I spent some time on my various journals this week. I looked down and saw that my fountain pen had been leaking a bit today and it left a stain. It annoyed me at first and I tried to wash it away. But then I paused. This stain was proof of what I had been creating. It marked me as a writer, a journaler, a creator.

I haven’t felt that way in what felt like decades, even though it’s only been a couple of years or so. The build-up-to and aftermath-of moving left me rather jarred and I struggled to find my creativity and my desire to write. It’s good to see the seasons have changed again. I hope to make the most of it in case life lets me go dormant again.

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Something new…

Yesterday morning I decided to try out Skillshare for the second time. The first time I tried it out I went a bit overboard with saving courses to try out and not really getting round to trying them. This time I’m trying to be more mindful and go one step and one course at a time.

I made my way through Drawing as Self Discovery: 5 ways to start by Mari Andrew and I was quite surprised by what I managed to create. Journaling has been one of my refuges for the past 5ish years but my journaling has changed so much over the years.

This year it started feeling a bit stale. I went for the very basics and basic turned out to be a way for me to slowly lose interest in journaling. I needed something new, fresh, and exciting to reignite my passion for the page.

The Skillshare course was just what I needed. I had a good time self-reflecting and drawing for a change. I think making lists can get a bit repetitive sometimes. I am no Van Gogh by any means, but I really enjoyed getting my feelings onto the page in a new-to-me way.

Something old…

Getting back to journaling has reminded me of a few old journaling habits I had created that have since faded away.

First of all, I really want to work on improving my handwriting again. A couple of years ago I was extremely interested in fountain pens and writing in cursive for the first time since primary school and creating gorgeous journals. I have since stopped practicing and my handwriting is chicken-scratch-esque once more.

With a bit of practice I can get back to where I was. I also have a few handwriting books that I haven’t used yet because I was saving them. Now is as good a time as any to give it a shot and keep at it.

Setting a schedule…

I actually have quite a lot of journals for different purposes. Sometimes my brain thinks they’re more overwhelming than they really are, but I think I ought to schedule time for each of them. I know if I put everything into one Bullet Journal I will fill them up within a month or two so it’s really not practical. What is practical is putting it on my to-do list.

There are a handful of journals that only require an update once a month but I tend to put it off because it seems like more that it really is. It took me less than an hour to set up and fill in my June spreads in my reading journal.

I do also want to start posting journal videos on my BookTube channel again, so a schedule would be tremendously helpful for that as well. Having the deadline for the video will give me more of an incentive to be up to date with my journals.

Sizing things down…

I have also decided that any day-to-day happenings must be recorded in my Bullet Journal. She has too often been neglected during lockdown and this has resulted in my days blurring together more and more.

Getting back to my bullet journal for general record keeping will be extremely helpful to declutter my mind. My word of the year has been “Space”. I think I tried focusing too much on leaving space in my journal and not enough on creating space in my brain.

I have also decided to utilise my Hobonichi Cousin for university and school. It really helps to be able to switch into professional mode as soon as I see the classic grid open in front of me.

Blogging and reflecting in longer sentences than rapid logging requires has been therapeutic in more ways than one. It has really helped me to find areas in my life that I have been overlooking and neglecting. Just giving my fingers the freedom to lead me where they want to go has made all the difference.

Something to remember…

Self-reflection is such an important part of life, and reflecting on a daily basis in different ways is so beneficial.

Reflecting through drawing has helped me to feel lighter, prouder, and more motivated. Reflecting through writing has helped me see what I am missing in my life and remember past practices that I want to start again.

Journaling, blogging, drawing, writing, all forms of creative self-expression and I want to be doing a lot more of them. It definitely beats ruminating about everything I need to do and things I might have done wrong. Getting it out of my head and onto paper or screen gives me something to work with.

One step at a time.

Have you done any self-reflection or expression lately? What’s your favourite creative activity?

Lots of love

xoxo

Bianca

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