29/07/2021
âThe unit had a very kind Canteen Manager. He asked how we were and seemed genuinely interested in our lives. He talked a lot about his son and when we went out, the ground was full of crows that flew above our heads and caw caaed at full volume and we saw kittens that were lazy and fat and sheep that grazed on the grass in front of the barracks. Different kinds of trees, young and old stood erect. The sky was cold and full of clouds. The rain was imminent. And there were huge cactuses and tall oak trees too.
The mess was alright and the soldiers were gossiping and lighting ci******es. There were a lot of ci******es and the smoke, it made my head hurt. But Itâs kind of culture there, I guess. And also, It was my first time sleeping in a sleeping bag. We joked about it and pretended like we were dead. We watched a match and then danced for a very long time. A few of us didnât know how to dance but we tried anyway.â
When you are reading this, you can only picture what is written. I read this and that whole trip flashes before my eyes. Itâs been four years and I remember it like the palm of my hand. I remember the bus, the herds of sheep I saw on the way back. I remember the weather like it was yesterday. I remember the rain on the window sill. The lectures and empty threats of the strict faculty when we were late. The voices and the moves and the hip hip hoorays of the boys in the bus and the unit. The food and the walks and all the fun. I remember the dangerous rides in the park. I remember the fear and the thrill of a dangerous ride. I remember seeing the sky and the stars upside down, while on that ride.
I donât remember all this because I have a swell memory and I wrote these long paragraphs to talk about that. I wrote all this to convince people to start keeping a daily/weekly/monthly journal. Keeping notes has helped me a great deal. For example, I remember all this because I wrote a small part of my journey in a diary and because I took my time to write about it, my brain registered it as something important. Itâs that simple. Then my brain also gave value to other events associated with it and made sure I didnât forget about it. See, keeping notes on your phone or a diary is like playing tricks on the mind. It will keep the drawers in your mind full of things you don't want to forget. Whenever you long for a moment, you just have to open the right drawer. It has a lot of other advantages too. It will help improve your writing and your life in general. It will keep you rooted in your interests and it will keep you interested in your life. It will encourage you when you are feeling down and it will you tell who you were in the past. It will help you gain a real perspective on life. And it will make sure you remember all the right moments. It will be like you have a friend in yourself.
There are many options. You can squeeze your whole day into one line and write a line every day or you can start writing a paragraph every 2-3 days or write a page once a week, whatever suits you.
