Five years

I've never been much good at keeping a diary. It still sometimes amazes me that I have managed to keep my blog going so consistently for so long.

And then five years ago I got a "one line a day" diary.

I wrote the first entry on 1st April 2018

So that's it, Northern Leg 2018 is over with all the exhaustion and emotion it entails. Missing half the week made it a very strange experience in many ways this year but maybe it helped me appreciate the value of this little community a bit more.

With each entry only allowing space for a couple of sentences, it felt like a manageable undertaking, although of course it means much is left unsaid. The limited space certainly doesn't lend itself to great long introspective reflections on the whys and wherefores of life so, in contrast to my blog, it is mostly much more a "this happened / I did that" factual record. That doesn't mean it is totally devoid of emotion: albeit briefly, it does express some of the joys and struggles of recent years. Another difference from my blog is that it is not intended to be public and there are certainly things contained in its pages which I wouldn't share here but which I hope, in years to come, I will be glad to have written down. 

With each dated page having space for a short entry for five consecutive years, as it has gradually filled up it automatically affords a look back and comparison to preceding years: scanning through past entries has been both a distraction and a motivation in helping me to stick at it.

There are a few missing entries, but not many. There are many, many more which have been back-filled after the event, often a week or more at a time. But it stands as a relatively comprehensive record of at least the headlines of much of what I have been up to since 2018.

It has captured some of the big things that have happened; but perhaps even more importantly it has captured some of the many little things that make up my full and richly blessed life. 

On 31st March 2023, I filled the final space.

It feels appropriate that the last entry is on the day I am setting off for NL given the first post was getting back from it. Managed to get a few things finished off including some tidying before setting off. Met C at New Street. Arrived at Keyworth in good time. Chatting, dinner, intros, liturgy, pub, whisky club. I am, I think, glad to be here.

Having managed to establish a habit, I have bought myself another edition. I wonder what the next five years will bring.