Everyone can agree that our lives are changing in unprecedented ways. Environmental crises, political chaos and new technology all vie for our attention and can leave us feeling overwhelmed and, frankly, rather dismal.

There is a special collection, the Maine Women Writers Collection (MWWC), housed in the University of New England’s Portland campus library, where we have turned when grappling with feelings of helplessness during our age of rapid change. We think others might find solace in this unique collection as well.

The collection includes diaries from the early 19th century spanning well into the 21st century. It’s a window into the extraordinary lives of ordinary women. This got us thinking about what future historians might have available about our own historical record — our ordinary lives in unprecedented times.

The digital habits of our generation are worrisome due to the looming reality of a digital dark age, when digital writing will no longer be accessible. And while some feel it is enough to make public statements on social media, how free are we really to express ourselves in such a polarized atmosphere?

Through the collection, and from our professors, we have learned the importance of slowing down, writing down our thoughts and expressing ourselves privately, away from the curated world of social media. Given the speed in which our country can change from executive orders, potential tax wars and threats to students’ ability to speak freely, diaries can become a form of resistance. Democracy thrives when citizens pay attention to issues and have a space to grapple with what problems arise.

Just as the MWWC values the lives of everyday women and ensures the preservation of their personal histories as essential to the full history of our nation, we should strive to take action in ensuring our individual experiences will be recorded. If not just for ourselves, for those next generations hoping to better understand these complex times.

Whether through writing, reflecting or activism, embracing the power of documenting our own journeys and using a diary for self-expression can inspire change and make our voices heard in shaping the future.

A diary exhibit, created by UNE student Elia O’Hara and Cathleen Miller, UNE’s education and outreach archivist, will showcase a selection of diaries within the special collection archive of the MWWC. We encourage you to visit the exhibit on UNE’s Biddeford campus to witness the powerful ways in which ordinary women have recorded their lives in Maine.

The exhibit also offers an opportunity to contribute a short diary entry about your life, displaying how we can become part of the archival record of our collective moment.

Personal accounts like this offer valuable insight into women’s experiences, struggles and triumphs, and in reflecting on their stories, we can find inspiration to reclaim our own voices and agency.

So, if you are feeling hopeless about the world, are in need of constructive venting and value the ways in which women throughout history chose to document their lives, keeping a diary is one way to engage in activism and resist complacency. While you’re at it, you are also preserving a critical moment for American democracy that otherwise would not be there.