At the beginning of this year, I looked at what was going on in the world around me, as well as my desire to journal a bit, and decided that I was tired of saving the good supplies for “one day” and that there was no time like the present. So I pulled out the Musubi notebook I had been hoarding since the Chicago Pen Show in 2018 and put it to good use.
I’ve only journaled half a dozen times so far, but I’ve used this process and a few cool tools (detailed at the bottom) to help me along the way. I end up primarily tracking my knitting projects, but I’ve also taken to adding my thoughts about what’s going on in the world, and every now and again a quote or two. While this is still a work in progress, I like that there isn’t the pressure of a dated journal so I can write whenever I want. I also love that the blank pages allow me to add in whatever media I want to use.
So far I’ve used:
- My Musubi Diary
- My Platinum Procyon Maki-e, Brush Warbler on Plum Tree filled with Pilot Iroshizuku Momiji ink.
- The Himekuri Sticky Note Calendar (for dating my posts)
- Kamiterior Memo Pad in Twilight Indigo and a Pilot Gold Metallic Paint Marker Extra-fine (for memorializing quotes)
- Assorted washi tape.
It feels good to use my tools and also to track what I’m up to over time. Whether this journal lasts me 1 year or spans 10, this is a habit I’m working on keeping!
Love the Himekuri date stickers! I used the Stationery set last year and so enjoyed all the clever little pictures! The hardest part about them was choosing which one to buy they are all so cute. I think it encouraged me to journal more just so I could use another one!
Hi Laura, I’ve never kept a journal. I have enough notebooks that I’d like to. I’ve used the Travelers Notebook calendar plus memo. Only succeeded filling out out once. The one from 2021 was barely filled. This year it’s a Retro 51 calendar notebook. I got a start, then just stopped.
I tried a Leuchtturm notebook one year, but struggled with no dates in that. I didn’t know how to track appointments in a standard notebook. It is good to know that you have found a way to start that puts no pressure on you. It’s a good way to approach using a journal. I hope I can get inspiration from what you have shown in this post.
Lori – I hope you do try to keep a journal without too much pressure on yourself!
I love all your tools here as well as the knitting/world reflections being integrated together. Previously I had too many compartmentalized notebooks, journals and sketchbooks. This year I’m taking a more integrated approach, and it feels much more organic and natural.
Good to see the journal in use. Spot on with how you use them. I feel guilty leaving really nice journals blank. But feel too nervous starting them and choosing what to use them for! Ruin them. Recording simple favourite themes is great in bullet/list fashion. With an index at the start. I use one journal as a record. Titles of favourite songs, poems, books, vintage clothes, fountain pens, dip pen nibs, aftershaves/eau de colognes, my iconic ownership of certain recent to decades to lifetime items that have stuck around, etc. Down the line I hope my Grandchildren can get to look at it. Like your project idea. My wife bought me two Earth Pathways journals. A Tree Journal (for the Gardening project) and Mandala Journal (for reflective thoughts in Mindfulness). Favourite recipes and all my song lyrics are an ambition too. I can’t do diary format either. 5 year diary of comparisons of how things change? I am hopeless at keeping them going! Last half a year at best. Thank you for the read and reflection. All the best.
Bravo for breaking into the “good” stuff! Why shouldn’t any day/everyday be a special day? (Now if only I can convince myself of that.)
It’s SOOO hard to do, isn’t it?