The Significance of Keeping a Diary#
When reviewing my diary at the end of the month to prepare for the monthly publication, I happened to come across the entries from February 28th, 2017 to February 28th, 2019 on Day One, and from February 28th, 2020 to February 28th, 2022 on Daylio.
I realized that this habit of keeping a diary has silently continued for six years. Looking back at these six years of diary entries, I truly feel a sense of wonder. So, let's talk about the significance of keeping a diary in this article!
For me, the significance of keeping a diary is as follows:
- A tool for self-awareness
- Reflecting the meaning of life
- Recording the beauty around us
1. A Tool for Self-Awareness
Self-awareness refers to being aware of one's true feelings and emotions, understanding one's true needs and desires, and finding goals and a sense of meaning in life.
One of the benefits of keeping a diary is that it allows us to understand our thoughts through daily reflections, similar to a tool for practicing mindfulness. By being aware of our emotions, we can discover ourselves.
A few years ago, when I was in school, I also developed an app called "Twin Diary," which focused on matching and providing psychological reports, all in service of self-awareness.
2. Reflecting the Meaning of Life
In essence, this point is the same as "self-awareness" because self-awareness itself is an important way to find meaning. Let's discuss this separately.
In a previous article ("On the Value and Experience of Life"), I mentioned that "life is a series of moments, and the most important thing is the present moment," and that "the meaning of life is not bestowed by so-called 'major life events,' but is realized in the impermanence of everyday life."
The sense of meaning in life that we seek is first and foremost achieved by truly engaging in life. Only when you are "truly present" do you establish a deep and sincere connection with life, and life will reward you in its unique way.
In the Japanese tea ceremony, there is a saying, "Ichi-go ichi-e," which means that each meeting is unique and will never happen again. It is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter, so both the host and the guest should be sincere. This is also the concept of "impermanence" in Buddhism, cherishing every moment and giving your all for the possibility of a once-in-a-lifetime encounter in life.
The delicious food in front of us, the school of fish leaping in the river, the petals falling by the roadside—every moment, every thing brings us genuine joy and a spontaneous sense of happiness. Even fear or anger is part of the present moment. What we have is only the experience and feelings of the present moment. Being aware of the joys and sorrows of the present moment, experiencing them, and accepting them is the meaning of being alive.
And the role of a diary is to record this awareness and feelings of each "present moment." Although these thoughts may never be useful in the future, the act of simply recording them is a reflection of the meaning of life, and it can generate a sense of fulfillment—a least the current mood is genuine, and the present moment is not wasted.
3. Recording the Beauty Around Us
This is something I discovered after keeping a diary for four years. If we really want to record something, why not just record the happy things?
In last year's year-end summary, I mentioned that "when reviewing my mood before bed, I selectively record the beautiful things I encountered that day. On one hand, it is to bring good dreams, and on the other hand, it is to hope for a better tomorrow." When looking back on memories in the future, they will be filled with beautiful things. Isn't that a wonderful thing?
May we not spend our entire lives in a state of floating and rushing, but rather immerse ourselves in a beautiful life with joy and enthusiasm.
Finally, I would like to quote a passage from my travelogue of WWDC 19 in 2019 as the conclusion:
Monthly Records#
At the beginning of the month, I went on a business trip to Beijing to attend GMTC. This conference in Beijing has also been quite bumpy, with dozens of postponements due to the pandemic since 2020, and it finally took place in 2023... This is also my first business trip since I started working.
In Beijing, I met up with a long-lost friend, who used to be my best friend a long time ago. It has been five years since we last contacted each other, and I thought we would never see each other again, but when we met again, I couldn't remember why we stopped talking. Nothing has really changed.
Here are some moments from February:
P1: 🍶 Nighttime in the chilly Nanluoguxiang. There is no sense of dilapidation, just a sense of tranquility, with a few lights illuminating the quiet hutongs. I like the "Bookstore That Doesn't Sell Books" and the "Cocoa Ballet" that focuses on chocolate.
P2: 🍻 Someone jumped into the sea, a small bar deep in the hutongs. That night, I walked in the endless dark alleys for over an hour before finding a shop where I could take shelter from the wind. After returning from Beijing, a few days later, I discovered that a blogger I had been following also went to this bar (the picture below was also stolen from his newsletter), giving me a sense of time and space overlapping. I want to complain about how early the shops in Beijing close. There are hardly any shops open after 8 or 9 o'clock at night, and it's impossible to find a taxi after 10 o'clock. QAQ
P3: 🌺 The egg flower tree downstairs is blooming, spring is here. I really like the street downstairs from my home, next to a small river, peaceful and beautiful.
P4: 🍩 The sunset and airplanes by the seaside
P5: 🚗 Rare trip to Guangzhou, but it took nearly 8 hours round trip, a day of crazy traffic jams. I seem to have a knack for accidents. Wherever I go, there will be car accidents.
P6: 🍾 Friday night, invited friends to my house to eat snacks, chat, and watch movies.
P7: 🎮 While doing a mission in Genshin Impact, I discovered an incredibly beautiful scene.
P8: 📮 Since advocating for letter exchanges in the previous issue, I have received more letters from friends. Last month, I exchanged 20 letters, and I found that letter exchanges are indeed more peaceful and profound. I also welcome readers to write to me—airing@ursb.me. We can exchange all sorts of things~
P9: 📝 Regarding work, I gave a departmental presentation, wrote a technical article on cross-end development, and learned Android JNI programming. I also integrated a debugger into the V8 of the project.
P10: 🎬 Books, movies, and music of the month (seems to be the most in a month)
- Finished reading: Novel | "Letter from an Unknown Woman" | ★★★★★
- Finished reading: Novel | "The Disappearance of the 13th Step" | ★★★☆☆
- Currently reading: Novel | "Demian" | ★★★★★
- Watched: Movie | "Ant-Man and the Wasp 3" | ★★★☆☆
- Watched: Movie | "Hunger Station" | ★★★☆☆
- Watched: Japanese drama | "Nagi's New Life" | ★★★★★
- Currently watching: American TV series | "The Last of Us" | ★★★★★
- Currently watching: TV series | "The Three-Body Problem" | ★★★★★
- Currently watching: Anime | "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" | ★★★★★
- Currently playing: Switch | "Persona 5 Royal" | ★★★★★
- Currently playing: Steam | "Red Dead Redemption 2" | ★★★★★