Re: Journaling

I’m going to be talking mostly about fiction here, because that is my preference both when it comes to writing and reading.

But a few years ago, I wanted to try to make journaling a regular part of my daily routine and while it hasn’t happened every single day, I’ve been pretty good about it.

So today, I’d like to talk about that. I do want to also give a heads up that I will be talking a bit about death and grief.

First and foremost, I’m very much team “romanticize your life.” Here are some ways I do this when it comes to journaling:

• Getting cute journals! I’ll talk more about this later, but generally I go on eBay and look for journals designed by one of my favorite artists, Mary Engelbreit. Super cozy vibes!
• Listening to classical music while journaling. HALIDONMUSIC on YouTube is my go to channel for this. They have big compilations that are often themed (by composer but also seasonal, holiday, hobby vibes).
• Lastly, I named my journal. I decided I wanted us to have the same initials and so his full name is Charles Journal Entry but I address entries as “Dear Charlie.” I didn’t always do this, in fact I used to address the journal with “Greetings” because it felt too cringey to say “Dear Diary.” “Charles Journal Entry” may be cringe but he’s my cringe and it has helped me feel more comfortable so there’s that.

I just finished my latest ME journal today, but instead of ordering a new one, I was able to find a beautiful empty journal amongst my grandmother’s things. We lost her at the beginning of February and it’s been very hard, but during her life she gifted me a number of journals and stationery, and it’s basically like she’s still doing that, only posthumously. Tomorrow, that journal becomes the new Charlie, and I attached the old Charlie’s ribbon to continue to have a bookmark.

Also amongst her things I found a deck of cards with different writing prompts on them. The brand is called “Best Self Co.” I hadn’t heard of them before, but based on their website, they have a lot of cool card decks.

Card decks like that are neat but pretty inconvenient. What I ended up doing was sorting through the six different types of cards and compiling a PowerPoint with the prompts. There were some I opted not to include, but I ended up with over eighty. I’d like to start using those each day. Of course, if I have some pressing matter to share with Charlie, that will come first, but I have found that I’m not always so honest with him about my feelings. When a former friend ghosted me, it took me a while to actually write out what happened, despite my lack of written acknowledgment not making it any less true or hurtful.

Basically, I want to have less entries where I simply say, “today I had work and got some stuff done for my Master’s Project. It’ll be great to see [insert friends] tomorrow.”

I want to actually reflect. It feels like after three decades, I’m really starting to get to know myself, and I’d like to keep doing that, as strange as it is, and as weird as it feels to say that, considering I’ve always been me.

I think another reason journaling has come up like this for me now goes back to fiction. Previously, I mentioned Grace, the protagonist from my Master’s Project, who has already made me rethink a lot of what I thought I knew about writing about fictional characters.

In the story, she not only writes in her own diary, but also discovers the diary of a former student at her boarding school. I am still trying to figure out exactly how the diary entries (both Grace’s and the other person’s) factor into everything, but I really think, if I intend to tell their stories through diary entries, I should also figure out how exactly I want to tell mine to good old Charles Journal Entry.

It’s a work in progress.

Attached are photos of the beautiful journal my grandma had as well as some of the cards from the deck. Categories include things like education, self-improvement, and love/relationships.

Best wishes! -CE