Exploring the adolescent-self through written and visual diaries

Abstract

Memories about our childhoods and adolescence may not always be accurate, but they do influence how we position ourselves as adults. In this paper, I assert that written and visual diaries can be used as a way to access the most accurate version of one's younger years, and thus, they can help one explore their self-narrative and enhance their self-understanding. In this auto-hermeneutic inquiry, I studied the therapeutic potential of exploring my own early diaries and attempted to answer how reviewing one's early thinking and emotions might influence a person's current self-identity. In this research, I identified three aspects that enriched my understanding of my adolescence, and hence, my current self. First, the recurring narratives found in my adolescent diaries enhanced my understanding of the way I feel about particular things today. Second, I realized that the narrative I built around my teen self was not actually an accurate representation of my younger self. Third, using my diaries allowed me to identify important correlations between my past experiences and my current self. I conclude that adolescent diaries are one useful way to explore autobiographic memory and self-identity. Realizations drawn from earlier diaries can then be explored further through art therapy.