Transcribing my old journal produces several things:
- - An exercise of the ego
- - A recollection of history
- - A re-opening of things learned or developed in the past.
- - A means of transmitting who I was and who I am to my family:
- Wife
- children
- daughters-in-law
- grandchildren
- - An exercise of writing, communication
I think the act of writing helps my think better. It gives a feeling of some solidarity, somewhere to stick, somewhere to materialize and become visible. It takes physical a form.
In materializing what seemed wise in thought now looks foolish – OR – what seemed foolish now looks wise.
When I remember an event and write it down it becomes available to my family whereas I might never think of it in a conversation. The conversation of a group goes as the group wants at the speed the group wants; it might be rude to run it the way I want. It can be better thought out in a written form and it can have more detail written. It can be better phrased.