Weighing The Grandma Factor: Journal Analysis
The journal entry that I chose to write about is based on the article “Weighing the Grandma Factor; In Some Societies, It's a Matter of Life and Death” written by Natalie Angier. I chose this journal entry in particular because it brought memories that I enjoyed to the forefront that I haven’t thought about in a while. This article also discussed the impact grandmothers have and unique role they play in our lives, from birth to the transition off of breast milk and beyond. Through reading this article I gained some new insight into myself and the impact that my own Grandmother had on me. Also, through keeping a journal and reflecting on these readings provided in my English class I have discovered and unveiled distant memories once locked away
somewhere in my catacomb of a brain. In my own particular situation my grandmother was the staple to my family like the binding of a book keeping all of the pages together. I can easily remember going to her house and hearing her loudly shout my name from the back room and at a drop of a dime I would sprint back there to her. My grandmother would always be in the same spot usually knitting away at something for one of us, her grandchildren. I would approach her and she would always demand to see my teeth, pinch my cheeks, offer a hug and give out a quarter. She had the spoiling tendency that most American grandmothers have with their grandchildren, load me up with sugar and love and then send me on my way. I haven’t thought about this memory in some time. This reading and journal entry could not have come at a better time as I had not told my children of my biological family yet and this was part of the catalyst to do so.
Through journal writing I’ve also discovered that there are therapeutic benefits of keeping a journal, from creating creativity to decreasing stress to promoting self-knowledge. Organizing ones’ thoughts in a journal can help facilitate problem-solving and therefore reduce the stress of negative thoughts and troubling situations
somewhere in my catacomb of a brain. In my own particular situation my grandmother was the staple to my family like the binding of a book keeping all of the pages together. I can easily remember going to her house and hearing her loudly shout my name from the back room and at a drop of a dime I would sprint back there to her. My grandmother would always be in the same spot usually knitting away at something for one of us, her grandchildren. I would approach her and she would always demand to see my teeth, pinch my cheeks, offer a hug and give out a quarter. She had the spoiling tendency that most American grandmothers have with their grandchildren, load me up with sugar and love and then send me on my way. I haven’t thought about this memory in some time. This reading and journal entry could not have come at a better time as I had not told my children of my biological family yet and this was part of the catalyst to do so.
Through journal writing I’ve also discovered that there are therapeutic benefits of keeping a journal, from creating creativity to decreasing stress to promoting self-knowledge. Organizing ones’ thoughts in a journal can help facilitate problem-solving and therefore reduce the stress of negative thoughts and troubling situations