Difficulty of keeping a daily journal

Keeping a daily journal has become very difficult given the typical pace of life for most people. One cost preventing a brief, daily journal comes from the difficulty of fitting it into these busy days. Once time becomes available, most people allocate their respite to entertainment or unwinding.

In the context of this post I categorize a “blog” differently for two reasons. One, creating and maintaining a blog requires more effort and steps than are conducive to jotting down quick thoughts and entries. The classical journal accommodates both equally well. Second, today most writers blog for public consumption and orient towards a subject.

Even brief journal entries accrue significant historical benefits in the aggregate. For example in the reconstruction of the huge, effusive volcanic eruption in Laki, Iceland, 1783.

“What happened next can be recreated in great detail because in the late 18th century diaries were fashionable among the newly literate middle classes and the circulation of newspapers was rising even in small towns; there was also growing scientific interest in the natural world, with educated amateurs keeping detailed notes of natural phenomena. From such records, one can track the course of the Laki cloud literally day by day (see map).”

“18th-century Climate change.”The Economist. December 22, 2007. www.economist.com