I have kept a journal since I think I was 13 (I'm 45 now) and journaling has always been a big part of my life and how I process events and feelings as I navigate it. The first ever entry I ever wrote as a teenager was to process my anger and frustration of dealing with a bully in middle school if that says anything about how important writing became.
I've gone through a lot of journals over the decades, I burned some, trashed some, and lost some to a termite infestation, but I have kept on writing. More often than not, just to pour my feelings on paper so I could see things better or get it out of my system. I took a few pauses with journaling too, because for the longest time I lived under the belief that journaling only served it's purpose to vent or spill feelings I didn't know how to deal with in my head. Then in 2020, when world as we know it went for a big toss, I started writing again, but with a bit more intention. I called these my "Life Journals" and I talk a bit more about the concept in my Journaling for self-growth post. I recently finished Life Journal number 3, or rather stopped writing about 20 pages shy left of it because I realised I had outgrown the concept and my current journal felt like it had reached a natural end. It's ok not to fill all the pages in a notebook, I promise.
I realised I was ready to journal in a different way, a way I call "Journal with intention" where everything is a lot more deliberate, and more concise. Not that there is anything wrong about writing 10+ pages on something, it's just that I was ready to do something different. So I bought myself a new Archer & Olive journal, one I had been eyeing for months and is available in India with Paper Plannning and more and got down to make my vision happen. So what is journaling with intention exactly? For me it's a way to journal with a specific intention or motive in mind rather than let everything come out on paper without any direction. It's a journal for growth, but for more intentional growth. I'm past the point of rambling about wounds and traumas the way I needed to a few years back. I have identified most of the deep rooted things I needed to work on (and still work on). I realised I now need to work toward stepping up into my power, and claiming my truth and deciding how I want my life and my identity to be, and have a special journal just to affirm that reality I am crafting.
For example, I have realised I love the idea of a pretty journal that mixes art and writing but in my previous journaling mode, I would loose focus if I took time to decorate the pages too much, so because I had so much to spill, I would make do with washi tape, and at the most a few stickers. Also thanks to years of writing essays after essays in school, I got into the habit of writing lengthy paragraphs and was under the idea that my narrative had to be detailed and cohesive and well written as if someone was going to read through my journal and give me marks for literary style. You know like you can be frustrated about something but give me at least a 1000 words or else it's not good enough. With my new intention journaling mode, decorating the pages is as important as writing, and it doesn't have to be all words and nothing else. It also doesn't have to be all about an elaborate way to write about the topic at hand. The focus is on gratitude, and things that make my soul all warm and fuzzy. The intention of my journal is to record all the tiny things that makes my life fun and do it in a pretty way.
In my quest for self growth I am also known to use different tools, be it self help books or oracle cards. I know it's something a lot of people might roll their eyes at, but oracle cards are actually making for great journaling prompts or food for thoughts. I use this "work your light" deck (affiliate link) because the colors and the illustrations resonate with me a great deal. If you've been around for a while you know that my own artwork is infused with mint, pink and turquoise a lot. With the journal with intention, sometimes write the "guidance of the day" in it to make it sink more and possibly reflect on it. Those cards are helpful to keep you on a steady course so that you make good with your original intentions.
What motivated me to shift toward this new mode of journaling was that I wanted the process to bring even more joy, and feel more intentional. Thanks to a highly creative mind that often goes in overdrive and has entirely too many tabs opened at all time, having a journal in which I HAVE TO slow down felt like a good idea. I still have notebooks to go vent into and I plan to still do that when the need arise, but I realised that on top of my daily meditation practice, I wanted a daily creative, intentional journaling practice as well. What's your journaling approach?
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