The heat of the moment

I was standing in line at Starbucks (inside Barnes & Noble) the other day reading a book. It came from a shelf nearby meant to alleviate the boredom I had to endure while waiting in line because they only had one barista working. It was some little gift book on how to make life simpler. One of it's suggestions: Don't ever write anything down in the heat of the moment.

My opinion: That's stupid.

I'm sure the author didn't want all of us busy little souls to regret something somewhere down the road. She didn't want Mr. Smith to regret the nasty note he sent to Ms. Smith right after he caught her banging the milkman. After all, the words he put to paper were probably pretty hurtful and, had he calmed down before penning his thoughts, something more civil might have appeared. His immediate thoughts would just be too raw.

But isn't that what we want? Isn't that what writing is for? Oh I guess it's not the same for all people. And delving further into the world of logic I'm sure every circumstance is different. Let's say your brother calls you and says he's going to marry Lisa. You think Lisa's a bona fide nutjob. I suppose when you write your little note of congratulation you don't want your initial and instinctive thoughts of Lisa to be put on paper. You support your brother and want him to be happy. So you think for a moment and let the bad thoughts of Lisa slowly drip back into the well of annoyance in your mind where she currently resides.

The result: A perfectly lovely note that comes across as civil because you chose not to write something in the heat of the moment.

Okay, I'm invalidating my own argument. That's not my intent. I was playing devil's advocate for a moment. The words this author doesn't want us to write in the heat of moment usually have something to do with "heated moments." Learning of your brother's pending nuptuals probably doesn't qualify as such. But walking in on Ms. Smith with the milkman certainly does.

Arguments apply too.

As I was waiting in line for my pumpkin spice latte I thought back to some journal entries I had made nearly five years ago. Some were written after heated arguments. I look through them every so often and I see the ramblings of someone who had been severely wronged. Never mind the fact, that with the benefit of hindsight, this victimized soul was a little off-kilter and irrational. I still captured his thoughts. They weren't sanitized. They weren't watered down. They weren't sugar-coated.

They were raw.

Maybe because they were raw...they no longer ring true. But, even if for just a short time, THAT is how I felt. I have a record of my mental state in that instant.

Okay, I get it now. It all depends on what kind of writing you're doing. To me, writing is so often the same as journaling.

Isn't part of keeping a journal recording moments in time?