[Estimated reading time: 1 minute] I had a conversation the other day with a man who told me that he stores absolutely everything online, and that the Oasis Pages Diary that I created belongs there, too — as an online diary.
“Do you still have everything from your floppy disks from 10 years ago?” I asked him. He laughed. I did too. We both knew the answer. Gone with the wind. And that’s fine.
Except if you are a teen girl, and 10 years from now you really want to read what you wrote today. Or 20. Or 30.
I’m sure that during the Stone Age and Neolithic times, a lot of people drew pictures in the sand or dirt; some used berry-dies to stencil their handprint on a nearby oak tree or animal sinews to stitch pretty patterns into their clothing. But guess what? Most of it’s gone. Online diaries risk a similar fate. What’s still here? The stuff that was etched into stone, the images and handprints that were left deep underground and therefore couldn’t be destroyed by weather and animals and humans.
So, why keep a diary by hand and not online?
There is a lot of evidence that writing by hand has a lot of benefits, including engaging the brain and calming the body and nerves. This allows a person to think more clearly. It creates a more direct mind-body connection, which is an excellent thing according to experts in the fields of stress reduction and psycho-emotional health. The slower pace also increases the likelihood that the person writing can hear and reflect on what they are saying, rather than simply exploding thoughts onto the page like a raging river (although that’s ok too!).
But the primary reason to handwrite in an actual “book” diary? It’s 99% more likely to still be in your life 10 and 20 years from now.
That’s the bonus prize with a diary — not just all the benefits of having a place to write it all out/a “friend” to confide in today — it’s also a treasure chest to go back and unlock down the road. And chances are you’ll have forgotten all of your online passwords by then.
