Journaling is Alchemy
While I was away on my big summer trip - more on that later - I decided to get back to my daily journaling habit. When we travel and I've got some time (or anxious energy) on my hands, I usually turn to knitting or maybe embroidery but I just didn't feel much like it this time. I'll admit, it was a cute set of three little lined journals at Hema - a discount store that sells very cheap home goods, stationary, and sometimes clothes in towns of any real size across The Netherlands - that inspired me to maybe try this journaling thing again.
I found myself with so many thoughts rushing through my head that needed to be recorded and tried to stick with the method Natalie Goldberg espouses, to just write whatever is on your mind or start with "At this moment..." and keep going until you reach the end of ten minutes or simply run out of words. It worked for me for an entry or two but felt like I needed a bit more structure, so turned to the eBook of The Book of Alchemy.
The book was a July Required Reading from the amazing Kate Bowler, a theologian from Duke, and was the result of author Suleika Jaouad's Isolation Project. This was her way to try and stay connected to others during the Pandemic by posting her own stories and journaling prompts then she was joined her friends which included authors, artists, architects, and probably other people that don't have professions that start with the letter A. The book is divided into sections with prompts along a similar theme like On Memory or On Fear and includes a short story then a related writing prompt from Suleika or one of her friends. Yes, some of the stories bring up the Pandemic or hard topics like childhood cancer but you'll also find stories of hope, triumph, love, and laugher. I like that you're not just thrown into the prompt out of nowhere, but have a related passage to sort of get you started. Sometimes I write to the prompt only, sometimes in reaction to the passage, sometimes I just complain for pages about one or another. Either way, I am journaling more and more.
But, I am also me, and one thing is never enough, so I also signed myself up for a class from the team at Journal Party. Yes, those social media ads with the cute guy in his early 30s talking about how anyone can develop a journaling habit. I decided to take them at their word that you could get a no-questions-asked refund after 30 days if you didn't like the courses and got a subscription to the 21 Day Fill Your Journal Challenge which is pay-what-you-can with a recommended fee of $47. You follow along on their website or via their app and get some information on the benefits of journaling and how to stick with it then 21 days of prompts and a very soothing video to write along with, timer built it.
I don't know if I quite believe someone would fill an entire journal in 21 days just responding to the prompts but I've enjoyed them so far, currently a week in. The face of the company - that guy from the ads, Alex, and his wife, Alix - host a weekly session on Youtube where you can respond to a related set of prompts along with them, then discuss revelations, thoughts, etc with the hosts (via chat). I may not join these often as they start at 9 pm Eastern but found the one last week quite enjoyable.
I've been writing at different times and sometimes multiple times a day. There's the first-got-up morning pages times, right before bed so my mind will quiet, when sitting at my desk at work. Right now, I'm about to dive back into it and it's the middle of a quiet Saturday afternoon and the cats are hanging with me in our screened porch. And, yes, I've moved past those cheap little notebooks as I filled up two and lost the third somewhere since we got back. I'm using a blank one from Esmie when I'm at home - the paper cover is gorgeous but not protected in any way so carrying it around all the time was going to destroy it - and one of the dot grid Hypothesis Notebooks from Cognitive Surplus. And whatever pen happens to be nearby me, usually the classic Pilot G2 or one of the Sharpie S-gels. I've been trying not to use markers as the feel of them on paper just doesn't seem right for journaling, better for drawing and doodling.
I'll be back later to either share about my big summer trip or maybe some of the stories that come up in my journaling. I've already been pretty impressed with myself that I've been able to recall so much from my past that often seems fuzzy, at best.
Do any of ya'll keep a journal? Do you use some sort of prompt or inspiration before you write? When do you write and how much at a time? I'd love to see what inspires you.
[P.S. Bookshop.org currently has the Book of Alchemy eBook for $1.99 here in the US, if you want to go grab it. Probably a little too niche of a book to be carried regularly at your local independent bookstore, but I'm sure they'd be happy to order it for you.]