A journal is essentially a scrapbook of your life. It tells your story and allows you to revisit those memories later on. However, this practice doesn't have to always meet the purpose of memory keeping to do it's job. Here are 5 styles of journaling and why each one might be the right fit for you...
1. Creative writing
As mentioned, story telling is one of the big aspects of the traditional style journaling. Contrary to what you might think, telling someone else's story will still give you the same sense of release you are seeking. Sometimes, journalling about a character that is going through similar situations as you will allow you to analyze scenarios from a different perspective. Understanding someone else's point of view is a challenging task, but if you create the character who sees the world different than you do, you might just get a wider look on something you thought was one sided. This practice will improve your problem solving skills as you will learn to consider all sides before experiencing stress, anger, sadness or anxiety.
Story's are the first type of creative writing that come to mind, but there are many other options that will allow you to fully utilize this style. Poems, letters, news articles for bigger events and even songs are all ways you can share your struggles.
Personally, I am someone who finds great trouble in public speaking. Last year was probably the worst it had ever gotten so I decided to write about how I felt. I was so ashamed by it I decided to make up a character to release the burden from myself and pass it on to someone else. This character felt similar as I did, but as they are different than I, had a better outcome. I wrote that the character successfully completed her presentation to give me a sense of relief and show me a different side of how things could turn out.
2. Travel journal
Travel is the source of most of our greatest memories. We see the world from all sides figuratively and literally. Keeping a journal that shares theses stories will be a wonderful way to remember them. When I journal about my travels, I like to keep little pieces that remind me of the trip. Objects such as tickets, business cards, Polaroids, stickers, or gift shop bags. Once I get home, I find some way to keep them in my journal whether it's in a little pocket or envelope or glued right onto the page.
Another great way you can add onto your travel journal is by writing little notes in the language of the country you visit. This way, you bring a little piece of the country back home with you and learn a few new words from someone else's language.
3. Bullet journaling
A bullet journal is a organization system that is completely created by you. You decide the layout and what you wish to add on to increase your productivity. A bullet journal is perfect for someone who wants to combine both planning and diary keeping into one book. Just like a planner you can list off your tasks for the day in a bullet form, then include how your day actually went about next to it. You can add mood trackers to see how you felt each day of the month or keep a list of some of your favourites such as music or books. This style works great for those who don't enjoy writing as much, or just don't have the time to journal. If something is not going right in your day, you can quickly jot it down without needing to write out a whole paragraph explaining this worry. There is plenty of bullet journal inspiration on Youtube and Pinterest that include spreads and layouts that you can adapt and make your own. The best part about bullet journaling is you can make it as minimal or decorated as you like, as there are absolutely no rules to this process.
4. Art journal / junk journal
Art journals are the perfect creative outlet. I've see many examples of what an art journal could look like but it's really all up to you. This style of journaling is the most similar to an actual scrapbook. You can include pictures that help remind you of a time in your life, draw doodles, paint pictures or include scraps that you've picked up just like with the travel journal. Anything that is important to you in this stage of life can be included in your art journal.
Theses journals require thick paper if you wish to embellish the pages or include actual painting. With all the things you add on it will get very bulky so keep this in mind if you decide to start one. The most important thing to remember about this style of journaling is to leave all judgement outside of the page. This is a safe space for you to experiment and really create without any worries. You don't need to be an artist to have an art journal, just a need for creativity in your life.
No matter what you decide to paste or paint on your pages it will always turn out beautiful as the book you end up with will be a representation of you and all the things you hold dear.
5. Fill in the blank journals
Fill in the blank journals can be purchased or created yourself like a bullet journal. The whole idea of this style is the efficiency of it all. Journals such as the 5 year journal allow you to do a quick analysis at the start of your day to set intentions and at the end of the day to review.
If you choose to create your own it's ideal to sit down once a month a create enough pages for that month. You can structure a page to fill out for each day or once a week.
When creating a page for one day, I suggest braking it up into two part. The first part will be for your morning and will include prompts such as:
- Your mood
- Quote of the day / affirmation
- Worries you may have
- Goals
The second half of the page will include your evening prompts:
- Mood
- Best parts of the day
- 3 things you are grateful for
- The most worrisome part of the day
If you would prefer having a week to a page you can simplify the points above by separating the page into 7 sections. Within the 7 sections you can choose which of the prompts above are the most important to you and include only theses.
Journaling is personal, so no two people will ever do the exact same thing or express themselves the same way. Combining styles is always a great way to start to figure out which ones you stick with and which ones aren't right for you.
*If you have any questions or would like me to elaborate on any of theses styles, please let me know in the comments and I will be sure to make a post about it.*
-- Sarah