"On Keeping A Notebook" by Joan Didion reading

 Joan Didion asserts that keeping a notebook is an action to reconnect with ourselves, although it may not serve very useful in accurately recording time. Instead keeping a notebook records who we once were, reminds us vaguely of the meaning experiences once had to us. Didion shifts describing how the memories all come back, and not necessarily in a comforting way. Didion depicts the aging of herself and the people around her, which was unnerving as a reader. Didion's piece encourages readers to not lose touch with their past selves. As time passes Didion becomes less and less recognizable to herself from years before, which is understandable as people change overtime. But Didion's change in thought process was something I recognized in myself, to elaborate it's easy to become more concerned about current events or notice aging and negativity in day to day life. Moreover, something that resonated with me was the fact that old versions of yourself can resurface when you least expect it. I've been affected by this resurgence of past memories, at random points of time, recalling mistakes or comparing myself to better points I've had which is often overwhelming, if not all consuming. Didion's writing has given me a positive perspective of journaling, presenting your own nonsensical methods to remember yourself, as opposed to forgetting altogether or letting your past resurface at inconvenient times.