Journaling – what’s all the fuss about?

Contrary to what you might think given all the current hype ‘Journaling’ is not a new thing it’s a revived pastime. Some might call it a diary others a way of organising one’s life, recording or ordering activity, yet others see it as a way to be mindful and keep good mental health.  I think it depends on your point of view. I have always had a journal, often times more than one. This is my small collection just from this year. There are a couple underneath that span more than one year that have information in that I need to hand that sit on the shelf of my desk as reference books. Some I use for my creative work, some are more of a conventional diary, some are lists of things to do, some are plans, ideas and inspirations. Purists will argue that a diary is a place where you keep a record of actual events and activities whereas a journal is a place to keep a record of events and activities and your thoughts and feelings, inspirations and observations. I believe the two are interchangeable. I mean Samuel Pepys kept his diaries and they are so much more than just a record of events and activities they opened up the world to life and times of 17th century Britain. If you are of a mind to delve into the differences you might like to read the preface to William Matthews The Diary: A Neglected Genre his introduction goes into some detail about how the two are quite distinct and yet interchangeable. Again, for me, its a matter of perception.

There are so many famous journals that have contributed to our modern world (top left to bottom right) Leonardo Da Vinci, Freda Kahlo, Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Anne Frank, Emilie Davis, Lewis Carol, Mark Twain, Thomas Eddison. Each had their own style of recording their thoughts, ideas and plans alongside recorded events. Each personal to their own requirements.

Now we have established a journal is something in which you record things that are relevant to your life at that moment in time, where and how do you start and what is the purpose, what do we hope to achieve by keeping a journal?

First, let’s deal with the pracicalities. If you are going to keep a physical journal, you need to buy a book, or a file to put your collection of writings in. Depending on what you want to record you might find it handy to have a smaller notebook in which you can make little notes as you go through your day, or, when you wake up after a particular vivid dream you may want to record that, I often have my  best ideas come to me in the middle of the night and scribble a little note if I don’t the detail escapes me and days later I might think oh I had a dream about that. You don’t need to copy it out into your journal just tear out the sheet and paste it in, unless you are like me in which case I neatly clip it and make sure the paste goes right to the edges, I’m a walking contradiction, a messy person who has to constantly tidy up as I go along. You might want a big scrapbook type of journal or a lined page book, blank pages, a ring binder type is good if you are going to be sticking stuff in because it grows where the spine is in a regular book.

If you feel like you might be sitting in front of a blank page forever then get any of the hundreds and thousands of free resources, tip sheets, ready done doodles, lists, scripts and so on. There are tons of sites with free downloadable templates these are just a fraction of the pins available if you type in free downloadable journal pages into Pinterest, print them off and stick them in or copy the ideas down into your little journal book.

You also need pens and rulers, if you want to make it arty coloured pens, pencils, crayons, watercolours, inks, glue sticks, washi tape. I have a few tupperware containers with all my gubbins in but have always a pen and a pad in my bag wherever I go.

What type of journal will you keep? You may just want a general journal that chronicles your daily life. You might have a specific goal in mind like losing weight, a new exercise regime, yogo practice, studying, self development, travel. They can all be in one journal or you might want a separate one for key areas. Be wary though of having too many you dont want to spend all your time journaling and none of it actually doing! My advice for getting started and getting a routine going, just put something in it as often as you can, a bus ticket, a scribble, a tv programme you’ve watched, a meme that resonated with you. Your shopping list. Something that made you laugh, something that made you cry, your happiest thoughts, your darkest thoughts, something that made you angry, a pressed flower, a piece of fabric. Doodle, colour it in. A little plan of something your going to do. Really there are no rules. Use it to offload, use it to give you resolve, use it organise yourself, use it to inspire, use it record anything.

I make lists for everything, it’s a habit I developed when working and managing projects. Every day I worked through my list alongside work that cropped up or was planned, sometimes I would move something from my list to a future day if required, at the end of each day I reviewed my list checked off the things done. maybe with notes and those not done were put on to the next days list. My planning journal carries on this tradition.

My creative journal is the opposite this is a collection of notes, scribbles, drawings, construction plans, shopping lists, pictures torn from magazines, little pen paintings, fabric samples. At first glance it’s like a scruffy book stuffed with curiousities, at second glance it’s a scruffy book stuffed with curiousities! It’s more a work in progress that helps my creative process rather than an artistic study, it is for my consumption only, it holds my best and failed ideas, it inspires me to experiment.

There are plenty of online journal sites too. Techboomers has a good comprehensive list of websites and apps that provide journaling across a range of subject areas from diet journals to faith, travel journals to mindfulness. Definitely worth a look if online is more your style. I also use my Pinterest and Instagram as collection points for work both creative and mindful, planning and managing. I collect word poems and words, music and reels, diy videos and pictures of cute animals, recipes and research notes. Fundamentally I am a designer so as much as you will find me crocheting egg cosies, I might also be painting a watercolour, upcycling vintage plates into cake stands, or, designing branding and logos for small businesses, writing web sites and setting up ecommerce shopping sites. To me it’s all creative whether its online, in the kitchen, at my desk or in the studio.

Then consider blogs,  like this, and Facebook, literally every day posting, read back through your Facebook and you will find a real mix of thoughts, feelings, actual activities etc etc. I sometimes find it easier to type my thoughts into notes online than writing in my journal.

As the author says in this insightful blog piece – 17 Journaling Tips for Beginners and How to Start, by Dee of Vanilla Papers – journaling should be a pleasure and a treat – not a chore. She gives some really great advice and I would highly recommend a read before you launch yourself into this self help journaling malarky! A woman after my own heart she takes a very similar approach to me, rules schmules, do your own thing and remember you don’t have an audience it’s for you. Unless of course you end up as the Charles Darwin of the twenty first century but you will probably be dead before they decide your journal chronicles the best and worst of our century so I wouldn’t worry about how it reads or looks.

Which brings me neatly back to the beginning – journaling is not a new concept, it’s a revived one and with all the devices and methods of recording we have it can be digital or manual, it’s your choice. One thing it is though is really useful and cathartic in so many ways.