Journaling

Here’s my basic philosophy for starting to keep a journal: anything goes.

First, get a journal. Go to a bookstore and browse their selection of notebooks, if possible, feel the paper. I like to write with gel pens and pencils, and rough paper just doesn't work for me.

Pick the journal you like, and then get a pen or pencil that goes with it. You don't need to choose one certain size for your journals. I have journals ranging from pocket size to A5.

And, as anything goes, even a couple of pages in a planner can work as a journal!

You can use your journal for anything you want. You could keep notes throughout the day of what you observe or what you think.

You could use it to write things you liked to read or watch, or, as a bare minimum, write one line per day.

Do what feels right to you.

You can write in it whenever you want, too. For some, once a day in the morning works, for some in the evening. For some, it’s a book they need to keep with them throughout the day.

Anything goes!

You can write whatever you want, it's your journal, your document of your life. If you don't know how to get started, check out the prompts section below.

A journal isn't for writing only, you can also use your journal for quick daily sketches, or you can paste things in it, such as cards you receive, receipts for things you've bought (you could journal some lines about it), or an inspiring picture from a magazine.

What will you do in your journal?

Here are five things I do to focus on my creativity.

1. Gratitude journaling – I’ve done this for a long time, three entries at the end of the day. I write them at the bottom of each daily page and it makes all the difference in the world.
2. Jotting down quotes – Every time I read something that makes me feel like a spark lighting up in my mind, I write it down in my commonplace book. It's such a great thing to have around, to constantly inspire me.
3. Writing a daily poem - I'm a poet, so this is essential to me. It doesn't have to be a quick poem. If you aren't a poet, you could write down a great thing that happened on the day in a few lines. The goal is joy, no matter what form it takes.
4. Brain dump – I take my notepad and write whatever comes to mind, without judgement, without thinking about it too hard. There's no guarantee I will do anything with the stuff I wrote, but it's out of my mind, and that's the important thing.
5. Doodle – It’s so much joy to make a quick doodle and to let perfectionism go.

What are your journaling habits that help you focus on your creativity? What can you steal from my list to add to yours?

Why just keep one journal when you could have some on subjects?

Here are some ideas on several journals you could keep, and what you could fill them with.

1. A journal for your reading - This journal could be filled with lists of books you want to read, books you have read, reviews of books, ideas of books to read and their source, clipping from papers or magazines, a printed out picture of books you saw at a bookstore that looked interesting. The possibilities are endless. Let me know on mastodon if I should write a more detailed post on keeping a reading journal.
2. A gratitude journal - Every morning, write down what you are grateful for.
3. A health tracker - Track the meds you take, write down symptoms or log your doctor’s visits.
4. Plant journal - Paste in a picture of your plant and its care instructions. What’s the ideal position for the plant? Sunny? Shade? When did you water and fertilise your plant? What issues did you have with it and how did you solve it?
5. A creative journal - Journal your thoughts after a creative session, write down ideas, work out thoughts and scribble notes or quotes that inspire you.
6. Pet journal - Paste in pictures, log vet visits, keep a food log, write about your pet’s quirks, jot down fun things that happened. There are so many things you could keep in a pet journal.
7. Food journal - What did you eat? What are your favourite meals? What are the recipes? What new recipes would you like to try? Paste them in! What do you plan to eat next week?
8. Travel journal - Where would you like to travel? What would you like to see there? When you’re there, add daily journal entries of your visit and paste in fun things you collect along the way like receipts or brochures of places you’ve visited.
9. One line a day journal - There are these fancy journals where you can write one line a day for five years, but you can also just do this in a notebook for a year or for five, draw in lines if you want to do that. A one line a day journal forces you to focus on the essentials of the day. If you have children, you could keep a journal for each child with one fun or exciting thing that happened that day.
10. Creativity journal - What would you like to create? What workshop would you like to take? What are your favourite tools? Paste in swatches of paint, add quick sketches, paste in fabric swatches or test squares you’ve knitted.

I was pondering what I do to kickstart my journaling on those days where blank pages stare at me, and I stare back in wonder what on earth to write.

What do you do?

The answer is simple: keep a tiny pen and notebook with you at all times.

Whenever something happens that makes you happy, or whenever you remember something about your life during your day, write down a quick note in your little notebook.

Then at the end of the day, or the next morning, grab your journal and write something to the prompts you’ve jotted down earlier.

If that fails, you can journal to a theme. My little notebooks contain my most important journal of all: my gratitude log. At the end of each day I write down the things I'm grateful for and it is so very helpful to leaf through my little notebook and see all the things I'm grateful for. This never fails to inspire.

I do hope this helps you to fill your journal's pages!

I don't know about you, but the doom and gloom of the news lately is really getting me down.

Yet, if you observe your life after watching it, there is a truth that’s undeniable: most of the time, it doesn't impact your everyday life. Even after all the anxiety the news brings on, nothing has changed in your circumstances.

You’re still in the same place, surrounded by the same things. The anxiety the news brings doesn't change your life, it just keeps you inert.

At times like that, your journal can be a safe haven and a place to find joy. That's why this exercise exists. It helps you focus on your here and now.

You can do this exercise in a room, as the example below suggests, but it works everywhere.

Here's what you do

1. grab your journal, pen(s) and other things you'd like to add, like stickers to decorate etc.
2. go to a room in your house, and sit down.
3. with your journal open in front of you, and your pen in hand, look around, focusing on the following question: what do you see that makes you happy?
4. Narrow your focus, notice the small things within or next to them. Notice the things that are probably meaningless to someone else, but that have an impact on you.
5. Write down those small things, and write down how they make you feel, what they make you remember, why you cherish them. How did they become a part of your life? Express gratitude for it too.

Here is an example from where I'm now, the bedroom.

Next to me is my nightstand, it's pretty, all red with drawers I decorated myself. There are several things on top of that nightstand, things that make me happy.

thing 1: my water bottle. It has an elephant on it, my favourite animal. The bottle makes me happy because it carries the water I need for my body to function well.

thing 2: a small roll of washi tape in pink. I love washi tape so much and I love to decorate with it. The bright pink is such a joyful colour.

thing 3: a bag of seeds. I eat seeds every day for several reasons and that's why it makes me happy to see them. They are the perfect healthy snackfood and nourish me.

This is such a fun and powerful exercise. I really hope you will dive into your journal to do it.

I go through stages in my journaling, large, small, lots of books in a travellers notebook, only one small notebook etc.

My journaling method is always the same, though. I write page after page, glue stuff in, print pictures that I add etc. The advantage of this format are multiple, I can always carry it with me, the size is easy to write on in bed if needed, I love the notebooks I buy for it, etc.

And yet, I know that in a couple of months I will probably get restless and want to switch again because I think it is easier, only to come back to this.

It all comes down to resisting simplicity. It is the reason I carry several pens with me, because who knows, one might fail and then I have a backup.

I resist simplicity when it comes to journaling because I am afraid to get bored. And then I have to keep reminding myself that it's not about the format, size or anything else, it is about what I put on the pages.

And that is the same, no matter what journal I use.

• What would you do if all you had was this moment?
• What would you let go of? 
• Who would you love?
• What would you do?
• What have you learned from this exercise? What small change can you make?