The Incredible Lightness of Journalling

I’m not going to say that you live under a rock if you’ve never heard of bullet journaling. But you must live under a different rock than me. I discovered it (thank you Pinterest!) about two years ago. The concept is simple- a blank journal, a pen, and whatever creativity you can bring to it. It is the ultimate personalized planner/journal. If you’re a pen and paper kind of person then this is for you! When I first decided to start journaling I sent my husband to Barnes and Noble to find a journal. He found some that were on sale and bought every single one. I had to devote myself to this. I had seven empty journals. I had a pen. Everything I needed, right? 

And so it began. 

I’m a list maker, I always have been. There is little in life (for me at least) that’s better than crossing off an item on a long list. So of course that’s how my bullet journal started. To do lists, activity lists, chore lists, book lists, movie lists, if ever it was listed it was in my bullet journal. But  for those of you unfamiliar with Pinterest you should know that the never ending stream of ideas that it offers is addicting. So, thanks to hours of pinning, my journal became a calendar, a gratitude journal, a reading/watching list, a parenting guide, a meal planner, and a slew of other things (see my bullet journal for the list). I was obsessed. 

So obsessed in fact that I started making a bullet journal as a Christmas gift for my sister, completely personalized to her. It had a running tracker, activity ideas for her and baby, important dates and holidays to remember, a book list, and other things I thought she could use. Because finishing things isn’t exactly my style I gifted it to her only partially filled out, with a set of pens. Turns out it was a great gift, she was able to finish it herself and still bullet journals more than a year later. Having one fellow bullet journaler in my life wasn’t enough so I gave an empty journal to Elisabeth, practically begging her to bullet journal with me. Now we’re all able to inspire each other, share layouts, and compare gratitude journals (see photo). 

Despite some habit trackers that leave me slightly disappointed in myself, and the cleaning calendars I sometimes ignore, my bullet journal is like a life coach for me. It keeps me accountable for the things I want to accomplish and motivates me to do my best. One of the most useful pages is the brain-dump page. It’s a page you use for your mental/verbal vomit. It’s a place for your pen to flow freely with a stream of consciousness. Not only is it therapeutic, its a great way to catch some better zzz’s. I, like most women (not sure if men suffer from this too to be honest), lay down for bed and immediately I’m barraged with thoughts. Rather than letting it get the better of me (and my precious time reserved for sleeping) I can jot it down. To be honest its hardly ever legible or useful the next day (save for a few words I can make out). But it provides a peace of mind- I don’t have to think about the things anymore since I’ve written them down (obviously a trick I play on myself, but dang it works). 

I also like to think that maybe many years from now, when I’m no longer around, my girls will share it with their kids and say, “Hey look at all the crazy things your grandma use to do”, or “Your grandma was grateful for her iPhone 8, can you imagine that? I bet it didn’t even drive her car like your iPhone 140 does!”

This of course, is assuming that they’ll be able to read my handwriting, but that’s a whole other blog.