I would get together for a sleep-over we would read each other's diaries. I think we had some special code that meant we had to mention our "boyfriend's'" name on every page at some point. Sleep-overs were full of shared secrets and giggles.

I continued with diaries all the way through high school and college. These journals were more meaningful as I tried to find a spot for myself in a highschool with 4,000 students, documented the fact that my parents separated when I was 16 (separation and later divorce was a much different thing in the '60's....I didn't even tell Sally that my dad moved out for weeks because I just didn't have the words.) The college years were fun......and my diaries documented meeting Dave, falling in love and planning a wedding.

And then I stopped......too busy with young marriage, raising a family, working. Until we moved to our 200-year-old house in New Castle, Delaware and, with kids gone, I had more time. I began to write a weekly column for the small local newspaper. I wrote "Personal Glimpses" for about four years and it was fun. My neighbor's and friends and the community at large seemed to enjoy reading my musings.

Then there was another break while we moved aboard our sailboat and lived afloat for two years. Back to life "on the hard" in Milwaukee and new advanced technology gave me another chance. Personal blogs were easy and even though I have a small following, that's OK. It seems I just enjoy the act of writing.....the wandering through my brain thinking about things.....and then putting thoughts on the page.

It's my therapy....my now public diary.....a shout out to the world from one small corner of it. Hello world.....my name is Linn and here's what I think!