If you have ever kept a notebook and wrote notes about your day or lists of ideas and things to do, you would know a little about what gets people into journaling. Then there is a point when this habit becomes a hobby.
Sometimes a hobby can be a borderline obsession.
I’ve come to the conclusion that stationery and journaling as a concept has become an obsession that I need an intervention for. It’s one of those things that with an enough income available, you start spending on the really nice stuff. But then again the really nice stuff isn’t what you want or what you need. When the nice stuff is just overkill because journaling doesn’t require much at all.
I may toss in the ole social media trope with this one. Spending way too many hours on Instagram or Youtube without a real need for information has become one of those bad habits. I made a new account because I just didn’t want to use my old one with the intention of posting stuff. The most popular accounts will post page spreads. I’ve found that I don’t want to post that much because it’s just too personal. But… I did just use it to buy some custom fountain pens.
At this point, it’s also an obsession because I have a surplus of stuff. It’s not hoarding… yet. But when I’ve got so much ink, pens, pencils, markers, stickers and notebooks that I don’t think I’ll be able to get through them in my lifetime (I’m seriously looking at putting the collection in my will), it’s a bit of a problem.
I’ve got to tell myself I’m done acquiring anything new. And I’ve got to stick to it. The resolution before the new year. ;_;
Sometimes we all need a time to think out loud. Writing down our thoughts and decisions to emotions and anxieties can provide clarity or even release from stress. I’ve gone through so many different approaches to writing things down over the years, it’s become a hobby. I’m hoping to share the ones I’ve tried to help inspire others to express themselves. 2020 is turning out to be fairly stressful, so let’s talk about ways to take care of ourselves 🙂
Notebook
Bottom line up front, this is my defacto medium for journaling. A simple notebook can be pretty inconspicuous in most social situations, or when you can’t bring along your own phone or computer.
Pros
Cons
– Offers the most flexibility to express oneself by using any writing medium, stickers, pasting things in, drawing, etc – Doesn’t need batteries – Any size and shape book, you can even make your own
– In a digital world, we take a ton of photos. Finding ways to print them and paste them into your notebook isn’t that easy – Will need a flashlight or lamp to write at night – Paper can get heavy if you’re trying to travel light
Examples: composition notebook (the ones you used in school), sketchbooks, pocket books, etc.
Blog
I’ve had a few blogs over the years. I still have one now that I self host, but once I started working and friends when off and Facebook took over people’s lives, it doesn’t fit the same as it used to.
Pros
Cons
– A lot of free options, or can self host – You can find communities of other people who talk about the same things you do – Easier to accommodate digital assets like photos and links – Might have a phone or tablet app for on the go posting/socializing – Searchable (if you can’t remember what day you wrote something)
– Not inherently private depending on the site, more value in community than privacy – When writing longform, you’ll probably want a full size keyboard which could hamper your traveling light style – Some of those freebie sites, depending on who owns them, sees the user as an asset (think about what you write before you post because they are watching) – When you write for an audience other than yourself, you may not write as freely as you think – You can customize to the extent of the application
Examples: livejournal, wordpress (hosted and self host options), blogger (google owned but kind of neglected), tumblr (now owned by verizon)
Journal Apps
At this point, almost everyone has a sort of smartphone. Naturally, most people don’t leave home without it.
Pros
Cons
– A lot of free options and paid options – Easiest to accommodate digital assets like photos and links if you do most of your photography on your phone and internetting – Can post at any time in almost any environment since a phone has backlighting – Depending on the application, there may be ties back to desktop apps and web versions – Searchable (if you can’t remember what day you wrote something) – Some have reminder features to poke you to write everyday
– When writing longform, you’ll probably want a full size keyboard which could hamper your traveling light style – Some of those freebie sites, depending on who owns them, sees the user as an asset (think about what you write before you post because they are watching) – You can customize to the extent of the application – Some apps want you to pay subscription for most features – Be careful about getting your data locked into an app, look for export as an included feature
Examples: Notes (this one is Mac, but pretty much any note taking app can become an impromptu journal), Day One (iphone and android), Journey, 5 Minute Journal, Momento (iphone only and geared towards social media aggregation)
Now I avoided mentioning social media apps as they aren’t really inherently geared towards journaling. But there are plenty of people using facebook, instagram and twitter as “journals”. Personally, I’d advise against using those mediums as a personal journal unless you like shouting on rooftops. It’s too easy to get sucked in to what everyone else is posting rather than focusing on your own thoughts which undermines the whole point.
If I didn’t find the most flexibility with a notebook, my top fave for each would be WordPress and Day One. Honorable mention to 5 Minute Journal, but it’s really not a full fledged journaling app.
Welcome to the last year for this decade! Cue every time I write the date down with the wrong year for a few weeks. Haha!
What does this new chapter mean? Well, it means continuing the story of what every year before meant. I’ve got new goals this year, some are the same from last, but the point is just having something to work towards. And I’ve done that every year I new I was capable of deciding my own life. As a kid, I just went along with whatever came because that’s what being a kid was like 😙
I won’t go into all my goals; there’s many and they sound simple but they can become complex. This one goal is something I’ve already started and will be a goal into following years – owning my online self.
The net is a playground and a tool and it’s taken over the world. As much as I consciously get dressed and curate my image before I walk out my house, that is the maintenance that should go into my projected self, my internet self. Just like the clothes that I’ve given away because fashion changes, how I want to dress changes, cleaning and maintaining my closet translates digitally. Spring cleaning isn’t just for spring and it feels good to do anytime of the year.
National Novel Writing Month is here. Some folks look forward to the holidays or to the gifts that come with those holidays, but the end of the year I look forward to the most is that crazy literary challenge in November.
When I first started taking on the challenge, I would fly by the seat of my pants. A “pantser” as people in the crowd call it. But I do feel like with the practice of trying it out year after year that I’m transitioning to more of a planner.
Even though the challenge focuses on the quantity, not quality, it’s been difficult to get to the end of a story. How do I get my character from A to B when I don’t really know what B is supposed to be? Well, this time around I wrote up A to G to P. Which is way more planning I’ve done ahead of time than in the past. And yet I still find myself in the struggle 😅. Granted other life things have come up in the first few days. So, hopefully, week 2 will even it out.
Time passes and things change. People do it every day, every minute. So, I can’t expect any less from corporations. The net has brought about so many interesting things and avenues of communication. It felt pretty free and naive at the beginning. A lot of that data was impermanent. Were people’s lives even referred to as data then?
Kind of like cleaning out an old closet is the same thing to apply digitally. Even though space seems almost endless, it still isn’t. It’s immense, but at the same time, who really wants to maintain all that data? If you’ve got accounts out there that you never use anymore, that already means you don’t want to maintain it yourself. I find that I too, no longer use accounts I’ve made over the years. As I learn more info on what is happening to these start ups or other companies, it definitely turns me off using the service.
Livejournal, I’ve deleted. Tumblr, I’m cleaning up also. Facebook is on the list, once I figure out a way to export some contacts. Instagram I’m torn over. It’s owned by FB but people actually still use it. It must absolutely be a tool for corporate, but perhaps if I continue to control what I post, maybe I’ve convinced myself I’m in control. Maybe not. Snapchat seemed to me like an interesting alternative, but even now I can see people use it a lot less. At least it’s still a company on it’s own, but you and I know that it’s probably only going to follow in FB footsteps as it struggles to be a profit making company. Not going to lie, just contemplating how to get out of google’s or amazon’s grasp is a doozy. Yahoo is one of my oldest accounts and I’m pretty annoyed that it’s probably going on my hit list next. Check out “How to opt out of Yahoo Mail’s invasive data scanning” if you still use Yahoo too.
I know some people will say it’s too late, corporate has everything on you. Just remember, yes they have a lot, but they do not have everything. Time passes and things change and the person you were at that time when you made that post 5 years ago, may not be the same person who shops for whatever now. You should be the only one in control of your life, your date. Right?
