Janis, some of us express journal-like things through gardening, music, painting, quilting, or a number of other methods. We leave our legacy or show our heart through crafts or photographs or scrapbooking...
Nancy, Marissa, Sharon, Laurie, Peggy, Joan, thank you for your comments! So insightful. I love the idea of journaling through an illness or a move. And even if there are no children to gain from a lifetime of journaling, I think it would be a treasure to find a friend's or cousin's or teacher's or aunt's thoughts about life. I don't believe any journal--whether on scraps of paper, in a fancy gold-bound edition, or within the pages of a novel--is wasted. Write away! And keep reading! Thank you again for your comments.
Thank you, Peggy. There's always someone around us who needs a little encouragement, someone who hasn't had a kind thing done for them in a long time. At a recent writer's conference with a cafeteria-style dining hall, five separate times, someone approached me as I tried to pull my wheeled laptop bag and balance my tray to take it to the return window. They each offered to carry my tray for me. That's never happened before. And to have it happen five times in a few days was extra exceptional. Each time, my heart swelled with gratitude for that simple kindness. I thanked them. But I'm not sure they know what an impact they had.