A Personal History vs, A Journal

 I have done both, From where I am sitting I can see a stack of my journals, about 1600 pages worth since 2012, And then. I have a few other journals covering short periods of time. I may never read them, and I feel sorry for anyone else who does. 

Why? They are repetitive and boring, and tell very little about me, other than what I (or family members) were doing at a particular time.

Then why bother to create such a journal in the first place? When one young man was asked that question, he replied "Because it encourages me to do something worth recording every day." And that is basically my answer too. My journal encourages me to do things that I consider worthwhile. So even if my journal never gets read, I feel it is still worthwhile. 

How is a personal history different from a journal? It depends on the nature of the personal history. I think that personal histories often fail because they become condensed journals. Maybe starting off with "I was born  on my uncle's farm near Neepawa, Manitoba on May 1st, 1906." and ending with "For breakfast this morning I had Mini-Wheats topped with Raisin Bran, with milk and cranberry juice ..."

OK, so I am exaggerating slightly. 

What I have found simpler, easier and much more satisfying is creating a personal history by topics. For an example of this, see https://familyhistoryquickstart.com/writing-your-personal-history/

Why is it easier? I can add a particular topic and write a paragraph, a page or even several pages, and that topic is done, at least for now, If I do this once a week, my personal history will be completed in a few months and will probably consist of 100 pages or so of interesting reading. If I later decide to edit a topic, keeping it in a common word processor format makes this easy. If I discover that I missed a topic, I can add it at any time. My topical personal history will highlight the things that are important to me in a more coherent way than reading my journals,

I have attached a copy of my personal history to my record in familysearch.org so that family and friends will have access to it after my death.

One topic that spurred me to make this blog posting is Music. I do not play any instrument nor sing much. Last night I quietly sang along with a band and clapped my hands to the music. I am not sure what my wife thought of all of this, although after 50+ years ... The special occasion was our Christmas present from last Christmas. Our youngest son and his wife like to give us something intangible but memorable for Christmas, Knowing that I am a long-time fan of ABBA, they treated us to a performance by ABBA Revisited. This group looks like the original ABBA, and the singing and music was perfect. One of their final numbers was "Thank You for the Music", which was my own heart-felt response.

So if you create your own Personal History by Topics. consider devoting a space to your own favorite music, and maybe tell why it appeals to you.