My new diary project

Not that there's anything wrong with this here blog (although now it's a bit colder the green is annoying me rather a lot), but I realise that I don't really keep a diary anymore. I scribble down thoughts in my notebook if I'm having a hard time (that's generally why if you touch my notebooks I get a bit mad), but I try and maintain this blog as my "happy space". Sure, I'm still honest, but I don't think a blog is the place for personal ranting (really, it's not). So I had a thought about how to keep a mini diary.

I'm going to send postcards to myself. Now, that might sound stupid (especially when my housemates pick up the mail before me on a Saturday morning), but I think it'll be a good way to really catalogue what I'm up to, how I'm really feeling about certain things, and where I've been. A bit like Postsecret, but just for me.

I love postcards. They're pretty, perfect little things that make me smile. I buy them when I'm abroad just for me (although I lost the Marlene Deitrich one I bought from the Wintergaarten in Berlin) I'm going to just buy one every time I pop into a newsagent, or gallery and then scribble some words. Whatever I'm feeling, thoughts about my day, where I've been. I'm not very good at scrapbooking so it would be cool to have a few more images to go with my thoughts. I think sending little postcards is the best way to do this. Besides, they're bloody everywhere in London. Someone should buy them, they're mostly pretty.

And then I'll post it. And while it might not mean much to me at the time, in a few years it'll be really nice to remember where I was when I bought the card, how I was feeling and what I was up to. There's a lot to be said for being succinct when you're writing down your thoughts. It's great sometimes to do a massive outpouring, but I think there's something to be said for being concise. Because you have to really think about what's important. What's actually on my mind? What's bothering me really? What's making me happy?

I'm excited about this new project. I'm on my way into central London to meet Mel in Selfridges (yes, on a Saturday, we might never get out alive). There's all sorts of thoughts in my head, and all sorts of postcard shops along Oxford Street. I have no idea what my first postcard will be, or if the mood I'm in will affect the card I choose, and I don't really know what I'm going to write, but it's gonna be kinda fun finding out.

It's nice to have a new writing project just for me. I'm excited.

Flickr image from Abby Lane's photostream.