I too discovered you through Petya’s post and have promptly subscribed! Not only does your journaling style appeal to me - it makes sense to keep a separate journal for different aspects of your life. At the moment I have a travel journal which is the most used as I am travelling more than being at home. At home I have a one line a day journal which was supposed to get me back into journaling before I started the travel journal. A commonplace book is something I e always had except I never knew that’s what it was called - it had all the detritus of the mundane in my life but now I’m more mindful of putting in only what speaks to me and causes me to pause for thought.
I’ve also this year discovered ‘slow- reading’ and am currently reading War & Peace. Last year I was on Good Reads a lot trying to keep up to the reading challenge but this year it’s back to my manual list and just reading really S-L-O-W!
Thank you for connecting. My travel journal has a soft spot in my heart as it captures my most child-like curious self in new settings! I’m into slow reading as well.
Hi Janet, I read this post a while back but recently looked it up again, so I wanted to comment to say how much I appreciate it. I love reading about other people's journaling practices and your break down of the different functions of journaling and personal record-keeping is so interesting and making me think about how to expand my journaling practice. I currently have one journal (plus I use Obsidian as a kind of commonplace book) and, like you in the past, my journal tends to be very focused on 'internal processing'. While that serves an important function, I also want to capture more of what's happening in the world around me. I like your idea of having a briefer 'record of the day' journal and am thinking of incorporating that into my practice, so thank you for the inspiration!
Thank you for the thoughtful feedback. As the year draws to an end I’ve been flipping through my daily recording of the day both my own small world and the bigger world and it’s been interesting to read it all. So much is happening all at once that feels like a blur when we are living it but reading the journal entries removes the blur feeling and makes one realize how full life really is. Be well, Terese! Thanks again.
I really love this post, Janet! I just found your Substack from reading your fabulous interview with Petya and I am in awe of your artwork and general attention to your own life.
I have always been up and down with journals, but recently started having a more regular practice due to attending a talk where the mental health benefits for everyone of keeping a journal were discussed. I am currently experimenting with just one (as I easily find myself overwhelmed!) but I see the advantage of splitting this up into different areas. I keep losing quotations from my reading, for example. I love that you document your every day experiences, whereas I seem to be going round in circles sometimes with internal struggles! I am going to try adopting your ideas around that. Thanks for sharing :)
Ok so I’ve never thought about journaling in such a comprehensive way and reading your approach to it I felt so acutely how “legendary” - or shall I say “literary”? - approach is. As in: that is exactly what I would expect if I were buying some famous writer’s published journals 👽 I kept thinking about the unabridged journals of Sylvia Plath as I was reading 🙂
Your journey with journaling is very similar to mine. I also journaled only when wanting to process something within my inner world. Lately I’ve been shifting more and more towards memory keeping and noticing the world around me. It is often said that we should be ‘more present’ but I fear many people only do that with their inner world and are only present within themselves, whereas we should be present in the outer world too.
I too discovered you through Petya’s post and have promptly subscribed! Not only does your journaling style appeal to me - it makes sense to keep a separate journal for different aspects of your life. At the moment I have a travel journal which is the most used as I am travelling more than being at home. At home I have a one line a day journal which was supposed to get me back into journaling before I started the travel journal. A commonplace book is something I e always had except I never knew that’s what it was called - it had all the detritus of the mundane in my life but now I’m more mindful of putting in only what speaks to me and causes me to pause for thought.
I’ve also this year discovered ‘slow- reading’ and am currently reading War & Peace. Last year I was on Good Reads a lot trying to keep up to the reading challenge but this year it’s back to my manual list and just reading really S-L-O-W!
Thank you for connecting. My travel journal has a soft spot in my heart as it captures my most child-like curious self in new settings! I’m into slow reading as well.
Hi Janet, I read this post a while back but recently looked it up again, so I wanted to comment to say how much I appreciate it. I love reading about other people's journaling practices and your break down of the different functions of journaling and personal record-keeping is so interesting and making me think about how to expand my journaling practice. I currently have one journal (plus I use Obsidian as a kind of commonplace book) and, like you in the past, my journal tends to be very focused on 'internal processing'. While that serves an important function, I also want to capture more of what's happening in the world around me. I like your idea of having a briefer 'record of the day' journal and am thinking of incorporating that into my practice, so thank you for the inspiration!
Thank you for the thoughtful feedback. As the year draws to an end I’ve been flipping through my daily recording of the day both my own small world and the bigger world and it’s been interesting to read it all. So much is happening all at once that feels like a blur when we are living it but reading the journal entries removes the blur feeling and makes one realize how full life really is. Be well, Terese! Thanks again.
I really love this post, Janet! I just found your Substack from reading your fabulous interview with Petya and I am in awe of your artwork and general attention to your own life.
I have always been up and down with journals, but recently started having a more regular practice due to attending a talk where the mental health benefits for everyone of keeping a journal were discussed. I am currently experimenting with just one (as I easily find myself overwhelmed!) but I see the advantage of splitting this up into different areas. I keep losing quotations from my reading, for example. I love that you document your every day experiences, whereas I seem to be going round in circles sometimes with internal struggles! I am going to try adopting your ideas around that. Thanks for sharing :)
Ok so I’ve never thought about journaling in such a comprehensive way and reading your approach to it I felt so acutely how “legendary” - or shall I say “literary”? - approach is. As in: that is exactly what I would expect if I were buying some famous writer’s published journals 👽 I kept thinking about the unabridged journals of Sylvia Plath as I was reading 🙂
Your journey with journaling is very similar to mine. I also journaled only when wanting to process something within my inner world. Lately I’ve been shifting more and more towards memory keeping and noticing the world around me. It is often said that we should be ‘more present’ but I fear many people only do that with their inner world and are only present within themselves, whereas we should be present in the outer world too.