It is kind of surprising that I've managed to keep up a blog for a few years now, because I am notorious for failing to keep a proper diary. I would always start on a brand new page of a beautiful new journal, full of good intentions and brimming with thoughts, and promptly lose all interest and admit defeat a mere week later. It must have been something about my own gushing and whining that made me, even then, realize just how petty and silly my day-to-day issues were. I got tired of my own tedium, if you will.
However, my grandmother also dispensed a little nugget of random advice that has stuck in my head all of these years: keep a running list of things that you have done daily, so that over the days and the years you can look back at it and bring your memories quickly to mind. I never got around to being that diligent (up until this blog, I guess, which actually gives a pretty good snapshot of my years in Hong Kong), but then today I realized that my work calendar is intact from October 2008, when I started work - and all of the details have been diligently archived on my work's backup network servers. I can't believe I didn't realize this until now.
I scrolled back over each of the months, recalling, "oh yes! That's when I went to her wedding" and "oh my gosh, I went to a lot of French movies that month" or "wow I was really busy on that awful deal..."
It is really fun - like taking a trip back into your own life. Because of course you remember the big things, but do you remember the random rooftop party over Memorial Day, or grabbing burgers and milkshakes at PJ Clarkes, or getting sushi lunch on a Wednesday afternoon with your girlfriends just because? For me, it's useful also to accurately place the events - I may remember all of these events on their own, but it's much more fuzzy as to whether it happened in 2009 or 2011. It's amazing how quickly the calendar notations help me bring to mind what I was doing, where I was, and also how I was feeling at the time.
And then I stumbled upon this little gem, on the evening of October 29, 2009: "Hang out with Mike". That was the day we officially started dating! And I called him Mike back then! What a fun little diary entry to find.
However, my grandmother also dispensed a little nugget of random advice that has stuck in my head all of these years: keep a running list of things that you have done daily, so that over the days and the years you can look back at it and bring your memories quickly to mind. I never got around to being that diligent (up until this blog, I guess, which actually gives a pretty good snapshot of my years in Hong Kong), but then today I realized that my work calendar is intact from October 2008, when I started work - and all of the details have been diligently archived on my work's backup network servers. I can't believe I didn't realize this until now.
I scrolled back over each of the months, recalling, "oh yes! That's when I went to her wedding" and "oh my gosh, I went to a lot of French movies that month" or "wow I was really busy on that awful deal..."
It is really fun - like taking a trip back into your own life. Because of course you remember the big things, but do you remember the random rooftop party over Memorial Day, or grabbing burgers and milkshakes at PJ Clarkes, or getting sushi lunch on a Wednesday afternoon with your girlfriends just because? For me, it's useful also to accurately place the events - I may remember all of these events on their own, but it's much more fuzzy as to whether it happened in 2009 or 2011. It's amazing how quickly the calendar notations help me bring to mind what I was doing, where I was, and also how I was feeling at the time.
And then I stumbled upon this little gem, on the evening of October 29, 2009: "Hang out with Mike". That was the day we officially started dating! And I called him Mike back then! What a fun little diary entry to find.
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