I don't know what possessed me to try journaling for a month, but I did and here I am to try and tell you about it.
- I'll start off by saying I don't bullet journal or art journal. My journaling style sometimes has a little bit of colour with the titles I sometimes give them and sometimes I will highlight a list that ends up in there. Usually, though I can just write and write, though it didn't start off that easy. I started off with some prompts, like favourite movies, books and poetry etc. Just the standard run of the mill stuff really. Though it helps with me talking about multiple things and starting what I want to talk about.
- I've managed to fill up about a quarter of a notebook that I'd already previously used for other notes. It was already three-quarters full with these notes for video's etc, but I thought I'd use that notebook to try it out and see how writing goes and it worked pretty well. I think some days were more interesting than others in day to day life, especially on some days where I felt I had nothing to really write about and only filled half an A5 page. Others I had plenty and filled four sides of A5 paper. There were plenty of those prompts to start off with, but now that I've started writing about most things I feel more comfortable dumping information in the page, whether that be a good thing or not.
- I've included lists and detailed reasons behind some things and well as rambling about random daily things. It can all be included in journals. It doesn't have to be pretty or beautiful, it can be scribbles, moaning and talking a load of rubbish you wouldn't normally want to dump onto other people, making it a healthy way to vent emotion without bottling too much up.
- There is no wrong way to journal, it's just finding the right way for you. Some like bullet journaling to be organised or creative, or like me and mostly write. You can use any notebook, expensive or cheap (I'm in the cheap category here, having used spiral notebooks so far like above), many kinds of stationery can work for you whether it is fountain pens or standard Bic pens like me. All you can do is try different things and not spend too much money if you don't want to. There are also digital ways to do this too and I have digitised my first month on Goodreads as part of a challenge I made for myself to start journaling. There are plenty of free apps out there that work well for differing needs and also paid ones that allow for al kinds of fancy things. Though I just have a very basic one free from Microsoft on my computer. So what I'm saying, do what suits you the most, there is no right or wrong way to journal and nothing is off-limits to write about. Just do you.
This process has helped me process, thoughts feelings and how my life is going to change. It's therapeutic for me in a way and helps me concentrate on a specific task, stopping my mind from wondering in ways I don't like. I hope you find a reason to journal and any reason is a good reason to do it. I hope this post has been helpful to you.
