Sunday 26 October 2014

A Trip Down Memory Lane


Okay, I know I said I was going to be productive and "get into control" today, and I was, for a while anyway.  But then, while I was cleaning my room, I stumbled across a whole bunch of my old diaries and notebooks and couldn't resist reading them.  I spent literally two hours just flipping through the many pages of memories, and now I've decided to share them with you.

 
One of the first notebooks I picked up was this dream journal.  I recorded less than ten dreams before giving up, because, I mean, how does anyone manage to remember their dreams?  But there was this one dream from 2008 that I found so hilarious I just need to show it to you.
 
"2 nights ago I dreamt about my school having a pringle line.  They gave you a whole small pack of pringles.  I always got to the start of the line first.  My mum also packed pringles in my lunch box.  So I got 2 packs of pringles.  I can never get sick of pringles."
 
Bahahaha.  This just shows you what my 8 year old priorities were...
 
 
I also used to take notebooks on excursions and to camp, and we'd always write stuff in them during the bus ride.  Flipping through them today, I was living back some of those primary school memories.  The pages were full of drawings, hang man, truth or dares, and even a "crush" list written in code, because we didn't want people to know we knew who they were in love with.
 
 
It looks like a lot of people liked Xylophone. ;) ;)  I'm pretty sure Chair did.  In fact, I think I did too ;)
 
 
I also found two travel journals: one from when I went to America when I was 10, and another from when I went to Paris at 12.
 
In the America journal, I rated the food at Disneyland a 0/10 because it was that bad.
 
And I must say, the Paris journal was pretty cool.
 
 
It was filled with images and cool captions!!  I barely even read the actual journal.
 
 
 
I find that journals with pictures are much more visually appealing, and I enjoy looking at them a lot.  It's quite heart warming, looking at photos from the past.
 
 
This is one I found of two of my closest primary school friends and I.  We didn't want to get picked up that day, so we hid inside my igloo tent and buried ourselves in stuffed animals.  It didn't work, but my parents found it so cute that they just had to take some photos.
 
 


I also had some more random notebooks here and there, full of collected business cards, quizzes, drawings.  Here's some drawings.
 
 
I even invented a galaxy because I was a bit weird like that.
 
 
One of my notebooks was my "interview book" because I used to write a sort of newspaper for the family.  There are so many funny answers in there, but you probably wouldn't get most of them.  Here's one from my sister though.
 
"What do you think of Grandma and Grandpa?
They don't have much hair.  They're very nice"
 
Ahaha I was just cracking up at the hair comment.
 
I also had a notebook full of letters.  Every single Christmas card and Birthday card is painstakingly copied out in that book.  Here's one from my favourite primary school teachers in my last year:
 
"Dear M,
Congratulations on a fantastic year!  You are a mathematics and musical star!  Good luck at G****** next year and make sure you come and visit us when you are rich and famous"
 
 
Out of all the notebooks though, the most important by far are my diaries, which I am still writing to this day.
 
 
I skipped many months and a year or two in between, but other than that, these diaries have been going since I was 9 years old.  They were pretty badly written back then though.  Here's some excerpts.  Initials are used instead of actual names for privacy reasons, and for my own embarrassment...
 
I'm pretty sure I had a crush on this guy in 2009, but I didn't even admit it to my diary.  Anyhow, here's a story featuring DP ;)
 
"Eventually J told me.  It was about DP.  Who did he have a crush on?  N decided to ask him.  We watched her.  He answered R.  We knew he was lying."
 
Ah.  The badly written drama of afterschool care ;)  I couldn't remember any of the girls' last names...
 
For some more 2009 drama, I also found this mean girl in my group featured in many of my entries.  Here's just one story about EE...
 
"She told me that I had to listen to the teacher (that meany poop).  I was just too quick.  Then later AY made a wild guess and he was wrong.  We all said you thought wrong AY.  EE said you thought wrong M very wrong for no reason!  Mean huh!"
 
Wow.  Primary school arguments were really petty.
 
And of course, here's one featuring my lovely family friends who are still my friends today, and one of the games we played...
 
"We ran away from RM and our meeting place was the pool and the cellar.  We kept running away from him for he is the monster."
 
Skip forward 2 years and a bit, and I'm attending the testing day of the high school I go to right now.  Here's part of the entry I wrote that day...
 
"I had to wake up at 7am to get to C*** by 8am.  There were lots of people from the junior school but others were new as well.  I only knew MM, AW, IN and only sort of (hardly), AM.  We just mingled for a while before the tests."
 
Well, I certainly wasn't very good at writing down my feelings back in year 6.  It's funny thinking about the people mentioned, and my friendships or non-friendships with them now, in the present day.  I definitely know AM more than "hardly".
 
And here's a bit from my very last day of primary school...
 
"I always thought that this day would make me excited and I also thought I wouldn't cry.  But, I did.  Seeing LD's tearstained face made me burst into tears.  Everybody cried and hugged, except for some people.  I hugged GL the most.  As soon as I left the classroom I stopped.  But outside, LD and AA gave me the last hugs and I cried again."
 
 
 
And I think I'll leave the memories there.  It's 11:30pm and I should really be getting to bed before school tomorrow.  It's time to live in the present again.  It's nice to remember the good old days, but be careful not to mourn or feel as if you want to go back.  It's time to look forward.  Those days are over.
 
But here's some advice for you.  Start a diary or journal or something.  Record what you do or your feelings.  Because as you get older you're going to keep looking back at them, and they'll make you smile (or cringe).
 
Love,
M
 



51 comments:

  1. Well making your own galaxy..that's a million dollar idea :P :P

    Neal Kind
    Daily Diaries

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    1. Haha yeah... million dollar kid ;) ;)

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    2. Hahaha :P :P
      I never had a diary when I was a kid but I had all these sketching pads and files in which I used to doodle random stuff..whenever I find those sketches while cleaning my room it's the best feeling ever :) :)

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    3. Awh. I've always wanted to start a visual diary of sorts, like a picture a day sort of thing, but I never did. I'm planning to one day though. It's so cool that you have books full of visual drawings. I bet it is a good feeling :P

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  2. I used to keep journals and diaries too! I have loads of them and I love to go back and look at whatever I wrote in them.

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    1. Btw, I also nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award! :)

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    2. That's always the major upside of having written diaries and journals. It's creating a filing system of revisitable memories.

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    3. Btw, Thanks for the nomination ;) I'll check it out now...

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  3. i totes agree with what you said at the end. my blog is my diary.. well public but yea. thanks for following me! i followed back on gfc :) xx

    http://only4feet9.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for the follow Annick! Your blog is amazing. And yeah, I guess blogs are a form of a diary too. That makes this blog another one of my diaries, I guess...

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  4. I wish I'd kept my journals at the end of every year, but instead I use to throw them in the fireplace and watch the pages burn into nothingness.
    I was a peculiar child...

    Yours are so cute! I love your little galaxy!

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    1. Aw it's a pity they're all burnt. But at least you weren't a scared kid like me. It's cool that you weren't afraid of fire, and you were poetic like that. Haha. Thanks ;) That galaxy took some colouring skills ;)

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  5. Wow...its amazing that you record such beautiful memories. Your diaries will be worth so much to you when you're older:))
    Haha I love the galaxy you've created as well:)
    June

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    1. Thanks June! Maybe you should try recording some. Living a life as interesting as your's ;) And you should see some of the atrocious things I drew for that galaxy...

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  6. Aww these are cute! I have so many notebooks and diaries and I do the same thing when I'm organizing; I read them for like hours. It's hilarious to see how immature I was back then! LOL
    -Margie

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    1. Haha. That's the perks of being diary-hoarders with loads of memories stacked up. We can't ever clean our rooms because we're too busy sorting through the memories <3

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    2. I know! I love your new universe design! Our younger selves are surprising even though it's us, ya know? <3
      -Margie

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    3. Thanks! And I definitely know. What were we even thinking back then? How could our priorities have changed so much!?

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    4. Oh my gosh I know. Literally...
      -Margie

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  7. Very lovely post :)
    I really liked your Traveling Journal, it looks so nice!
    I'm kind of sad for the fact that I didn't got to keep my childhood journals because a certain year during my high school time I just began hating those journals of little me and ripped all of the pages off and threw them into the garbage can :/

    salha | abuhayar

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    1. Thanks Salha!! Wow. I know I hate some of my entries because I'd really rather not remember those days. Thanks for this comment! You've given me a warning to never rip up my precious journals. At least you wrote those journals though. I find that they've made me feel so much better over the years...

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  8. I've been journaling for a while now and I love it. :) It sure is nice to be able to go back and read entries from long times ago.

    That dream is funny. :) Yay for pringles. ;)

    xx

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    1. Just you wait... soon it'll somehow be 5 years later, and you'll be reading back as if these things happened just yesterday. And yesss... PRINGLES ALL THE WAY!!!

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  9. I really enjoyed this post <3 I also really like your blog~!

    http://alluringalyssbeauty.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks! xx I'm sure I'll really like your blog too. Checking it out now...

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  10. This was an adorable post! I loved all of it! I keep a diary too (somewhat) but they're just for the summer (no school dramas xD)

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    1. Haha. Thanks Catalina!! Wow. Yeah I don't know if I can classify my 9 year old life 'drama'. It certainly felt like it then ;) Maybe you could start recording specific events at school too...

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  11. I've also had diaries/books/journals. And though I understand that it's a techy generation now (most of the journals are in blogs rather than paper), you can still see the big difference of kids before and kids now.

    In Tumblr or even here in Blogger, I've seen most teenagers (and a few grade school) talk about love, crushes and all that. When I compare with mine, I always wonder what happened? Haha!

    Before, we were always into music, cartoons, books and other more children stuff but now, for some reason, kids thinking have been advanced in a negative way; to a point it seem they no longer enjoy being kids.

    If I have children, I'll bring back the type of living before. For them to enjoy life more.

    Nice post btw. It took me down memory lane too!

    xo,
    Louise of The Legendary Ukayista | Bloglovin'

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    1. Thanks Louise! I'm glad it did!

      I reckon that as time goes on, the kids seem to grow up so much faster. I know that as a kid I was quite into Disney Channel, where even then it was about teenagers and their boyfriends, granted it was Hannah Montana.

      I also know that since the age of 6 we've been talking about crushes (and giggled at 'it'). But we were also into playing tips, hide and seek, watching cartoons and barbies. Unlike the kids nowadays, who swear, love technology, and are just so much more mature already.

      I reckon blogs and social media are great places to document things, but pen and paper will always rule overall...

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  12. Aww these are so cute. It's so nice to have these things that remind us of the past. :)

    Life With Antlers // A Personal Blog

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    1. I know right!? I'm just silently thanking my 9 year old self for starting this. :)

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  13. So cute:) the pringles dream is the best. hahaha. One can never eat to many pringles.

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    1. Very true. Very true ;) Too bad I have this thing where I feel guilty whenever I eat junk food now :/

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  14. You have definitely inspired me to start a journal again. I used to have a journal where I kept movie tickets and stuck in photographs of places I went. It's always nice to read it back and have a giggle at the funny moments. I can never remember my dreams.. I love your pringle dream haha! Thanks for sharing this :)
    Ps. thanks for your comment on my blog, just followed you back and on twitter too! :)
    ♥Natalie
    Yours Truly, NY


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    1. Thanks Natalie! I'm glad I did! Journal writing is a very good thing. And photos and tickets are always great to look at! The other day I found an old movie ticket in one of my purses and it made me smile :) I wish I kept more of them... I think you've just inspired me to do something too ;)

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  15. Thanks! Sure. I'd love to follow. xx

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  16. Thanks! And I'd love to follow you on Bloglovin! But my social media is strictly personal, except my Twitter @lyfoflittleme ;)

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  17. Oh, nothing better than finding old journals and pictures and calenders and stuff like that! I have all my old journals and calenders in box, and sometimes I go through them, just to see what I did exactly a year ago, or two years or three or four.
    Exactly one year ago today, I passed my exam in Quantitative Methods, and had to turn in my Bachelor project in 45 days - which I have actually written down. xD

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    1. Haha yeah. Looking back makes me feel a little nostalgic but happy at the same time. I should start keeping my calendars, now that you've mentioned that. Congrats for what you accomplished a year ago!! ;) Wow how things have probably changed.

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  18. This is an amazing post! Probably one of your best ;) eight year old you had her priorities straight!! I have to say though, I actually love Disney food haha. Anyway, you've inspired me to try to write more. Great post!! (And those journals- c-u-t-e!!!)
    Xoxo
    http://totallygraced.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Grace!! 14 year old me couldn't even snag a pringle from her friend today :( It made me kinda sad so I guess pringles are still a pretty big priority ;) Haha. And trust me... that mac and cheese at Disneyland LA was preeetty bad. You should most definitely write more and I'm glad I've been inspiring in a way!! xx

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  19. I'm always so upset when I realize I didn't write any journals my entire life, especially because I flippin' love nostalgia. I have to start writing one ASAP or I'll keep regretting it! Thank you for the extra dose of inspiration!

    zauberbear.blogspot.com

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    1. No problem Carly!! You definitely should start writing a journal. That feeling of nostalgia is worth it, even if the journal is badly written like back in primary school. Glad to inspire. Checking out your blog right now xx

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  20. First: I just discovered your blog M, and I love it! It is super cool! You write some really great stuff.

    I've been keeping a journal since I was nine, but I started keeping a steady journal when I was eleven, and I'm seventeen now. It's so funny to see what priorities and interests you have when you're a little kid. I pretty much complained in the eleven through twelve journals. My thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen journals were full of the teenage hardships, growing pains, and just bad moods all the time. The only really interesting one is my current sixteen/seventeen journal. Which so far has stuff about graduating, going to college, marriage, bad words, wanting to say bad words to people, babies, dogs, fashion, chocolate pie, nachos, dancing, and cheesecake. Well maybe all of that really isn't that interesting- entertaining maybe.
    Over all keeping journals is the best thing ever! I also have so many stories, poems, doodles, and just stuff that I've written down over the years. I think of it as saving bits and pieces of myself for all my descendants to come. They might as well know how artistically crazy I am.
    Hopefully my seventeen/eighteen journal will have some more juicy bits, now that I've graduated maybe it will!

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    1. Awh thanks so much Kristen. It's so cool that you've been keeping journals for so long!! I'm pretty sure my current thirteen-fourteen-fifteen journals are full of teenage hardships and what-not. Hopefully you will find some nice juicy stuff to write now that you're free ;)

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  21. I just reread the pringle dream, and don't you just love those odd out of place dreams? Some of them can be really cool or just really weird. The pringle dream reminded me of this...
    True story. Last night I had this dream that I walked into this big red barn, with animals stalls and everything. In the first stall was a horse, in the third a cow, and in the middle stall, the second, was Smokey the Bear. ?????? why may I ask?????
    It was the exact Smokey the Bear! Hunter green pants, wide brimmed hat, really tall, and he had that same grin. So there I was staring at Smokey, shocked that I was dreaming about a bear. I turned around and there were these two men about twenty feet from the barn, and they were playing checkers. I said "I guess I'll use another door." and they both shrugged their shoulders. Then I woke up.
    I have no idea why I dreamed of Smokey! I haven't seen anything with Smokey in a good bit, so why?
    Well, I just wanted to share my funny dream. Hope everyone had a good laugh at it, because I certainly did!

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    1. Bahahaha!! That is actually so random!! Love those weirdo dreams and I also love hearing about them aha. We probably have way more random dreams, but we're just not able to remember them which is a pity.

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  22. Yeah, crazy dreams are the best! I try to write down as many as I can, if I can remember them in the morning!

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    1. Haha. That sounds awesome for when you pick up the notebook and read those weirdo dreams again.

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