Advise for Journaling

Property of Stormberry

You might be roaming the ailes of a paper store looking for a notebook and a pen to start journaling because you feel like this is something you want to do, or because you are convinced that this is going to make your life better. You might be nervous or excited, or just blah. So, let me ask you something: What will you do the moment you open the journal? How would you start?

Yes, you may already have a plan, or you might be concentrating on the notebook purchase because you have no idea what to do about it.

The thing with journaling, or keeping a diary - call it any way you want to, it's yours and it should fit and please you, nobody else - is that often expectations can kill the process. The "blank page" can block you and make you feel off because you have no idea what to do, or maybe you devote the first week an insane amount of energy in planning, designing, drawing, collaging and what not, and then you realize you don't really want to do that anymore because it is so tiresome. So, what to do?

I started journaling when I was 10 years old. From age 8 or so, I wanted desperately a Hello Kitty diary, even though I didn't know to write quite well. In my case, ever since I know myself, I have always been drawn to letters and to writing (among other things, of course), so when I've got my first diary for Christmas, I was over the moon, even if it was in a blank paged book, and I was afraid to write in it because I was used to ruled pages. I thought back then that keeping a diary meant to write everyday, so even when I was tired or nothing interesting had happened, I wrote in my journal. Of course, on those days I wrote:

Nothing interesting happened today.

Eventually this became too much of a chore and I abandoned it. Me, quite possibly a graphomaniac. Since I am addicted to writing, though, I came back to it later on, with a much more relaxed attitude, and started writing whenever I wanted, whatever I wanted, no pressure. And I've been doing it since then.

Property of Snowberry

There have been years when I've made only one entry in the whole year, and there are years where I burn through two or three books because I'm carrying my diary around and writing like I'm possessed. Some of my journal books are cover to cover only writing, some have drawings, some have... charts and graphs where I explore ideas for economics theories. Some others are fat and prone to fall apart because I've stuffed it with mementoes from trips and dates and purchases and whatnots. They each are me and represent me, and they are there to wait for me for when I want to write about something. And they work for me.

So, what's my advise for people looking for starting a journal (or a diary)? Simple, pay attention.

First Page Issue

In my case this is no longer an issue. After so many journals, each is like the continuation of the next, so I'm long since gotten over this issue. However, sometimes I like to leave this page purposefully in blank, and later on do something on it. You can, for instance (and I really like this), grab a cup of your favorite hot drink (non sweetened) and pour just a tad on a saucer. Sit the mug on the spilt liquid and then put it on the page and let it sit a couple of minutes. Lift it and you have a purposeful stain, in a circle. You can leave it like that, or write a quote in it, or around it, draw if you want to...

You can also do that with water colors and go creative.

Another idea is to pick up a magazine or a newspaper you like, clip out a picture or a news article, and paste it. The write over it "Most Memorable News/Picture on The Day This Journal/Diary was Started". If the picture is big, or you make a collage, you can always cut a strip of paper to write on it and glue it on. Perfectly cut, ripped... it all works. :-) Remember you can "age" paper by brewing a really strong black tea, and submerging the paper in it. Leave it some 20 to 30 minutes and then dry the page by putting it between old news papers and pressing it down. It can take a day or two, depending on weather conditions.

You can also go not so artsy, and just write a quote or a warning on it, or the date of start or a list of the things you like. And here's another idea: Put on top of it or at the center, or anywhere you want "Random Thoughts" or "Brain Dump", or "Thought Parking", and use it through time to write anything short on it.

You don't need to make it perfect, because honestly, you will hardly see it. Make it anything that talks to you. And yes, it's alright to use it for the first entry. The hell knows you may want to use up as much of the paper real estate of your journal for as long as you can.

First Entry

This can be tricky for many. Remember this is for YOU, so you don't need to introduce yourself to the journal, though you can do that if you want to. In this spirit, remember that this first entry should be... you. Like every other. Writing the date is optional, too. Nobody needs to know. You can add a title, if you like too, or address the journal as if you were writing a letter.

Two of the diaries I've read and remained with me are Anna Frank's and Anaïs Nin's. Ms. Nin wrote continually, so often you don't have an idea of when things happened. Her diaries were a collection of confidences, unaddressed, and mixing thoughts, impressions and facts. Anna started each entry with "Dear Kitty", a friend she invented, and made her journal to be.

Here's an example of how I do it:

Heredia,

2019.09.23

"Giving Advise"

Another day at work, and another day gone by. Things are going as usual and I'm happy about it. I was also thinking about journaling because I've seen K's efforts to try and get into journaling.

Style

The question of style is the easiest: go with whatever pleases you. This is not a beauty contest, nor  there is a price for the journal that keeps the canon. If you feel like doing some are, do some art. If you feel just like writing, then write. The journal is there for you to unload your mind and spirit, so do so and don't mind how it's going to look.

Style can change from book to book, and you can also experiment with different things as you go by. Your journal is personal, so it has an ample space to do all your tries and errors. And don't worry! Try it all, keep it there, and maybe in the future, when you revisit your pages, you can rediscover something from the old days.

Property of Stormberry

Sometimes art or clipping look aweful at the moment, but with time, the materials age and it can look wonderful years later.

The Rhythm

Take it easy. Notebooks and writing instruments have a cost. Don't write if you don't feel like it. If you do something when you don't like it, when you have to force yourself to do it, you'll hate it. This is not a life saving diet, nor exercise to keep you in shape. This is something you do for you. To the hell with all that "you have to make it a habit", or "get into the habit" and "fake it until you make it". Hell no! Do it because it pleases you, because you really want to, because you feel like it.

You can keep it by your bed, or at your desk, or carry it around with you... it's all up to you and what you feel like it.

No matter if you  do it for a mental health exercise or a way to improve your life so, this is your friend, your personal tool, your writing, your journal and it should fit you and serve you, not the other way around. Journaling is a pleasure, not a task.

EDIT: I was checking some videos about journaling, and I found this video from this super lovely girl, and she gives some really incredible tips. So, I'll leave her video here to help you get inspired. :-D Oh, and please, please, PLEASE live her a lot of love in her video, because she just so totally deserve it. :-) 2019.09.24