I never truly committed to keeping a journal or diary. Though, if I had and someone had asked me if I would burn them, the answer would be a resounding "hell yes". The few diary entries had written over the years were never meant to be read by someone else. Their contents were private, for my own personal use. Isn't that why diaries have a lock on them? So that no one else can get it. I always felt that if a person wanted to share their thoughts with another then they should just come out and say how they felt, or maybe I'm just a straightforward person.
I've seen people burn their diaries in movies and read about it in books. It always was portrayed as a cleansing experience. Like how you and friends write your issues on a piece of paper and then burn them around a campfire then somehow all your troubles feel as if they have magically floated away. It always seemed dramatic, and a bit cliché. though no matter how cliché, I would do it in a heartbeat, maybe just to be symbolic, maybe because I don't have any true emotional connection to the journals at all.
I would never want anyone to read my diary. Those thoughts are for me, my own, and me alone. I would never want to read anyone else's diary. Not unless another asked me to unless they really wanted me to know what was written there. Because I view diaries as something highly personal, I would assume that if another person wrote their feelings and secrets in a diary, they would not want then read. If someone wanted me to know something personal about their life I would expect them to talk to me about such a thing. Any diary that is written online, however, I feel differently about. Public diaries are meant to be read and I would feel less like an intruder on someone's blog page compared to a written diary.
I find burning a diary cleansing because its a way to get rid of the negative thoughts that often times fill those pages. I see it as a way to rid myself of all those bad memories and the dramatic writings of a teenager. Letting go of a diary can be a type of closure, all of your thoughts and feelings about certain events are worked out on paper and are no longer rattling around in your mind. The diary has served its purpose. Burning a diary is a way of letting go of the past. So I say, let it burn.
I love your response of "hell yes," it echoes my own sentiments as well! I agree that if someone wanted any of their personal thoughts communicated to me, they would tell me. I also think of diaries as very personal and respect the privacy of others too much to read anyone's. Being human though, I am innately curious, so I have enjoyed reading a few published journals. Historically, those definitely have value. However, I never knew any of those people. I think I would be uncomfortable reading even a published diary of someone I knew.
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