Journaling: Do's.
1:15pm, 20th April 2020 // edited: 7:20pm, 20th May 2020
Currently playing: Enti Malak, Muhammad Al Omary
Hey there :) I took some much needed time off for no particular reason but I'm back and I hope my stay is longer than it was before. You might have noticed that the blog's gone through a bit of a makeover: the pink was growing very 2019 at a point so i switched it up with some lovely bright hues.
If you've known me for the past 4-5 years, you'd know I like journaling. I like plastering notebooks with all sorts of nonsense. It's both therapeutic and aesthetically pleasing. It's also a great way to gain control of something in your life with very little to lose. Additionally, maintaining a journal is a great way to de-clutter the absolute gibberish your mind spews sometimes. I could talk about this for days but most of you know this already. That's the strange thing about journaling, you already know what's supposed to be done but most often I've heard my own friends ask me just how it's done.
Firstly, take out a sledgehammer and destroy the idea of uniformity and order. Just kidding, Please don't go looking for sledgehammers in this lovely time of social distancing. Instead, understand that there's no clear cut way to keeping a journal. They are, quite possibly, the most customizable form of therapy, in my opinion.
It's a bit like wand-magic, really. 'the wand chooses the wizard', if you know? Olivander was not fooling around with that statement. But Harry Potter aside, Your existing talents/passions choose what kind of journal you'll end up maintaining.
With me, it's a bit of everything. I recall one of my teachers calling me a Jack of all trades. Now that's a rather pleasant phrase, almost a compliment, if you ignore the latter clause 'Master of none.'
There's an incredible variety of journals you can find online or create yourself (like I did). We're all, I believe, familiar with bullet journals. Bullet Journals are a planner of sorts with a chronological order and to-do lists where best fit, a bit of a productivity tracker, if you ask me. Art journals are by far the most difficult to maintain, considering the existence of Art-block. Similar are the Writer's Journals.
Here's a more detailed look into what each type of journal does/can help you accomplish:
1. Bullet Journal
Like I mentioned previously, they're a planner of sorts. I used to have one when I was in school (you school-goers really REALLY need this) and it might as well have been my saving grace. It helps you document things accordingly. Checklists are a essential part of bullet journaling- the word 'bullet' here means 'bulletin points' not the Bam!Crash!Kill! bullets. You can eye your way through it, honestly. Mine usually contained a spread of the entire year in view so I could colour-in important dates and give myself a headsup about deadlines. Sometimes I'd forget to fill days in and honestly, it's no big deal. Sure, it might seem a little nerve-wrecking but the point of keeping a bullet journal (according to me) is to help you think and plan ahead. It's not necessarily something you need to be completely invested in accomplishing every task for each day, rather it's a process: you kinda get better at it the more you use it.
Don't: Cram your day with tasks you KNOW you won't be able to get done. For example, logically we all know we don't wake up bright and early on the weekends so do NOT schedule something important in the early hours of a Saturday unless it's something you have no control over. Honestly, give yourself a break.
Currently playing: Enti Malak, Muhammad Al Omary
Hey there :) I took some much needed time off for no particular reason but I'm back and I hope my stay is longer than it was before. You might have noticed that the blog's gone through a bit of a makeover: the pink was growing very 2019 at a point so i switched it up with some lovely bright hues.
If you've known me for the past 4-5 years, you'd know I like journaling. I like plastering notebooks with all sorts of nonsense. It's both therapeutic and aesthetically pleasing. It's also a great way to gain control of something in your life with very little to lose. Additionally, maintaining a journal is a great way to de-clutter the absolute gibberish your mind spews sometimes. I could talk about this for days but most of you know this already. That's the strange thing about journaling, you already know what's supposed to be done but most often I've heard my own friends ask me just how it's done.
Firstly, take out a sledgehammer and destroy the idea of uniformity and order. Just kidding, Please don't go looking for sledgehammers in this lovely time of social distancing. Instead, understand that there's no clear cut way to keeping a journal. They are, quite possibly, the most customizable form of therapy, in my opinion.
It's a bit like wand-magic, really. 'the wand chooses the wizard', if you know? Olivander was not fooling around with that statement. But Harry Potter aside, Your existing talents/passions choose what kind of journal you'll end up maintaining.
With me, it's a bit of everything. I recall one of my teachers calling me a Jack of all trades. Now that's a rather pleasant phrase, almost a compliment, if you ignore the latter clause 'Master of none.'
There's an incredible variety of journals you can find online or create yourself (like I did). We're all, I believe, familiar with bullet journals. Bullet Journals are a planner of sorts with a chronological order and to-do lists where best fit, a bit of a productivity tracker, if you ask me. Art journals are by far the most difficult to maintain, considering the existence of Art-block. Similar are the Writer's Journals.
Here's a more detailed look into what each type of journal does/can help you accomplish:
1. Bullet Journal
Like I mentioned previously, they're a planner of sorts. I used to have one when I was in school (you school-goers really REALLY need this) and it might as well have been my saving grace. It helps you document things accordingly. Checklists are a essential part of bullet journaling- the word 'bullet' here means 'bulletin points' not the Bam!Crash!Kill! bullets. You can eye your way through it, honestly. Mine usually contained a spread of the entire year in view so I could colour-in important dates and give myself a headsup about deadlines. Sometimes I'd forget to fill days in and honestly, it's no big deal. Sure, it might seem a little nerve-wrecking but the point of keeping a bullet journal (according to me) is to help you think and plan ahead. It's not necessarily something you need to be completely invested in accomplishing every task for each day, rather it's a process: you kinda get better at it the more you use it.
Do: Make checklists (they help you gain control of what's to be done and give you a clear idea of the order in which you're supposed to be doing said thing)
Don't: Cram your day with tasks you KNOW you won't be able to get done. For example, logically we all know we don't wake up bright and early on the weekends so do NOT schedule something important in the early hours of a Saturday unless it's something you have no control over. Honestly, give yourself a break.
2. Art Journal
A lot of my friends are extremely artistic (say Masha Allah, y'all) and they like documenting their art. I am not an artist per se: I mean, I like to draw but it's mostly doodles. So keeping an art journal helps me get an idea of exactly what kind of art I 'can' draw. It's a place to practise your skills, polish your aesthetics and just have a gala time while you're at it.
Do: Paste pictures that inspire you. Magazine cut-outs and printed pictures are a great way to spazz up your art journal while simultaneously inspiring you to create your own art. Artists have moodboards and colour-schemes they're partial to and mostly, these are documented in Art journals so they can keep track of their work. But this doesn't mean art journals are just for artists: it could literally be your way of figuring out your aesthetic and the kind of vibe you have going for you. For instance, I maybe complete trash in most, if not all, art but I do like painting and using a multitude of washi tape to keep things colourful.
Don't: Look for routine. Looking for routine in an art journal is as pointless as making laminated signs for a parade about climate change and anti-pollution. It doesn't help anyone. Art journals are a means of recording and understanding where your strengths and weaknesses lie and it is completely okay to have nothing figured out by the end of it. It's the process that counts, as with many things. Art is diverse, different, ever-changing. You can't expect to find an art-style when you're changing so much every few days: art journals help you progress, they do not instill routine or art just becomes very, very boring.
3. Junk Journals
Now I'm not saying you should dig through your dustbins and paste every bit of debris in a notebook. Junk journals have a strange enticement of their own. I'm sure all of you have heard of the extremely humane phrase, 'one man's trash is another man's treasure' (is that how it even goes?) and this is where it applies. People tend to throw away very reusable things on an everyday basis. Like the absolutely gorgeous pink pouch a silver ring comes in. Or the gaudy looking silver foil beneath a candy wrapper. By maintaining a junk journal, you help de-clutter the environment while also having some seriously beautiful journal pages. Think of it this way, it's like a scrapbook full of mementos. I don't own a junk journal of my own but I do use a lot of things other people would consider 'junk' in my other journals. Like candy wrappers and discarded fabric. They make some interesting spreads actually.
Do: look for things that have little to no use in everyday situations but would look pretty on paper. Candy wrappers (wow, I've mentioned them like three times now, take the hint!) are really lovely and colourful, it's honestly a waste that all people can think of is the candy within. They're discarded almost instantly and (most often) not in the most appropriate manners (people who throw wrappers on the floor and not in their designated bin, I'm watching you). Just wipe them clean, wash them if you need to and stick 'em in a book. it's as simple as that.
Don't: Paste literal junk. Please, for the LOVE OF ALL THINGS HEAVENLY, do NOT paste grimy things in your journals. The pages stick and there'll be an awful smell and you'll have your pages rotting before you can even take a passable picture. Am I saying this out of experience? No. But do I want to try this? also No because ew.
4. Thought journals (Writer's Journal)
Ah, now this one's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it? We all have thoughts and sometimes, flipping through those thoughts can be as exhausting as running up four flights of stairs. Most thoughts, especially when they're about yourself, can be negative. And I'm not saying that's unnatural, actually it's more natural than you'd think BUT like i mentioned, it can be extremely exhausting to have to fight these thoughts. A trick I learnt from someone I once knew is to document these thoughts. See when you put them on paper, you give them a shape, a form. Something you can hold on to and do as you please. While mostly it sounds insane to want to document the thoughts you have, it helps you understand yourself over a period of time. There's a certain kind of satisfaction you can only gain from understanding yourself and thought journals help you achieve that pretty easily. The idea behind this is that when you speak to someone else about the thoughts you have or you try and make sense of them with someone else, even if they're your closest kith/kin, you tend to filter the thoughts. You paint a better picture than the one you've been seeing. It's mostly unconscious but it takes a conscious effort. Society has its claws deep in our minds so even our thoughts can be manipulated to cater to what's considered 'appropriate'. By writing down these thoughts, in a book or scraps of paper, you document them for yourself alone. If you're afraid that people will find the book, here's an easy trick I used: burn them. I mean, they're your thoughts and no one else needs to know them but if they're not doing you good by existing, you might as well get rid of them (at least that's what I believe (: )
Do: document your thoughts in the way you see fit. You don't have to write them as plain as they come. you can be cryptic. You can turn it into a conversation. You can be as innovative as you want to be. It's your thoughts. Do with them what you please but do not let them govern you because you're the one in possession of them, they don't own you.
Don't: expect anything out of it. See most people believe simply writing your thoughts down can relieve you of them but I don't think that's a) a very practical way of thinking and b) possible. We tend to expect something from the things we do and the people we help very unconsciously sometimes. With a thought journal, you gain only as much as you give. You cannot expect to be completely rid of what's bothering you once you've documented it: it might even be worse for some of you. But that does not mean you stop. It's a way to keep track of your thoughts, not a way to manhandle them. You'll notice, over a period of time and thought documentation that, the thoughts aren't always negative. No, sometimes you'll find a patch of yellow in the murky black. Or a bit of green on a barren land. It'll help you understand that progress was never meant to be linear.
Now there's so many different types of journals, honestly but this post is getting a bit wordy and it's currently a little too late in the night for me to see clearly so maybe I'll do a part two someday in sha Allah :) let me know what you think.
Stay Safe!
-N
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