writing about yourself

TLDR : More people should write/vlog/document their lives.

Every time I write, I’m having a conversation across time - with my past self who lived these experiences, and my future self who will one day rediscover them. Recently, this idea has been on my mind as I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of reading personal blogs and watching YouTube vlogs

There’s been a backlash against influencer culture. No-one wants to watch the 1000th vlog of a person’s morning routine and their day in the life of a insert corporate job here. No-one wants to scroll through the same feed of curated photos of the highlight reels of someone’s life.

But I’d argue that you should go ahead make these.

Primarily because the person doing the writing or filming gains a few invaluable things in the process.

The first, is that you get to exercise your creative muscles and actually put something out into the world, rather than just consume. The second is that, you’re future self will thank you. It’s a snapshot of ‘you’ at that time, place and mindset. Something you can look back on.

I used to have a video gaming channel as a teenager where I played through minecraft. I had a regular audience of 1000’s of viewers, with one video blowing upto 1 million views. I deleted them out of self consciousness after a friend made a comment (and I regret it to this day). Since that day, I’ve vowed to keep every project/photo/video/writing that I create (not always putting them out publicly).

Lastly, the act of writing, filming, document is ultimately about crafting a narrative. These narratives are inherently flexible. They’re upto your interpretation. By actively engaging in the process of looking at that narrative, you can decide which bits are worth keeping and which are not.

I like the analogy of a drawer. As you go about your day, the various experiences, conversations, observations, feelings, fantasies accumulate within the drawer. But they are thrown in at random, haphazardly.

Writing to me, is taking out each piece, one by one, looking at it deeply, seeing what it means to you, where it fits in and then rearranging it neatly within the drawer (or getting rid of it entirely).

Living a rich, interesting and varied life is valuable, but only as valuable as the stillness and sense we bring to it. Through looking back at your experiences, you can see where it fits into the broader perspective.

In the process you might discover hidden insights and new ways of seeing that one would have never thought about before.

I think you will live more curiously if you write (or film yourself, or take photos, or make any art) because you become a scientist of your inner landscape. You are inspecting each passing thought or story, welcoming it, observing it curiously and ultimately letting it go.

And sometimes, when you read back your own words months or years later, you might find that past-you left exactly the wisdom that future-you needed to hear.