Thanks For The Memories!

My moleskine organiser, otherwise known as my centre of operations
I've always loved keeping diaries and journals. I can't help it, I have an overwhelming urge to record everything, every thought, every memory, every silly little thing that happens in my life. I only wish that I had started keeping diaries earlier in my life.
I've always hard to separate the very personal (the things I want to keep to myself and never, ever share) and the public (the journal I don't mind my friends or family flicking through). In high school I tried to keep one journal, with mementos and photos and uh oh, what was happening in my life, thinking that it would be fun to look back on with friends. The only problem is that exams and friendships and stress didn't exactly make for something I wanted to show ANYBODY, EVER! And so I learned that when it comes to journal's, you lead two lives.
Two Journals, One Life→ I think of my diaries as 'the private one' and 'the public one', one is just for me, to vent and moan and celebrate and record every ridiculous thought and the other one is more visual, more 'letter to your grandmother' content and a lot of fun to flick through.
The 'Private' One→ When you're starting out, it's best to use a spiral bound notebook, something with pages that can be ripped out. I say this because I'm rather pedantic about my handwriting and it took me a few entries to figure out whether I wanted to use my best, neatest handwriting (looks good) or just my casual scrawl (quicker and easier to get your thoughts down) and didn't want to have 4 pages of the same sort of entry in a variety of handwriting.
Always record the date. I love my date stamper, it gives an old school secretarial type look and makes sure I don't forget the when, not just the where and what.
Keep it well hidden! I see nothing wrong with keeping a small lock box if you have meddling siblings or nosy parents. I have a friends who's mother read her diary and discovered all sorts of things she probably wishes she had never found out, after that I kept my diary wedged in an old science textbook on my shelf despite having no reason to be concerned!


Photo by Grrlscrap
The 'Public' One→ I think of my 'Public' journal as my fun journal, it involves a lot of images, a glue stick, origami paper, mementos and all sorts of bits and pieces. Think of a scrapbook with a heart and a really great memory. A 'public' journal is all about the basics, photos and who's in them, train tickets and wrist bands from music festivals, notes passed in classes (I WISH I had kept some of the one's I amassed during high school!) and not too much '____ was being a pain in the arse' or anything that you think might cause future tension. Yes, I know this from experience. I find lists are a great way to record the best parts of life in your public journal, even if it's simply one word bullet points alongside the receipt for a book your read it will get your spidey senses tingling when you flick through the pages.
Some Links and Inspiration:
The Journals and Letters Pool
Organizers LJ Community
Tips on Keeping a Journal
Three Treasures To Leave Behind In Your Life
ScrapbookScrapbook
Grrlscrap on Flickr
Robotgirl on Flickr