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Brett and Kate McKay<br />
Why Keep a Journal<br />
1. Your children and grandchildren will want to read it. I know it’s<br />
hard to believe right now. Your life probably seems quite ordinary and<br />
of little interest to anyone else. And every generation believes that life<br />
will pretty much continue on like it is now. When your great-grandpa<br />
was kicking it in the 1920s, he thought to himself, “Who would want<br />
to read about this new fangled radio or how I get my food out of an<br />
icebox? Phhht! That’s boring stuff!” But it’s not boring anymore; to<br />
this generation, such a peek at the olden days is fascinating. And so it<br />
is with you. When your grandkids are talking to people via hologram,<br />
they are going to be absolutely fascinated by your impressions of those<br />
ancient things like cell phones. And unfortunately, they’re not going<br />
to be curious about it until they get into their 20s, realize you’re going<br />
to die, and start asking you questions.<br />
Trust me, while you think that you’ll be able to remember everything<br />
just as clearly in the future, you won’t. Remember when you were a kid<br />
and you thought your experiences would be easily recalled at age 30?<br />
Now what do you remember from those days besides that time a dog<br />
bit you in the face?<br />
As each year passes, the pixels of our memories burn out and the<br />
haze sets in. By age 80, you’ll only remember the faintest outlines of<br />
the big things that happened to you. But the stuff that’s really interesting<br />
is often the little, seemingly mundane details of life. What was<br />
a man’s daily routine like in 2009? Of course, the whippersnappers<br />
will ask you about the big stuff too: “Where were you when you found<br />
out about the attacks on the World Trade Center?” and “What did<br />
you think about the election of Barack Obama?” Your journals will<br />
give them the answers they’ll be looking for and will bring you closer.<br />
And who knows? Maybe the whole world might be interested in<br />
your musings someday. You may not think so now, but how many<br />
famous men knew that they would be famous before they actually<br />
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