I am recently working on a program (that I had left gathering dust in terms of active development). I think that perhaps I should write a blog post about it because it’s just stuck in the static pages, and I’m not so certain that many people look at those. I’m talking about the budgeting program that I have, by the way. In any case, I’m trying to get it into a state that I wouldn’t mind distributing it. I definitely will blog that once I get there!

Oh dreams sound like an interesting thing to write about! I tend to forget quite a good deal of the dreams that I have. I would think that I’d have some amazing entries if I were able to transcribe my dreams into written form.

I’ve definitely noticed your entries! They’re pretty positive (not that you usually post negative entries or anything). Is this other project that you’re talking about totally unrelated to the Internet in any way?

So let’s say years from now you’re dealing with feelings of hurt and you wonder how you’ve overcome pain in the past and your search for all entries regarding the “Feelings: Hurt” topic.

You can create templates and insert images and such. I’ve started tracking my exercise routine and weight (I generally note it in a small calendar).

I’ve also started adding my dreams. I wish I had more time to really write in it but it’s gotten a bit terse since I’ve been busy trying to think of things to write in my blog after The Universe told me I should write 5 posts this week that are uplifting and encourage people to make a positive change in their lives. Gee. Thanks.

I had begun writing less so I could concentrate on another project but this “project” is pretty interesting and of course, making ME think.

I must admit that your friend speaks truth when he says that no matter how good something might be, one won’t ever do it unless one really wants to do it. That is fairly obvious, but I actually think some people don’t really understand that they can’t be forced or force others to do something.

Well truth be told, I’m pretty sure that nothing is truly guaranteed to be safe (but the same goes for pretty much everything). Still, that’s nice that the journaling software has some features in it to make it more private. Have you started using the journaling software? If so, how is it?

But having a digital camera and being able to point-and-shoot has really made things easier for me and usually I am glad that I made the effort to take photos.

Not everyone is into photos and there is much to be said about “living in the moment.”

I was telling some friends of mine about the journaling software and one said, “Yeah, but you have to be interested in journaling in the first place - otherwise you’d just stop writing.” He’s right!

What I have been trying to get used to is the idea that the journal is truly private - I am so used to thinking (when I used word processing software) that someone may end up reading my entries that I’ve censored myself a bit. Sure you can have password protection on your computer but once some is in, well, they can still read your files, right?

The journaling software has some security on it so I’m slowly getting used to the idea that I can write my most private thoughts.

Likely as a result of living with people who are somewhat of pack rats, I’m pretty determined not to have that happen to me in the future.

When you mentioned going to Cape Town simply to hang out with friends, I was reminded of the fact that I enjoy not being the one in groups who takes pictures. I purposely enjoy being able to really live in the moment of whatever is going on. Well that’s what I try to do, and it has seemed to work well thus far. Thank goodness for digital cameras so I can get copies, though!

I took a look at that journaling software that you mentioned. It looks interesting for someone very intent on journaling. Sometimes it’s worth it to have tools that will help you accomplish your task more easily. Surprisingly I’ve never been much of a journal writer myself. That was actually one reason why I wanted to start (and host) my own blog. I wanted to be able to write private entries that I could keep and that I could know where they were being stored. However, that hasn’t quite worked out as I originally intended. Maybe I will do that sometime. It might be kind of nice to just have a “journal” category that won’t be made public. I’ll have to think about that the next time something comes up that I want to journal about.

Most of my memories are in the form of photos and emails. When I travel I don’t buy souvenirs. OK, I collect shot glasses when I’m on the road as they are small!

I seldom choose to save things and the 2 times I moved, I pared down further. Photos bring back the memories. Right now my favorite memory-producing items are the stones I collected on the beaches of South Africa. I got some hand-sized ones and when I see them …they bring me right to that moment. I remember picking them out and knowing, at that moment that in the future I would recall all the details.

I have a couple of songs that take me back (Grover Washington’s “Winelight” for one) and what memories those are.

A big part of who I’d like to be is one who travels lightly, that is, without attachments to stuff. Which isn’t to say I don’t enjoy all the things I have, it’s just that I don’t want them to be all that important. That’s why I decided to go on vacation to Cape Town and spend time with my friends there instead of buying furniture. I wanted to see my friends and have those memories to cherish. Of course I took lots of photos!

As a side note, I recently purchased the Journaling software recommended in Steve Pavlina’s blog. I never kept a journal and thought buying journaling software a bit odd - what was wrong with using MS Word or plain old Notepad? But then I read about this particular software’s features and it’s uses as a tool for self-discovery and personal development and decided to purchase it.

It’ll be interesting to read my entries several years from now! I hope to keep journaling…I’ll be able to re-experience my memories more accurately than just looking at a ticket stub!

I, too, am very glad for the advancement of digital pictures and data. It saves all sorts of room to be able to save countless pictures as sets of bits on a hard drive rather than the negatives and prints of long ago. And similarly it’s nice to be able to have music in digital form rather than having to lug around some type of physical copy. (Although on this point, I actually like to buy CDs and have them around just in case something happens.)

Do you ever enjoy just going through old stuff and remembering how you felt? I’d imagine so based on your desire to “re-experience” memories. I think that’s the best use of the “stuff” that ends up being kept.

I now keep some stuff - I used to toss out postcards from friends (keeping them for a little while) and then I realized, hey, these are actually kind of cool memories…

I think my home is starting to look more lived in because I’ve allowed more stuff to accumulate. I think it used to look a tad TOO clear before. I still want to toss things out, though!

I tend to throw out the junk of “grand old times” (like oh, bright green stuffed animals won at an amusement park) and save small things like ticket stubs or matchbooks from say a romantic dinner. It all depends. I have thrown out some old love notes I’ve received.

If a particular object brings back a very strong memory it depends if I want to re-experience the memory again.

Nowadays I’m so glad that I have a digital camera and scanner. I’ve been able to scan stuff in and then toss out the actual object. I haven’t done this with old stuff but new items I have.

I sometimes use the image of people who have lost everything (like in a hurricane or fire) and how little most of that stuff means to get me to throw out items. This was an interesting post for me - I am not much into stuff but some of it can be quite meaningful.