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Blog archive

November 2024

Event of Remembrance
11/22/2024

Phishing Scams: What You Need to Know
11/22/2024

Pupusas Family Style: Another Adventurous Dining Winner
11/22/2024

Celebrating the Holidays
11/21/2024

Genealogy Group: Discovering Our Pasts
11/21/2024

Nathan Wolford – From Tragedy to Ministry
11/21/2024

Pasadena Village Board of Directors: A Brief Overview
11/21/2024

President's Message
11/21/2024

The Day of the Dead (Dia de muertos)/ Mexican Culture/Community
11/21/2024

Vintage Celebration: Aging Like a Fine Wine
11/21/2024

Review of Racism in Our Local Past
11/20/2024

Creative Juices Flow in The Village
11/19/2024

Checking In by Ed Rinderle
11/15/2024

Eagle Poem by Joy Harjo
11/15/2024

I Shall Forget You Presently, My Dear (Sonnet IV) by Edna St. Vincent Millay
11/15/2024

Pictures From Brueghel by William Carlos Williams
11/15/2024

October 2024

ARBORIST WALK: NOT FOR TREE HUGGERS ONLY!
10/29/2024

Bill Wishner: Visual Hunter
10/29/2024

Can a Village Group Fix Our Healthcare System?
10/29/2024

Community Board Directors Strengthen Village Board
10/29/2024

Connecting with Village Connections: The A, B, C, & D’s of Medicare @ 65+
10/29/2024

Grief is a Journey: Two Paths Taken
10/29/2024

Message from the President
10/29/2024

Promoting Informed & Involved Voters
10/29/2024

What Will Be Your Legacy?
10/29/2024

1619, Approaching the Election...
10/27/2024

Beyond and Within the Village - A Star is Born
10/17/2024

Happiness by Priscilla Leonard
10/11/2024

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
10/11/2024

Unpainted Door by Louise Gluck
10/11/2024

In the Evening by Billy Collins
10/10/2024

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
10/10/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

Betty Kilby, A Family History
10/01/2024

September 2024

August 2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

1619 Wide Ranging Interests
08/19/2024

First Anniversary
08/19/2024

Alexandra Leaving by Leonard Cohen
08/16/2024

Muse des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden
08/16/2024

The God Abandons Antony by Constantinos P. Cavafy
08/16/2024

Ch – Ch – Ch –Changes
08/15/2024

Cultural Activities Team offers an ‘embarrassment of riches’
08/15/2024

Engaging in Pasadena Village
08/15/2024

Future Housing Options
08/15/2024

Message from the President
08/15/2024

There Are Authors Among Us
08/15/2024

Villagers Welcome New Members at the Tournament Park Picnic
08/15/2024

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
08/14/2024

A narrow Fellow in the Grass by Emily Dickinson
08/13/2024

Haikus
08/13/2024

One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
08/13/2024

Poem 20 by Pablo Neruda
08/13/2024

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
08/13/2024

Trees by Joyce Kilmer
08/13/2024

July 2024

June 2024

May 2024

Emergency Preparedness: Are You Ready?
05/28/2024

Farewell from the 2023/24 Social Work Interns
05/28/2024

Gina on the Horizon
05/28/2024

Mark Your Calendars for the Healthy Aging Research California Virtual Summit
05/28/2024

Meet Our New Development Associate
05/28/2024

Putting the Strategic Plan into Practice
05/28/2024

Washington Park: Pasadena’s Rediscovered Gem
05/28/2024

Introducing Civil Rights Discussions
05/22/2024

Rumor of Humor #2416
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2417
05/14/2024

Rumor of Humor #2418
05/14/2024

Springtime Visitors
05/07/2024

Freezing for a Good Cause – Credit, That Is
05/02/2024

No Discussion Meeting on May 3rd
05/02/2024

An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing
05/01/2024

Flintridge Center: Pasadena Village’s Neighbor That Changes Lives
05/01/2024

Pasadena Celebrates Older Americans Month 2024
05/01/2024

The 2024 Pasadena Village Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
05/01/2024

Woman of the Year: Katy Townsend
05/01/2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

DEAR DIARY…….

By Sally Currie
Posted: 07/26/2020
Tags:

We are currently facing a world pandemic of epic proportions.  Our lives have been upended into a new normal with kids staying at home and parents having lost their jobs or trying to work from home.  Many are grieving for lost family members and friends.  And, sadly, it is becoming obvious that our old ways are pretty much gone for good. 

            During these stressful times of adjustment to a future for which none of us was prepared, a personal journal can be of great help.  I began keeping a daily log when I first started staying in and have found it enormously helpful in getting perspective and maintaining my sense of self.

            It is not necessary to be grammatical or to write every day.  What is important is to get your feelings down on paper while they are still strong and, if they are negative, before they have been thoughtlessly or hurtfully expressed.

            Clarification results when you see your thoughts on paper.  Feelings released into a diary can free energy into creative avenues of communication and ways of solving problems.  If you are living with your family, a journal can be used to record your expectations of family members in the “new normal.”  With increased perspective, you can separate what is from what you would like it to be. And to identify the few factors that, perhaps, cannot be changed.

            Your journal can help you to set goals and establish priorities.  It can identify “trigger” situations where a particular word or event sets off a predictable explosion so these situations can be avoided to encourage honest communication that can create a trusting bond between family members. If you sense that a family member is overly sensitive or stressed at a particular time, store your feelings on paper until a more appropriate time for expression.  The process will give you a more objective view, a better perspective on how to express yourself effectively when the appropriate time comes.  You may even decide that the issue really wasn’t important enough to warrant a confrontation.

            An honest journal can lead to accepting responsibility for your feelings and saying, “I feel…” rather than “You make me feel…” The increased ability to express feelings accurately without blaming will lead to more open and assertive expression in the interplay of daily living within your family and beyond.  Children can benefit from journaling as well.

            The concentration required to express feelings on paper causes you to focus on a person or situation in a more complete way than is possible in the context of a busy household.  An entry may begin with a description of the shortcomings of a friend or family member and, once the anger is spent, turn to expressions of appreciation for what they bring to your life. 

            So far, I have been focusing on family adjustment to our unprecedented situation, but for the multitude of people of all ages who live alone as I do, journaling can be a lifesaver.  It is “someone to talk to” in our isolation.  I like to express my feelings about what I hear in the news, what I am reading, phone conversations and emails.  I even write about creative foods I have prepared.  And then there are the wonderful memories of a long lifetime.  I enjoy writing “memorable minis,” little stories from my life that my heirs may treasure later on.  I also like to include dreams because, over time, patterns tend to emerge which help to show me what course I should follow.  I also tap into the appreciation of myself that kept me going as little girl who had no playmates and realized that being alone was mostly okay.

            If I have trouble sleeping, I get up and start writing.  As I write, I feel as if I have “uncorked” my brain.  The whirling thoughts flow onto the page through my pen and I keep writing until I feel emptied out.  My muscles relax and I fall into peaceful, restorative sleep. 

            The entries are there, if I wish to refer to them, but I find that the very act of writing them down often brings resolution, a sense of perspective and a bolstered ability to deal with the uncertainty which is now part of our daily lives.

            In kindness to yourself, write a diary!

           

 

 

Sally Currie, MS is a retired counselor, group leader and administrator.  She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and did her graduate work at the University of Bridgeport and the Raxlin Institute for Family Studies.  She is also a published poet and originated and hosted a TV talk show for seniors in Durango, CO.  She has lived in eight states, moved 42 times and calls Pasadena her forever home. Her mother survived the flu in 1918 and died in her 101st year.

 

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