DIARISTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19198, 14 June 1924, Page 11

DIARISTS.

Being one of those people who have made several efforts to keep a diary, and have invariably abandoned them with a great sense of relief after filling large numbers of perfectly useless details, I doubt, says John Blunt, whether my opinion can be of much value; but such as it is I am quite ready to give it. History shows us that there have been a certain number of what one may call born diary keepers. That is to say, people whose diaries and journals have added not only to our pleasure but to our knowledge of epochs. History also shows us that there have been a certain number of people who have found an extraordinary means of selfrevelation in their diaries or journals and such works have added to our knowledge of human nature. But all these are rare exceptions. The vast majority of people who keep diaries have no other purpose but to record some of the happenings that occur from day to day in their own lives. They like to think that they can refer back to what they were doing this day last year, or to suppose that their diaries are useful reference books. A BURDEN. But unless one sternly schools oneself to the custom of never going to bed without writing up one’s diary, one very soon learns that the difficulty and burden of keeping a diary far outweigh any possible advantages. When I kept a diary of this kind it used to be three weeks in arrears at times. The feats of concentrated memory I then had to undertake were perfectly appalling, and the results intensely unreliable. Now, the only point of an ordinary diary is meticulous accuracy; to record ns definite facts dreary events that never even did take place is about as sensible as cheating against oneself when one is playing patience. But, ih any case, I do not want to be reminded of my past. That is not because it is particularly shady but because it's all over. OLD LETTERS. If only one were able to keep a diary for the year ahead there would be something in it, because that is still to come, but to remind myself that this day last year I was, say, dining with a charming lady who now averts her head when she secs me causes me no enthusiasm at all. I simply prefer to forget. Indeed, I canuot understand why people like reading their old diaries any more than I can understand why they like reading old letters of a sentimental flavour. When I pass from this scone of earthly activity, I hope to leave no lavenderscented packets of letters behind me. This may be a very individual view, but it is a very convenient one. That diaries may be useful for reference I agree, and if one be really strongwilled, there is much to be said for the habit. ANOTHER TYPE. Of course one may easily make onself excessively unpopular ty, let us say, constantly looking up a diary in order to clinch an argument, but it is the kind of unpopularity efficiency is apt to gain at the hands of inefficiency. Oue may bear it unflinchingly. Another type of diary which ought to be useful, but is not, is that which is kept in order to curb a bad habit. Once I determined to restrain my ardour for jumping into taxicabs by carefully noting in a pocket diary the amount I spent on this unnecessary luxury. I thought it would soon cure me. On the contrary; at first it merely annoyed me, without making any appreciable difference to the habit; but soon I began to take an interest and see whether I could not break my own record. Blank days, instead of making me elated, left a feeling of gloom, and I am not at all sure that I did not even end by filling in imaginary taxicab drives in that wretched diary. .