There are few things in life that bring more relief than writing down your feelings and thoughts. A diary is your safe haven where you can write down your emotions without worrying about what other people might think.

Diary keeping is a practice that has been around for thousands of years. If your ancestor kept a journal you may be able to find some interesting information in it.

The Origins of Diary Keeping

Journals and diaries have a long and fascinating history. They have been used by scientists, explorers and artists for centuries and continue to inspire scholars and readers today.

Aside from being an excellent way to record important events in your life, keeping a diary is a great way to keep your imagination active! For example, if you want to learn a new skill, you can start by writing down your observations and experiences. This will help you remember them in the future!

Another benefit of diary keeping is that it can help to improve your memory. You can use it to write down interesting facts from books or the internet and then keep them in your diary so that you never forget them.

It can also be used to help you stay motivated and get a sense of achievement. For example, if you want to learn how to bake or ride a horse, you can keep a diary of your progress so that you can see how far you've come.

The earliest diarists were men and they mostly wrote about their daily activities and thoughts. Nevertheless, women started to keep diaries in the 1700s and this helped to bring some balance into diary writing.

The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages, which lasted from the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance, were a time of great cultural and social development. It was an era of great architecture and art, the birth of the university, a papal monarchy, the crusades, bubonic plague, and an official break between the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox churches known as the Great Schism.

Although it was a period of tumult and political upheaval, the Middle Ages also witnessed a number of important developments in culture, including the development of writing systems and literacy. The first schools began to form during the Middle Ages. Students would learn reading, logic, math, astronomy, and public speaking at these institutions.

In addition to education, the Middle Ages saw the rise of monasteries, which were centers for religious and political activity. They were often used as land trusts for powerful families, centers of propaganda, and bases for proselytization and missionary work.

The Catholic Church was a major unifying influence, preserving Latin learning and the art of writing. It also maintained a network of bishops who administered religious and political affairs throughout Europe.

There were also many cultural changes during the Middle Ages, such as the emergence of national identity and the formation of secular and ecclesiastical institutions. The establishment of a formal division between the Catholic and Orthodox churches during the High Middle Ages was an important turning point for European civilization.

The Renaissance

The Renaissance was a time when people began to write more often about their thoughts and feelings. They also began to think of diaries as an important form of documentation, not just for the writer but for those who would read it after their death.

The practice of diary keeping continued throughout the seventeenth century, with many people recording their lives and their feelings on a daily basis. Samuel Pepys, for example, was one of the most famous diarists of the time, and his journals are still held in the Morgan Library and Museum.

In addition to writing about their daily activities, many of these diarists also made a point of writing about their faith. This can be seen in the work of Christian writers such as Isaac Ambrose, who wrote about the importance of keeping a spiritual diary.

Although many of these authors were able to establish a close relationship with their diary, others connected with it only on a co-incidental level. For instance, a diarist might mention another in their diary as an inspiration or someone who had influenced them to start the habit of diary writing.

In this way, a network of diarists developed over the centuries that grew out of their common interest in journal keeping. This network may not have been formally organised, but it was certainly an interesting phenomenon that we have been unable to find any other examples of.

The Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment, which took place in the 18th century, saw new ideas about government, personal freedom and religious beliefs begin to develop in Europe. These ideas would eventually spread across European colonies and have a huge impact on society.

One of the key developments during this period was a scientific revolution that began in the mid-17th century, based on empirical observation and not metaphysics or spirituality. This enabled people to see how the universe worked and why certain things happened as they did.

As a result, the scientific revolution encouraged people to ask questions and look at the world in a different way. The Enlightenment philosophes believed that science and reason could shed light on all aspects of life, especially the ways in which humans interact with the world.

While the Enlightenment era was widely celebrated and its ideas were often endorsed by governments, it was also seen as a threat to traditional institutions and beliefs. Some thinkers were labelled as heretics and others were imprisoned or hounded out of their homes.

The Enlightenment influenced the development of many disciplines, including philosophy, religion and law. It also encouraged the writing of great works that are now part of the Western Canon.

The 19th Century

In the 19th century, diary keeping was popular as a literary device. It helped writers develop their style and provide material for their publications. The practice was also used as a way to instill discipline and good character in children.

Aside from enhancing the creative process, diaries also provided an outlet for self-disclosure and articulation of personal and social reality. These texts can be analyzed with an interpretative strategy that is sensitive to their liminal status between the public and private.

During the nineteenth century, many individuals of all walks of life kept diaries. Whether they were an affluent farm girl, a Union soldier in the Civil War, or a humble peddler on a ship in New York City, their handwritten journals recorded details of their daily lives.

While a great deal of attention has been given to diaries by white amanuenses, many African American, immigrant, and lower-class people also kept journals. Some of them, such as the aforementioned Abraham Kohn's German-language diary, candidly document their hardships while others, such as the diaries of freed African Americans, tell tales of their emancipation and the transition to white society.

The most renowned writers of the 19th century, such as Henry David Thoreau, Washington Irving, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, kept diaries. These texts served as the source for their most important works, including Walden (1854), The Blithedale Romance (1852), and Our Old Home (1863). In addition, they offered insight into the writing process by highlighting the author's reflections on ideas and characters that would later appear in books.

The 20th Century

The 20th Century saw a huge impact on the history of diary keeping. The century was filled with innovations in science, technology and medicine. Many inventions were made that improved the quality of life for people around the world. The technology of airplanes, automobiles, radio, television and the Internet revolutionized human communication.

The century was also a period of great social change, and people began to think about nationalism and globalism in new ways. Nations became recognized as separate entities in international law.

Many explorers, scientists and artists kept diaries to record their observations of the world. These records are fascinating to read because they often capture a new perspective on the way that we see the world today.

While some people kept diaries to share with their friends and family, others used them for their own self-improvement or to document the details of their lives. Henry David Thoreau, for example, honed his writing skills by keeping a journal.

A number of famous authors kept diaries as a way to record their thoughts and ideas for future works. These included writers such as Tolstoy, Kafka, Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, Anais Nin and Sylvia Plath. These journals were often published and are still widely read today.