Journalling For Beginners

There are thousands of you tube videos, and just as many apps, websites, groups and posts all advertising journalling for beginners.

I have personally signed up, watched, followed and been inspired by most of them.

It appears that there is a journalling post for everyone no matter your age, gender or hobby, but for me they all assume that we know what journalling is about. They assume that we have an idea already, that we instantly know what they are talking about.

However, if like me you think you know what it is, you watch a video, buy every item they suggest follow the instructions, give up half way through because you are so overwhelmed by all the information and then tell yourself its not for me.

I'm here to take you step by step through the very basic beginnings of journalling.

You may love the idea of journalling, but it's not for everyone, you need to be honest with yourself and decide if you are creative. If the answer is yes, then lets dive in and see if we can dissect the true journalling experience.

1. Why ?

Why do you want to journal?

Journalling is an incredible way to release stress, to awaken your creativity and have fun, however most of us feel like it is more like homework or a chore.

Journalling should be a place to free your mind, a peaceful place, a place to create and even plan your life in one place.

So why do we journal?

We all have a different reason to journal.

For some we use our journal for one specific trip for example, storing pictures of an amazing landscape, documenting the experience from start to finish.

For others it is almost a personal diary, documenting day by day the life experiences of a particular phase in our lives.

For others those of us who are not very literary its more of a scrap booking experience where everything is visual, using pictures, scrap-booking papers, pretty ribbons an outlet for creativity.

For others it is their planner, a place to plan the week, month or year ahead, and if you're like me it is a culmination of all of this put together in one place.

Lastly you have the professional bullet journallers, this is a whole new level of journalling which will take a whole new blog post just to explain the complexities of this subject.

Before we go to the next step - decide on your why?

• Is it creativity

• A single documentation of a trip

• A personal diary

• A yearly plan

• Mental health

• Work

• A hobby

• Family

• Personal Life

The list can go on and on - you choose .

2. The essentials

You absolutely do not need to spend a fortune to journal, it can be as frugal or as expensive as you chose to make it.

You will need-

• A journal / notebook

• A pen

These are the essentials, depending on how creative you want to get you can add to this with washi tapes, colored pens, brush pens, stencils, stickers, gel pens, paint, chalk, stamps, glitter, this list is non exhaustive and could go on until the next millennium, I think you get the picture - right ?

Now that you know why you want to journal, you have accumulated your stash of beautiful creative tools its time to get to work.

Every journal should begin by numbering each individual page if it has not already been done for you, I personally write the number on the corner of each page. No matter what you are journalling I suggest that we should all do this to begin.

The first four pages of your journal should be saved for your index. This is where the page numbering comes in useful, you can now relate each page to the index, now you can check back and see where something has been specifically written or a general reminder of the contents of your journal once it is filled.

For me the next double page I set up as a yearly calendar. I hand draw out each calendar month so that I know where I am and whats coming up in the following year, birthdays, appointments etc.

My journal is a day in the life, my page is dated for the day and then it really depends on what I'm feeling, sometimes its a daily gratitude journal page, other days I plan the week ahead, i might have grocery lists, meal plans, favorite books, to-do lists, dream diary a personal diary page or an agenda for work.

Other days I will create a list of journal prompts to open my mind to new thoughts or ideas. I rarely document anything negative. Journalling for me is an uplifting part of my day re living negativity defeats the purpose for me.

The beauty of journalling is that it is uniquely personal to each of us. There is o right or wrong way to do it. Do what feels good for you. Do not feel overwhelmed by it and do not feel pressured to fill it everyday if that is not you.

Let your pen flow from your heart, make journalling part of your daily routine, a time to reflect and enjoy the moment. Its all about you time.

xx Lei

I WRITE BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT I THINK UNTIL I READ WHAT I SAY.- Flannery O'Conner