When I was 6th grade elementary school, inspired by magazines I read, I decided to start writing a diary. I bought a nice notebook with hard cover and colored pages, and started writing. Since I was quite young, I'd write like everything that happened in my life, good and bad things both, and I had a feeling I had to write every single day. I filled 2 notebooks and started 3rd, but eventually got lazy and wrote less and less frequent, until I completely stopped. Looking back now, I am glad I did as I went through some period I'd rather forget.

Few years ago, I decided to read stuff I wrote 10 years ago. I wanted to be reminded of good things. But I wasn't really mentally prepared. All bad things floated back on surface, and I ended up feeling really lousy. All good things too, reminding me they are gone. Forever.

Diaries are a nice thing. They keep preserving memories and improving your writing. But you don't really have to mention every bad thing or thought. It is true that we learn from our mistakes, but some memories are better left untouched. I hate to admit it, but not all things happen for a reason.

If you decide to start writing a diary, a story of your life - go for it! Write down your thoughts, happy memories, anything you'd like to remember!

But if you ever decide to read those pages again in 5, 10 or 15 years, make sure you are 100% prepared for everything you might find there. While you may have forgotten some things, they stay on paper forever. So make sure you have made peace with past first.

~ Milena