Is it important to keep a diary?

In the past, many people regularly kept personal diaries, where they recorded the day’s events and their observations. With the advance in technology, people now choose to keep memories either digitally or via blogs. Others choose to keep account of happenings on social media, very few of us put pen to paper and write down […]

In the past, many people regularly kept personal diaries, where they recorded the day’s events and their observations. With the advance in technology, people now choose to keep memories either digitally or via blogs. Others choose to keep account of happenings on social media, very few of us put pen to paper and write down our experiences such as the day you spoke with your friends, the day you had some fun at the beach, when you met your love and so on.

But then, looking back would make us realize “how important a particular day had been” in our life, thereby making us feel elated when we reflect on those fun-filled moments. But not many people today have the time to keep tab of those events as some consider it a waste of time as seen in the responses Lifextra got after speaking to few people in town.

Our respondents gave interesting and varying responses. For Anita Benson, who is in her mid-twenties, keeping a diary is important because it serves two purposes. “It gives me an opportunity to go back and relish the moments gone by. It also serves as a reminder.”

Lifextra sought to know how she kept a diary i.e. digitally or manually, she responded “I opt for pen and paper. It is more personal and safer.”

Explaining what she meant by personal and safer, she said “Your diary is like an extension of your mind, in it you have secrets you wouldn’t want others to read or see. It ought to be a private document.”

Adeoya Adeola Kazeem, 30 and a civil servant, kept a diary before the coming of handsets. He told Lifextra “I used it just to keep record of events daily.”

“So how did the coming of handsets change it?” Lifextra asked.

“I can easily keep the record on my phone. My phone saves me from the stress of carrying a dairy about,” he said.

Ajasa Taiwo, a business administration graduate gave a straight-forward answer.  “Yes, I do” he said. He added that it helped him to keep track of his daily life and put a check on it for personal life evaluation.

Speaking to Lifextra, Chuks Enyi, an electrical engineering graduate said “Yes, I used to keep a dairy, and it was to remind myself about some special dates and event I didn’t want to forget in a hurry but I don’t do it anymore.”

 Giving reasons for why he stopped, he added “I lost it and didn’t bother to replace it and perhaps that made me lose interest.”

Others like Aysha Warah, a young lawyer and mother, have a different opinion. She simply said she doesn’t keep a diary. Her reason? “I believe it is not safe because there is no privacy in keeping a diary.”