One theoretical approach to self-awareness is the study of introspective writing. Among the characteristics of intrapersonal communication that can be explored through memoirs and journals are selective memory and chronology revision. From the reflections of writers like Lillian Hellman, Dag Hammarskjold, and May Sarton comes confirmation that memories are subjectively gleaned, but their honest recording of this selectiveness echoes an important mental process. Recall of the past is not only selective but often out of sequence. Memories surface and provide a context for the present and are in turn reexamined from the perspective of a later time. Selective memory and chronology revision contribute to the development of personal myth, which parallels the role of myth in a culture. This merging of old memories and current aspirations is frequently echoed in reflective writing. Myth is a form of truth, and it draws on the past and future to explain the present. Personal myth is the particular subjective context within which experience is arranged and understood. It merges the real with the ideal, achievement with aspiration. Journals and memoirs are partial records of the facts and myths that define a life. Within each person--sometimes echoed in reflective writing--is the unique ordering of facts that is that person's truth. (HOD)