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| Property of Stormberry |
It wasn't until moments ago that I found the old posts I have written here about journaling, and up until that moment I knew I had written about the subject - because duh! - but I didn't know what have I written and whether I would repeat myself. Well, I have the pictures and I have some ideas, so I might as well share them, right? Right.
This has been prompted because I have started watching videos about journaling again. Most of what you can find, though, either it's about art journaling or junk journaling, or doing a sort of journaling that's more like smashbooking or scrapbooking than the basic concept of journaling people get from reading or hearing about famous diaries, such as Anne Frank's, Anaïs Nin's, Benjamin Franklin's and so on and so forth. But then, there's also the journaling that functions also as a planner or a time/task organizer. So yes, it can become quite a confusing thing, though it doesn't need to be so.
So, when someone thinks "I would like to journal", or maybe someone who has been journaling wonder if they are doing it well, I believe the more voices with can give to guide and assure people on this subject, the better. In this post I'll mainly concentrate on the process of starting, so let's dive into that.
Right or Wrong Way
First things first, to the question of "Is there a right way to journal?" the answer is "Yes and No". There's not really ANY particular way, format, aesthetic, periodicity or medium that makes it right or wrong. So, whatever format you pick or if you give it up or have no consistency, or switch from one way to another, it's all good.
The only way to do it wrong is doing it without liking it. If you don't enjoy it, stop. When you stop liking it, that's when it's wrong. But as long as you like it, it's absolutely right.
What to Write About
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| Property of Stormberry |
Now, usually one would say, "well, there you go: copy that". And yes, you are right: it's not that easy, specially if you are inspired by artistic journals and you feel like you don't have the same talent. Or if you are inspired by travelling journals, but you can't really travel, and don't feel like writing a journal about where you would like to go.
In those cases, my advise would be to write about that, or if you want to create a more art-journal or collage-journal, then start by simply clipping and collecting pictures you like. You don't even have to paste them in, just collect them, stash them between the pages, let them accumulate there and try out a couple of ideas as you feel like.
If you felt inspired and are more into "words", it's much easier - or at least for me because I am into words and writing - because instead of jumping right off into the thick of it, you can start by writing about your motivation or how did you get there.
Now, if it wasn't your idea but it's a assignment, or you were advised to write a journal for whatever reason, a couple of ideas until you warm up are:
1. Write about the news headlines. What catches your attention and what do you think about it.
2. Write about the gossip you have heard.
3. Write about what you have seen on social media lately, that catches your attention.
4. Pick a person, an animal, a plant, a thing... anything that catches your attention, and write about what you think of them or it.
5. Write about anything interesting (for you) that has happened or is about to happen.
Last year a lot of people found inspiration to journal in the events that have changed the world, deciding to record their experience with the pandemic. Those journals got to be known as the quarantine diaries. Whether they keep up or not, those people and those journals came from a moment of global life change and came to life to record a shift like no other. But then again, you don't need a global shift to journal. A personal shift is enough. And yes, you can still pick up a pen and paper and start right now writing your quarantine diaries or your climate change diaries or the "oh-hell-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-people" diaries.
Entries can be short or long and don't even have to be dated. I date them because I have a bad memory and my journals actually help me remember, but if you don't care about the dates or what you decide to journal about isn't time sensitive, skip it. Hey, you may even date some entries and some others don't.
How to Start an Entry
Well, dating it is the easiest way, if you choose that way. For a while now I've been adding the location and also giving a sort of title to my entries, but you do anything you want. If you want to follow an epistolary style, with "Dear Diary,", that's a way to do it. If you feel blocked, and you want to write, but have no idea how to write that first sentence, make a title with the general topic you want to write about.
For instance, let's say that you had a hard day at work because there was too much traffic and meetings got cancelled and pushed to other days and you wasted hours trying to reschedule them. So how to start? You could say:
1. Today was a very hard day. ... and go on explaining why.
2. Make a title: "Hard Day" or "Wasted Hours" or "Rescheduling". Here go with the first idea. Then go on explaining what happened.
3. Pretend you are talking to a friend. Start with "People need to be more reliable. I can't have another day like this. Today I had a busy day..." and go on.
Sometimes it happens that you are very tired but would like to journal because you want to keep a fresh memory of the events, but really, you are too tired. Well, you can either make a short entry in list format or with just a few words or sentences to jug your memory, and leave it for some other day. If you have the chance, record it on a voice note. Deal with it later.
I have a couple of entries I have written through many days in order to record the particular events of a given day. It not only works, but oftentimes, taking more time to record certain things becomes cathartic and also gives you a new perspective.
Oh, and it's always ok to add stuff. Recipes, photos, clippings, notes. And no, it doesn't have to be artistic, just meaningful for you.
How to Start Journaling - the First Page Question
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| Property of Stormberry |
Yes, it can be intimidating. The last two photos are actual pictures of the first pages of my journals. Sometimes I have added a printed out article I liked, and used it to write my first entry as a omment to it. Another first entry said something about my journaling habits, specifically how I choose to write the date and how that holds throughout the journal.
Other times that first entry reads as what it is: a continuation of the journaling process that comes from a long line of journals written through many years now.
This page doesn't have to be perfect, doesn't need a cover or a design or a grand opening. Just write. You don't even have to worry about reading it in the future, because unless you are like mee and have a bad memory, journaling is about recording, writing it down, recording, filming something for the very pleasure of doing so.
I don't really like it when people talk about "making a habit of journaling" or advise people to "keep doing it, even if you don't like it because it will eventually come naturally to you". You should make journaling anything you want it to be, and if it naturally becomes a habit, well, great. If not, if you write only once a year or every other month or god-knows-when, that's ok too. Write when you feel like it, and about what you feel like it.
The only person your journaling has to satisfy is you.
Now, something I would like to mention here is that journaling doesn't have to be strictly writing or writing by hand. You can type if you want, do it on a document on your computer, on your phone, or an app, or some online journal or even a blog. But it can also be audio recordings or videos, or any other way you find to express yourself in a way that satisfies you.
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