Extraordinary Measures

Before I say anything else, thank you for stopping by at my new blog and reading its first post. I'll be nineteen next month and though I can safely say that more stuff than is comfortable are simultaneously fighting for my undivided attention right now, I'll strive to give this blog as much time as I possibly can, and hopefully I'll be able to share with everyone even just a small part of my life.

When we were small, Dad used to make us keep diaries. First me and my younger brother, and then my sister when she came of age. My littlest sister is still in the waiting but she'll be joining the bandwagon soon enough. And yes, I'm the eldest in my family. I still remember how we would protest and Dad would calmly try to explain why he thought keeping diaries weren't as nonsensical as we argued it was. But then, Dad is Dad afterall, and before very long he would give the final word in his stern final-tone that would silence us all immediately.

In the beginning, we would simply pen a line a day, summing up an entire day's story in one filmsy, careless line. Most of them started with "Today . . ." followed by the one-line summary. Every 31st December evening we would receive our new diaries, 365 or 366 fresh entries waiting to be filled in. Over the years, our resistance relaxed and we slowly came to enjoy it too. The best part was opening our diaries at the end of the year and following our journey from January 1 to December 31. We laughed and cried as we witnessed a full year of our lives roll before us page by page, in the most detailed narrations. And Dad would simply look on and smile.

Even today, my diary is my closest and dearest possession, sharing secrets not even known to my closest friend. In those pages, I find an unfathomable energy, a power, that lifts my soul and gives me strength. I can pour out my heart, share my deepest fears and secrets, my achievements and failures without the slightest worry about being betrayed.

What I'm doing is not a childhood habit that refused to die with growing up. It's an investment. How many of us stop, just for a second, and wonder what life truly is all about? What makes a person's life worth it all? What is the measure of a person's life?

The answer is quite simple: memories. That is what life is all about. That is what makes a person's life worth it all. That is the measure of a person's life. In the end, we're left with nothing but memories. And then, when that moment finally dawns on our horizons, we'll see who's truly rich and who made poor investments.

I know that one day all the diaries that I've written so far will be a testimony to my life, speaking on my behalf. Even today I sit down sometimes and flip through those pages, amazed at how far I've really come. Sometimes a tiny smile lights up my face as I come across a happy memory. Sometimes I laugh out loud. Sometimes I blush with embarrassment as I stumble upon one of my not-too-proud-of days. And sometimes I cry as I relive that painful moment a second time. That is the joy of keeping a diary.

It's never too late to start writing one. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, however old or young you may be, each person's life is a unique story, a story worth telling. Nobody's life is too unexciting or too uneventful to not merit a journal page. And then if you want to spice up your story, go ahead, spice up your life. You don't need any special writing skills to start writing a diary. Afterall, it's your life's story. No one else can narrate it better, or with more detail, than you can.

There are many ways to write diaries, but the most common is to write it as though you are narrating the story to a friend. It's not a school essay you're working on but rather a conversation with an intimate friend. It also helps to give your diary a name, so it feels more real. Stick with the name even when you get new diaries.

Many people dismiss the idea of keeping a diary saying that they can keep it all in their heads. Yes, big incidents in our lives are very rarely forgotten and most of us can narrate them with the tiniest details even years later. But life is just not the big moments alone. In fact, it's all those moments in between the big moments that eventually make up our lives. What is a story without all the moments leading up to the big moment. In fact, the big moment is not even a proper moment without the rest of the plot.

I earnestly hope that this article has inspired you to start keeping a diary if you don't have one yet, or atleast meant something to you on some level. And for those of us already doing it, let us continue to work towards investing on all those wonderful memories in life. Along the way we may sometimes drift away or just get lazy, but let us remember that one day, these pages will be our greatest assets, assets no amount of money can ever hope to buy.