I had the day off last Sunday with my fiancée and because the weather was so nice we decided to spend a few hours at Castle Howard, an historic house surrounded by a massive estate (great for picnics). I was in the museum reading about some of the former lords and ladies that had lived there, and one thing that became apparent was that they all did a lot of personal writing, typically in the form of letters to their family and friends. One individual in particular stood out because of how thoughtful, self-explorative and intelligent she came across. She happened to be the one who also put most of her ideas and feelings down on paper.
Personal development in the 19th century? Surely not. What was apparent from all the letters was how open the authors were to writing down their thoughts and feelings. Many of us would balk at such honesty nowadays (though looking at the social networking profiles of some people that’s debatable) but was the purpose of writing letters to your loved ones in Victorian times really any different to writing in a journal or even doing a blog two hundred years later?
The medium you use doesn’t matter. If you trust someone well enough feel free to send them letters. However, you can do a personal journal or be a bit more formal and start a blog. It’s all about being comfortable. Just be sure to write down all those ideas, thoughts, feelings, emotions… It’s ultimately not how much you write down or how you present it. It’s about getting it off your head and then bouncing it around. Let those ideas evolve into something concrete, put those feelings into perspective and understand why you feel those emotions.
May 21, 2008 Personal Development
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