Every Day Is Special: diary

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December 1 – Anniversary of a Diary Entry

Posted on December 1, 2020

Today is, according to Wikipedia, the anniversary of a man named John Evelyn ice skating on a frozen lake in St. James Park, in London, England, in 1662.

This photo of people skating on the lake in St. James
Park was taken about 300 years after Evelyn's skate.
We don't have any photos of people skating -
or doing anything! - back then!

Ummm...Wikipedia, why do we care about a man going ice skating?

Well, the apparent claim to fame is that Evelyn's skating was observed by the King and Queen of England - Charles II and Queen Catherine.

Still not sure why we care, but I gamely clicked the link to see if there was something interesting about this skate. And despite myself, I became interested, because Evelyn is described as a "diarist."

As in, one who keeps a diary.

Apparently John Evelyn (1620 - 1706) kept a diary from age 20 until his death. He sometimes wrote daily, but at other times did
not. He wrote about art, culture, politics, and important events. Like the execution of Charles 1, Oliver Cromwell's rise and rule and death, the last Great Plague of London, and the Great Fire of London.

With 60 years worth of diary entries, as you can imagine there are many volumes in Evelyn's diary!

And the thing is - back in the 1600s, there weren't regularly published materials like magazines and newspapers. So you can see why Evelyn's diary and those of other diarists of his time are quite important to historians!!

I am still not a bit sure why Wikipedia has the ice skating outing listed in its December 1 events - I mean, seriously, there are only 49 events listed for this date - in all the thousand or two thousand years of history included in Wikipedia's roundup! But I am also glad to have been tipped off about the importance (back then) of those who simply keep a diary!

Also on this date:

Advent begins

Freedom and Democracy Day in Chad

National Holiday in Romania

Rosa Parks Day

Portugal's Restoration of Independence Day

Pay It Forward Day

Antarctica Day

Republic Day in Central African Republic

Birthday of poetaster Julia Ann Moore

Bingo Birthday Month

Giving Tuesday

World Trick Shot Day

(First Tuesday of December)

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest pages on:

December holidays
December birthdays
Historical anniversaries in December

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

March 14 – National Write Down Your Story Day

Posted on March 14, 2019

"There's nothing to tell," many people might say when asked to write about themselves. I get that. I live a rather small-scale life. I've always lived in Southern California, I'm quite the homebody, I mostly focus on my family. But all of us have stories to tell - even me, even you!

Loads of people write daily journals or trip memories or private diaries or public blogs. Some people turn their memories into TV shows, movies, novels, or autobiographies. If you have never tried writing down memories and feelings and personal stories (or never outside of school assignments), maybe you should try it! Maybe you would like it, or maybe you would unlock some memories or uncover some undealt-with feelings.

Here are some ideas for writing your story:

Go through some old photos to trigger memories.

Brainstorm embarrassing memories, memories of times you were saddest, times you were maddest, times you were happiest.

Write about the thing you always try to avoid remembering.

Write about stuff that seems too boring to write about - but try to go deep into exactly what you saw, what you heard, what you smelled and tasted, what you felt.

Write about places you've been to on vacations, trips, outings, holidays. Whether it's the Grand Canyon or Grandma's house, you can try to make the place come alive for readers by using descriptive words.

Weave your feelings through your narrative story.

Write about super special occasions - a birthday party, first visit to an amusement park, scoring a goal, winning an award...

Write about the everyday as if you were explaining it to an alien who knows nothing about our society.

Once you've written something, you get to choose whether or not to share it with others - and who, and when, and how. Have fun!!

Also on this date:

Pi Day, Pi Day, and more Pi Day

Origami grandmaster Akira Yoshizawa's birthday

International Ask a Question Day

Physicist Albert Einstein's birthday

National Potato Chip Day

Summer Day in Albania

White Day in Japan

International Day of Action for Rivers

Constitution Day in Andorra

Save a Spider Day

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

September 22 – Dear Diary Day

Posted on September 22, 2013

In this day and age, most people are too busy typing quick quips on Twitter or crafting their online image with carefully worded status updates on Facebook to want to write in a diary.

But writing that is intensely private, writing that is intended to always stay private, is very different from tweets and other social media messaging. In a diary, you can pour your heart out, you can get really real, you can detail an upsetting dream, scribble sky-high hopes, explore your deepest fears.

A diary doesn't have to be an expensive, pretty book. It can be a grubby spiral-bound notebook—or, really, anything you can write on. You don't have to worry about handwriting, spelling, or grammar—you can just write write write.

Here are some diary-writing suggestions:

WikiHow suggests using an ordinary looking notebook like one you would use for school, so nobody will know that it is a diary. Don't tell people you have a diary, and don't write in it in front of them.

On the other hand, Remembary suggests that you write anywhere, anyhow—even on your phone. There are some good tips here about how to build a daily habit.

Here is a Pinterest board with lots of amazing ideas for art journals, travel journals, Mama and Me journals in which you write letters back and forth (and which you leave under bed pillows), and even a Rolodex scrapbook!