Very kind of you to mention me, Nadine, thanks! I'm thrilled you're finding the food journalling useful, and that you've found a broader system of journalling that works for you. It's so fun to look back on previous notes 🙌
It sounds like you've found a way that works well for you. I've kept journals since junior high although we called them diaries. I still do but mine is a jumble of topics, plus doodles. I keep a separate notebook for goals such as writing, travel and music projects. Like you I tried the Artist's Way morning pages as part of a 12 week class two decades ago. Many of her exercises were helpful but not the morning pages. Shortly after college I took a workshop based on Ira Progoff's Intensive Journal method. He was a Jungian psychologist and I found his observations on the undercurrents of life fascinating, but his method was way too intricate and time Intensive. It makes sense to keep the method that works best, and that will be individual.
That’s a great system Geri. I see nothing wrong with what you were doing. It’s inspiring to keep a list of goals and aspirations. I feel like I found something right in between the two polarities you just described. My journals are less labour intensive than, say, a bullet journal or that of your psychologist, instructor, but it’s less general than morning pages. I seem to have found my sweet spot. It only took 40 years lol
wow, you keep a lot of books going, just reading about it and thinking of maintaining all that made me feel a bit crazy. Like I might have to go knock over a bank or something. I've had writing books for decades. I stumble on them and find the embryo's of songs, the skeleton of a spoken word piece I did decades ago, a travel journal from a trip. Some mediocre writing inspired by the sublime writing of Raymond Carver. At some point, when I started drawing again, they started to evolve into sketchbooks with very little writing except set lists. Being in proximity to BA and being a guinea pig for many months for her journaling workshop slowly changed the nature of these sketchbooks and they have mutated into a mix of pretty much everything. Writing, drawing, and the recording of events and thoughts. But there is no routine, no habit. Just me being a roman candle.
lol 😆 David!. It sounds a lot worse than it is. Like, the food journal 📓 Involves writing something ✍️ akin to this –smoothie, soup, curry with rice. I keep it extremely brief, unless there is something I specifically wish to remember, then I might make a notation in a bit more detail. I do forget to update the journals off and on. If miss a day or two, I don’t sweat it. I try not to be regimented, but I do seem to thrive on routine, as boring as that is. I like your method, and I hope perhaps some of your entries will see the light of day, via your newsletter. If you think my 5 book dealie is overwhelming, you should see the bullet journal people, those people are next level. My OCD doesn’t go quite that far. If I kept a bullet, Journal, I would never get anything done and I might die of frustration.
Thank you again Nadine---you are too kind! I keep a journal and an "idea book" for each year where I keep notes for things like my newsletter, my website, and any projects I have on the go. This year I also have a separate notebook for the graphic memoir I've recently started working on again. Everyone has their own way, but however you do it I think it's so important to write things down 👀
You are welcome Betty-Ann. You are right. It is invaluable to write things down. I cannot wait for your graphic memoir. I am thrilled you continue to work in that medium. Your writings about your mother are so moving. I’d be pleased to learn more about your own life.
Everyone journals in their own way. The journals that stun me (usually in a good way) were written in my early 20s. Some of my journal entries were written in a live freewriting group, written from the combining two prompts method. Mixing it up.
Wow! 😀 What a treasure that would be to draw upon later in life Russell. I wish I had catalogued Impressions of my youth while my recollections were immediate and vivid.
You are welcome Jessica but you know, you are a phenomenal writer and journaling or not journaling will not diminish your capacity to write gorgeous prose. I am always eager to see your writings. Hey, anybody reading this comment. Go subscribe to The Bad Enough Mother: A Defense. You will not regret it. Seriously.
Very kind of you to mention me, Nadine, thanks! I'm thrilled you're finding the food journalling useful, and that you've found a broader system of journalling that works for you. It's so fun to look back on previous notes 🙌
It sounds like you've found a way that works well for you. I've kept journals since junior high although we called them diaries. I still do but mine is a jumble of topics, plus doodles. I keep a separate notebook for goals such as writing, travel and music projects. Like you I tried the Artist's Way morning pages as part of a 12 week class two decades ago. Many of her exercises were helpful but not the morning pages. Shortly after college I took a workshop based on Ira Progoff's Intensive Journal method. He was a Jungian psychologist and I found his observations on the undercurrents of life fascinating, but his method was way too intricate and time Intensive. It makes sense to keep the method that works best, and that will be individual.
That’s a great system Geri. I see nothing wrong with what you were doing. It’s inspiring to keep a list of goals and aspirations. I feel like I found something right in between the two polarities you just described. My journals are less labour intensive than, say, a bullet journal or that of your psychologist, instructor, but it’s less general than morning pages. I seem to have found my sweet spot. It only took 40 years lol
wow, you keep a lot of books going, just reading about it and thinking of maintaining all that made me feel a bit crazy. Like I might have to go knock over a bank or something. I've had writing books for decades. I stumble on them and find the embryo's of songs, the skeleton of a spoken word piece I did decades ago, a travel journal from a trip. Some mediocre writing inspired by the sublime writing of Raymond Carver. At some point, when I started drawing again, they started to evolve into sketchbooks with very little writing except set lists. Being in proximity to BA and being a guinea pig for many months for her journaling workshop slowly changed the nature of these sketchbooks and they have mutated into a mix of pretty much everything. Writing, drawing, and the recording of events and thoughts. But there is no routine, no habit. Just me being a roman candle.
lol 😆 David!. It sounds a lot worse than it is. Like, the food journal 📓 Involves writing something ✍️ akin to this –smoothie, soup, curry with rice. I keep it extremely brief, unless there is something I specifically wish to remember, then I might make a notation in a bit more detail. I do forget to update the journals off and on. If miss a day or two, I don’t sweat it. I try not to be regimented, but I do seem to thrive on routine, as boring as that is. I like your method, and I hope perhaps some of your entries will see the light of day, via your newsletter. If you think my 5 book dealie is overwhelming, you should see the bullet journal people, those people are next level. My OCD doesn’t go quite that far. If I kept a bullet, Journal, I would never get anything done and I might die of frustration.
Thank you again Nadine---you are too kind! I keep a journal and an "idea book" for each year where I keep notes for things like my newsletter, my website, and any projects I have on the go. This year I also have a separate notebook for the graphic memoir I've recently started working on again. Everyone has their own way, but however you do it I think it's so important to write things down 👀
You are welcome Betty-Ann. You are right. It is invaluable to write things down. I cannot wait for your graphic memoir. I am thrilled you continue to work in that medium. Your writings about your mother are so moving. I’d be pleased to learn more about your own life.
Everyone journals in their own way. The journals that stun me (usually in a good way) were written in my early 20s. Some of my journal entries were written in a live freewriting group, written from the combining two prompts method. Mixing it up.
Wow! 😀 What a treasure that would be to draw upon later in life Russell. I wish I had catalogued Impressions of my youth while my recollections were immediate and vivid.
I should consider writing only for myself. LOL. Thanks for the good suggestions.
You are welcome Jessica but you know, you are a phenomenal writer and journaling or not journaling will not diminish your capacity to write gorgeous prose. I am always eager to see your writings. Hey, anybody reading this comment. Go subscribe to The Bad Enough Mother: A Defense. You will not regret it. Seriously.