The Totally Awesome 80's!

The 80's may be old but they were my teenage years! I remember them because I lived them. The 80's are old now, but they were cool then. I remember seeing Karate Kid in the theater and thinking that Mr. Miagi and Daniel were really cool. 

I saw many movies in the theater like Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Ghostbusters, Home Alone, Splash!, Wall Street, E.T., Poltergeist, Savannah Smiles, Wind Walker, The Little Mermaid, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Cocoon, Short Circuit, The Princess Bride, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Rambo, Rocky 4, The Terminator, Red Dawn, Popeye, Highlander, The Dark Crystal, Little Shop of Horrors, Tootsie, Sixteen Candles, Aliens, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Adventures in Babysitting, Top Gun, Back to the Future, Flashdance, Footloose, Good Morning Vietnam, Beaches, Steel Magnolias, Tron, The Golden Child, Mannequin, The Secret of My Success, Die Hard, Beverly Hills Cop, Friday the 13th, Airplane, Caddyshack, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn, Dirty Dancing, Ferris Buelller's Day Off, The Goonies, and many more. 

Yes, things have evolved since back then but I can say that I had the old things. I had a record player in my room. Records were the "in" thing and I still have my records of Rick Springfield, Chicago 17, West Side Story (sound track,) and a 45 of Michael Jackson singing "Billie Jean". Even though I had a few cassette tapes I had mostly records as a teenager.

I watched The Love Boat, The Bionic Man, Wonder Woman, M*A*S*H, Charlie's Angels, Saturday morning cartoons, and many more shows on a brown TV with rabbit ears. There was no cable or 24 hour TV. Many times my sister and I awoke before our show came on and turned the TV on to snow or colored bars. Our TV had no remote control to change the channel. To view a different station, we had to turn the dial (and hope that the noise wouldn't awake our parents!)

70's TV with snow

Color bars

Now that the 80's are over, I can see a definite look. I didn't notice the amount of makeup people wore (even men!) The business in the front, party in the back hair style was cool. A lot of women wore the fashion of Flashdance or the look of Madonna and most men looked clean cut.

I loved the 80's; it was a coming-of-age time for me. I love to see the cheesy shows of that time because it brings back memories. When I see something on a website from the 80's I think, oh ya! and smile.

The Value of a Journal

1) I can record my thoughts and get them out of my head.

2) Reading what I wrote as well as considering the entire situation gives me perspective.

3) Writing it means I don't have to remember it.

4) It's like having a mute friend that let's me "talk" as much as I want.

5) I record history and things that are important to me.

6) Reading past entries causes me to learn from what I wrote. I forget current things quickly (as do most people.) When I read what I previously wrote I get to remember the thing that was important to me and learn from it again, and usually also learn other things. 

My journal helps me evolve and grow toward becoming what I want to be. When reading past entries I see patterns. Sometimes I see ways that I want to change. No matter what is going on around me, I can say honest things to my journal and never be ridiculed. There is no right or wrong way to journal, if the journal looks like a scrapbook then so what - the most important thing is that what's in there - written or otherwise - is something valued. I've included cards, notes, ticket stubs, flowers, drawings, and my words in my journals.

Some people are short and sweet; they record one sentence or maybe just one word to sum up their day. Some people are elaborate and write many words. Sometimes people record something they studied. Sometimes people do all the above. People's moods change every day: sometimes they feel like writing and sometimes they don't. Some people feel like their life is boring and they have nothing to say. Some people are private and don't want to record what they think because then the public may read it. Some people think, "No one, including me, wants to read my words." No matter what type of person someone is, there's value in journal writing.

A journal helps the person who wrote it, and when they move on to the next life a journal lets the reader know them. My Great Grandma Clark is dead but I have a few of her journals from the 1950's that tell me a lot about her. She wrote one line entries, and I give her credit because she wrote every day! I know what she valued by what she mentioned. I know what she did by what she recorded. I don't have to only rely on hearsay to know about her because I have her own words. My Grandma Gordon, who is also dead, never kept journals but I have a pocket book calendar that she probably had in her purse when she went on a trip in the 1970's. She made notes in it. Not only do I have what she said but I have her handwriting. A journal not only helps me but it will also help my posterity to know me for generations.

I don't write for future generations but for my own benefit. I've written journals since 1978 (when I was ten.) Now, the year is 2013 (35 years later) and I still and probably will always keep a journal. At times I've considered my journal "cheap therapy" as I've recorded my honest feelings and worked through hard things. There's no way I would have remembered a lot of things I recorded because so much time has gone by. It's fun to go back and read what I thought was important then. If I'd never kept a journal I'd tell myself that it's never too late to start.