Bye 2020 but not everyone is happy with 2021 so far. Trump has been impeached twice. A riot managed to siege the US Capitol. There's still a pandemic. What more can we do?

This past year was tragic. I was so tempted to purchase Time Magazine's issue "2020: The Year in Review" because I never kept track of my days in 2020. Who would? However, I feel a bit detached from that year despite living in it, almost like it takes me a bit to remember what I've done. I stopped myself from spending $12 on the magazine.

Everyone, I mean everyone, should be keeping tabs on themselves in 2021 because your own words can help you understand and process the outcomes of the year's events. I was very angry and upset throughout most of 2020, actively avoiding writing my thoughts on certain matters in my journal. It wasn't until recently that I started addressing them in one writing session; it was overwhelming trying to mask so many events into simple phrases or words. It's upsetting because I know a decade from now reading those words might not be as meaningful.

It is essential to narrate your story. Writing one's thoughts in a journal or a diary immortalizes the person you were at the time. There are times when I would read old journals and get lost in all the teenage angst the old me captured. Nowadays, I try to direct myself into describing more fulfilling events for the older me to look back on; stuff I want to remember and be reminded of.

Reading old journals become a wholesome learning experience. I have grown a little bit from rereading old journals because I can see the situation I was writing about clearer. Fights between friends and families turn out to be childish and pointless from another perspective.

Write about the small things or big things. A journal doesn't have to be expensive. My collection of personal journals range from wide-ruled notebooks to a faux leather hardcover. They immortalize highlights of my life that I wish to continue to keep track of.