CoE Journals

What makes someone want to write a Journal on-line? What makes someone else want to read it?

These were my first reactions when, about 18 months ago, I stumbled across CoE and hit its Journals section.

Since then I have found several answers to both these questions, though there are no doubt many more.

There are many practical reasons for using the Journals section. It’s a good place to hide “works in progress”, especially if you’re linking to any of the amazing images to be found on the site. It’s a good place to share pictures with other people, either if you want to limit circulation to a few chosen souls (or a Realm) or if you want to share with the CoE world but your pic doesn’t quite fit in the Gallery. It’s a good place to say “Help, does anyone know where I can find…..in CoE?”

But there are many less pragmatic and possibly more interesting reasons for writing a Journal. The habit of writing a diary is an ancient practice, and some of the most interesting insights into the lives of our forebears can be found in the published diaries of the famous and the not-so-famous. Think of people like Samuel Pepys, writing about the Great Fire which destroyed most of London in the 17th century – he wrote about this huge event as it happened, yet he also wrote about the little details of his life and it is these that we relish the most. It is endlessly fascinating to see recorded the thoughts and aspirations of another human, yet also somehow equally intriguing (especially when in a different time and place) to read about eating, sleeping, buying things, how he got on with his relatives and so on. I like to think of Samuel Pepys in his old age, reading his diary and remembering what his life was like at an earlier time. No doubt when he wrote about some of the trials and problems he had to face, the simple fact of recording what he felt made him instantly feel better.

I think many people writing CoE Journals are using the section as a diary, where they record their hopes and fears, their joys, failings, successes, problems. Unlike a traditional diary though, where the thoughts are generally for the writer alone, in a Journal you can go one better, you can allow feedback! This ability to seek, comment, and start off discussions immediately opens up a whole new area of activity. Now a problem shared really can be a problem halved, as interested readers chip in with their experiences, suggestions and support. It’s like sending out a message in a bottle from your desert island, and finding that there’s a whole fleet of boats out there passing the message around and all responding to you in a very short space of time. Feeling lonely? There are friends out there. Feeling angry? There are people out there to talk you down from the ceiling. And this goes on 24 hours a day, because CoE is worldwide and there will always be someone out there ready to answer your cry of triumph or cry for help.

I think I’ve already largely answered the question about why people read Journals. What a window on the lives of so many interesting and varied individuals it is. Some of the better writers describe their daily lives in such detail that you can picture them at home and it’s like watching a soap opera except that the main character will have a conversation with you.

So if you aren’t already a devotee of the Journals section, do stop by and have a look. The content and length of the individual entries is extremely variable, but you are certain to find something to interest, charm, aggravate, amuse or generally grab your attention!

by LadyAdaneth