Does anyone use a journal?

During lockdown, a friend and I challenged one another to make some art from stuff we had lying around the house. I looked online for inspiration and came across some YouTube channels for journalling - in the sense or a kind of diary with added multimedia art - as well as junk journalling.

This got me interested in other art forms such as watercolour painting and collage, freeflow and slow-stitching which is a current favourite thing to do.

I do enjoy watching people making things even if I don’t always do that much myself. I don’t think I am alone in that. Helen Colebrook (Journal with Purpose) is a favourite as she actively uses her journals positively to plan and reflect on her life rather than just as an art portfolio. These are just a couple of random videos from her channel but which gets across what she does:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXztwcfDlyU&list=PLz0F7AKVoVIvfV4QjgHMOy-ulRDh1dUZZ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC9RwTPkJgA

Is that the kind of thing you had in mind?

Wow thanks they both look very professional. Thanks caravan Not sure what I've got in mind as not tried it before but just wondered if anyone journalled regularly and the benefits etc..

If you mean keeping a diary, then yes I do. Every now and again I look back at my old diaries and am reminded of various things - first lockdown, elections etc. I have found an organisation in London who are working on a diary project. At some point I will send them a couple of decades of diaries.

I write a diary everyday on my computer thoughts/reflections/feelings.

It helps me understand the world and self in it better, it can lift a mood, its a space for absolute self honesty (inasmuch as we can ever be)

it gives a sense of continuity, and looking back I can look at events, changes, celebration, learning, overcoming and so on. I include bits of songs and poems or what someone else has said that "hits a chord".

(Used to be hand written but now I prefer the computer.)

It was a useful thing during lockdown for those who were confined to base and were feeling a bit adrift and disconnected. I know that a couple of friends started to feel their mental health suffering. Some form of art therapy can be good for that. Or on the other side of the coin, if you are very busy and need to prioritise and destress. I think just 15-20 minutes of making art or writing a day can help slow things down.

I guess the best thing to do is to collect a few supplies, buy an inexpensive journal to start, a small set of colouring pencils or brush pens and some washi tape to break up a blank page - something I learned from Helen C. I make my own using Photoshop, sticky back printer paper or just printer paper and a glue stick!

Sometimes all I do is just make up a haiku or jot down some thoughts on a book I’ve read or a film I’ve seen, or make a list of books I want to read or films I want to see, or jot down a quotation that catches my imagination. I might add a doodle or a bit of Zentangling.

I try to walk three miles a day - part of the annual Walk 1000 Challenge - so I write a few notes about where I’ve been and what I’ve seen. I might collect a few things en route, wildflowers of leaves and do a quick sketch and watercolour.

It’s all fairly random but important, I think, to set down some time, even the same time, every day to add something. The inspiration will come but meantime there are lots of prompt lists online.

Doodlewash has lists of art challenges but they could just as easily be used as writing prompts:

doodlewash.com/watercolor-art-challenges/

Must admit my handwriting has worsened, so used to typing now!
It is said that it lifts your mood which definitely would be a benefit.
I guess it is similar to a diary really..

I wrote a journal during the Covid lockdowns, mainly with the purpose of creating a retrospective to read whenever it came to an end. I find it very interesting to look back at my thoughts and observations during this time, and compare it to what caused me worry and concern then rather than now. Surprisingly these were not entirely Covid based. Admittedly I had far more time on my hands then, and I did stop as soon as the lockdowns were lifted. I rather wish I had written a journal each decade of my life so that I could look back and see how I changed - unfortunately it’s a bit late now!

I should have added that I illustrated the journal with various drawings, pictures, maxims, quotes etc. and laminated it.

I’ve kept a journal for fifty years. I write to sort out my thoughts, clear my mind and to reflect. No one else reads them, they are destroyed after a while. It’s essential for me now and I’d say ‘give it a go!’

I love my journals!

I add good quality feathers I've found on the grass etc. stickers, ribbons, glue in small bits of nice materials, write in various funny things including hilarious things my hubby and our cat of done.

I've kept a diary for a long time too and am hoping that the next generation will read it - if I'm lucky! - and learn about me and the family and what we did over the years

I use a moleskin. I love journaling every morning especially what I am happy or grateful for. It might not sound like much, but it's really helped me see the positive in life especially when times are hard.

I've kept a diary since aged 10, so lots of social history. I tell my children that life stories are popular and to send my diaries to a publishers when I am gone. I think I still have another 20 years of writing left in me, though, so there will be tons of diaries - one for each year, beginning at childhood 😁).
And yes, it's extremely therapeutic and helps me put my thoughts in order. I don't lie awake thinking about things.
It's not always therapeutic reading back through them years later, though. There were some situations in my life that I had happily forgotten about, until I re-read them. Lots of very special moments too, though.

People involved in politics so they can produce it months/years after 'discussions' and say, but you said......it's here in my diary!