What's your relationship with journaling?!

I just saw this post, but still wanted to share that I have become more consistent with journalling after I was gifted a small bluetooth printer that prints polaroid style photos off my phone on sticker paper. I love to take photos but don't often get any hard copies made now that I use my phone primarily as my camera. So now I can print pictures and stick them in and add notes and stories along the sides, and it works perfect for me!

I have journaled sporadically through my adult life, never sticking to it long. I love the idea and I think it works well for a lot of people but it always becomes a chore after a while for me. I love journals though and hoard them, buying new ones knowing perfectly well there’s new blank ones at home. I did the bullet journal for a while but I found I loved decorating it and hated using it. I have adhd so sticking to the journal is near impossible no matter how much I love the idea of it. I keep busy with non-phone things, in bunches. I hobby jump for sure. Cross-stitch, painting, ukulele, jigsaw puzzles, colour by number, reading, working out, some very mild outdoor activities, plants, animal crossing

I’m a visual person so I was sooo obsessed with the idea of a bullet journal or planner but outside of school I found I don’t have as many projects to keep track of which is where those really thrive (I work in visitor services, so it’s very easy to leave all that at the office since I can’t really take it home) After I graduated I used my journal as more of a to do list/ calendar which is helpful since I often write lists so I know what to focus on And then one day I just decided to stop treating my journal so preciously by trying to make it neat and clean and minimal and I would doodle, and write out longer blurbs about my day or draw out my day instead of writing about it. I’m much happier with how what was once my bullet journal looks now than when it was colorful little boxes and lines. I had a diary as a kid because I felt like that’s what little girls were supposed to have but again it felt too raw but also like I wasn’t interesting enough for a journal. With sketchbooks and new notebooks I’m always nervous about the pressure of the first page so I used to either skip it entirely or use it as a sort of title page, but lately I’ve been using it to test out pens and markers which takes the pressure off of “ruining” the book since the first page is already scribbled on

It is so comforting to read all these comments and find similar traits that you have or are going through. And there a lot of great ideas that I will give a try. Thank you y'all !! 🌸 I am a doodler and list maker. I can't do the long form writing. It makes me anxious, too much thought needs to be put into a perfect paragraph . I'm working on this!! Lol Good luck Grace! 👍🏼

I wish I lived in a place where Mary didn’t have to hide from the cops and it was easier to hang out with her :(

Neele

My life (and apartment) would look very different if cleaning and tidying helped my mental health haha Pets are the best 😍

Neele

OMG I loooove 1010! And I also have that same friend, small world!

Journaling has been very helpful for my anxiety in the past but I still don’t do it consistently. When I do I feel better but I get lazy when I have to write a lot. It’s something I’ve been meaning to get back into for like 3 years now tbh. It’s also nice to look back on entries from like 2014 just to see what was going on in my life. I’ve laughed out loud at my own writing just bc I forgot about the random funny thing my dad said that I decided to write about. It was def a thing I started for my anxiety (thx therapy) but I ended up writing about everything, not just about when I felt like I was about to die. I’m still very bad at calming myself down but one of my go to things is cleaning. Doing the dishes or organizing a closet or (for real) fixing the throw pillows on our couch. Petting my dog and cat also helps bc even while I feel like I’m dying they’re just chillin. Kinda gets me back into reality where nothing bad is actually happening. Last one I heard from tiktok but some girl suggested eating ice bc it distracts you from your panic and it…kind of worked? Like it still took some time but it got me out of my own head. Very cold tho 🥶

When I'm trying to calm myself, or distract from my anxiety, I try to kind of overwhelm my brain so there's no space to stress. I'll put on a show and work on a jigsaw puzzle or play animal crossing. I also have been loving a game called 1010! on my phone, which is kind of like tetris without a time limit. I also have been getting better at reaching out to a friend to facetime, or I'll use snapchat in a marco polo esc fashion and send videos back and forth to one another to talk it out. I've learned that as soon as I vocalize that I'm not feeling great to someone, I immediately feel a little better. Sometimes I just need to move my body and feel ancy so I'll get up and either listen to music or a podcast (once again, overwhelming that brain) and do some chores around the house. My anxiety gets the worst at night most of the time, and once I reach a certain hour I'm for sure not working out, but that also helps when I do choose to workout lololol. Lastly, I've got a good friend named Mary Jane who has helped me a looooootttt if you know what I mean.

Whenever I have tried daily journaling I always failed. I think it's because of instagram/youtube where I see these beautiful journal pages that people do everyday. I'm a creative-ish person, but it made me feel if the page wasn't perfect it was wrong. So I stopped doing daily journals about my day and started dedicated interests journals. I don't have to write every single day just when I feel like it. One of those journals is a creative writing journal so a couple times a week I'll find a writing prompt on google and spend 10 minutes writing. It's actually more relaxing than writing about my day/feelings. My other journal is more niche, it's a book journal so every time I finish a book I print a tiny picture of the cover and write my thoughts about it. I like both of these journals because it takes the daily pressure off to have a perfect journal life.

I like to journal and when I'm doing it I can see noticeable results from it...but like anything I fall off the wagon easily. I try to take the pressure off myself by saying just to write what I feel, it doesn't need to be perfect or even meaningful. For a bit I committed to 'the artists' way' and forced myself to write 3 pages a day first thing in the morning. That was actually incredible, and by the 3rd page I was always coming to some revelation of something I hadn't properly worked through, but it was veeerrry time consuming. I struggle to find a middle ground here.

I’m a couple years younger than you. I don’t have a relationship with journaling at this point in my life, but writing things out when I was going through a bunch of hard stuff when I was a teen did so much for me. I might even say it saved my life. I haven’t felt like I’ve needed to do it since then though and I have tried a few times. Activities I enjoy doing - jigsaw puzzles. I have SO many. I do at least one or two a month and that was even before the pandemic. They go great with podcasts. I do keep a book of sudoku in my purse in case I need something to do and can’t use my phone for whatever reason. I play a lot of hidden object video games which I’m sure could translate into book form.

Shmoo

I know we're focusing on off your phone activities, however I have a journaling/mental health app called Finch that has been so, so helpful for me! I've tried to journal with physical notebooks before and I always end up forgetting about them, then I feel guilty that I forgot and give up entirely.

I find that journaling is something that is recommended by soooo many people, but I just can’t get into it. Like you, I get too self-conscious and perfectionistic about the quality of my writing, and that can keep me from really getting vulnerable and opening up my thoughts. I often find that a long walk allows me to connect my body and my mind together. Some of my best thinking and reflecting is done outside in nature while I’m being active. I also love to do projects with my hands, like collaging, knitting, or planting things in my garden. When my body is occupied, I find that my thoughts and feelings flow more freely. I think I am best able to reflect and get inspired when I’m keeping myself physically busy. That self-conscious feeling takes a back burner because I need to focus on the active task, and the thoughts I might not have been open to suddenly seem to come about when I am out in nature or doing a project.

My relationship with journaling is fleeting. I've got multiple different style journals since I thought oh maybe I need a certain one, but each only has a few pages filled. I've been more successful keeping a dream journal, not for every dream but those super vivid ones I feel compelled to write down. I've used the same notebook for years and it's fun to look back on every so often. As far as outlets that just hone my brain in and allow for some creative expression, I doodle quite a bit or follow youtube tutorials on drawing certain things. Oh, and even tho I don't play DnD, I paint the mini figures because it's almost meditative, you can do it with music/podcasts, and at the end you have something to display.

Em