Journaling Just Works

Welcome to all our new members—hi!

You're beginner, or you're simply considering if you should start keeping a journal? Ask all your questions here. You're more experienced? Feel free to share pictures of your journal, tips & tricks, anecdotes.

This week theme: Do you like your journal pages to look perfect?

Anything related to keeping a journal is welcome in this weekly thread.

A warm welcome to our new members. There is not a lot of activity going on on the surface but our numbers are steadily growing (351 this very morning!), which is neat!

This the second issue of our Weekly Thread, where anyone is welcome to post pictures, questions, anecdotes, suggestions, tips and tricks, your latest great find, absolutely anything related to journaling (at least remotely)

Did you treat yourself with some fancy or not so fancy office supply? Or maybe you're testing out a new journaling app or workflow? Did the dog ate your brand new journal or chew on your new Montblanc fountain pen? Anything else, more or less serious?

Are you a beginner or you're not sure if should start keeping a journal? It's a good place to ask any question ;)

So much this (link to Reddit).

Don't worry about not looking great, or clever, or whatever you consider a flattering image of yourself when you read back your journal in a few days, months, years, or decades—yep, I'm that old.

That's fine. No, that's great.

Believe me, no matter what, as long as you wrote honestly about it (not in the sense of writing some supposed indisputable deep truth, in the sense of honestly writing what you were thinking and feeling back then, at that time, no matter how silly) it's worth it and it will be worth reading back.

You have no idea how dearly I miss my old journals were I wrote about my first true love, as a little boy, and later about my second true love, as a young teen. And also, no matter how unflattering it is for me, all I may have written about my many crushes and my countless failed attempt at flirting. Thinking about it, I must have been in love every single day at that time and it must have been a real pain for my best friend who endured all of it—we're still best friends all those years later ;)

Some forty+ years later, I still remember V. wonderful blue eyes and how she smiled and her eyes too, and how badly I wanted to impress her. And how fucking terrorized and excited I was the day I rang her door, completely out of the blue, because it was the last opportunity I could ask her out. I was 14, I had long hair, flowers in one hand (like, really) and my face was tomato red. I still remember how stupidly I smiled when the door opened to let her dad out. He was about to leave for his job, wearing his... cop uniform. He looked at me for more or less an eternity, and the more he looked at me the more I was dying inside.

You can believe me when I tell you that, he was not happy to meet me, and that V. and I did not end up getting married :P

Post pictures, questions, anecdotes, suggestions, tips and tricks, your latest great find, anything related to journaling in this weekly thread.

Yep, I'm still trying to find a way to encourage more people to participate, so feel free to use this thread, or obviously to start your own ;)

I updated the sidebar with a new (new to me, at least) community called 'Web Revival' that wants to be "A movement focused on capturing the creativity and openness of the early Internet."

[email protected]

At first glance, it's not strictly a journaling or writing related community but I think it's intimately related (and very interesting) as it's very close to what motivates many of us in keeping a journal—the ability to make events/time/thoughts truly ours and not just things we're remotely looking at.

Blogs, that used to be called 'online journals' you know, personal websites, Small Web, small forums (like the communities, here on Lemmy) and so on made exactly that for the Web. They made it our Web. Not just a product we're allowed to consume. We made it and its content.

All those things that once were popular and are not so much nowadays—I'm exaggerating, they're still popular? Well, maybe but allow me to ask this: how many of us go check our respective profiles when we participate in a discussion, here on Lemmy, and when we see that there is a link to a personal blog or whatever how many of us do click the link? Yeah, I thought so ;)

All those small personal spaces made the Web a unique place, so highly personal and so rich. There was need for an algorithm and we had none. This space was slowly invaded and pillaged by corporate bullshit and money, like mold growing staining everything with ads and marketing. Ruining every single thing they touched.

Humbly, I used to be active in that pre-corporate Web, my first website dates back to the mid 90s, if not earlier. So, it could very well me being old and nostalgic but when I stumbled upon that new community it almost feel like when I open to write into my journal—a nice and comfy place, home.

I dearly miss that Web. Exactly like I miss receiving and writing personal letters handwritten or not, what matters is that they're personal, instead of emails or messages—says the exact same guy that has been not writing back to a very special letter he received way too many days ago! I really have no shame ;)

Once again, let me know if you don't think this community is related to journaling. I hope I made it clear I think it is but I also don't own our community and I'm open to discussion.

Have a nice day, and maybe go have a look at that community? [email protected]

The question doesn’t mean much if you're a digital journaler as you probably already have a synced copy available on your phone. But for the analog journalers out there this can mean mean the difference between having a journaling and having... lost our journal. Every single page of it.

There is no such thing as syncing and rarely any backup of our notebooks. So, carrying it everywhere we go is a real risk.

I don’t carry my journal with me because I know I will lose it. That's a scientific fact based on personal experiences (way too many of them) of losing a lot of things, from my keys and countless umbrellas, up to a brand new laptop (yeah, that's me, and would you believe it when I went back to get the laptop back it was not there anymore) as well as, you guessed it, my journal.

So, my journal stays at home.

What I do carry everywhere I go, outside as well as from one room to another in our apartment, is a pocket notebook of some sort and a pen where I quickly write stuff down. I don’t try to write great literature not even full sentences, it’s merely a few key words and symbols that have zero meaning to anyone but me and that work (wonders) as a reminder when I’m back at my desk and I write whatever I was thinking about when I jotted those down in that pocket notebook. And that small notebook, I don’t care much losing it.

For years, I used to get those free but real handy small notebooks with a tiny but decent ballpoint pen attached to it, from the pharmacy next street. It was their gift around New Year, knowing I quite enjoyed them, they would let me pick a bunch of them (not enough for a whole year but still, that was nice. This year, they gave me a... pencil pouch. It's an odd pharmacy, I suppose ;)

I never kept a journal consistently because writing my thoughts felt like giving anyone access to them, and thus, I felt pressured to write like an eloquent Socratic philosopher just in case anyone DID read it.

An interesting discussion on r/journaling about being honest, or not, in one's journal. And how the OP found it to be tiring.

What do you think?

And do you lie or simply make yourself look better in your journal, just in case some would read it?

I tend to agree with the OP. But, I also understand that desire to please and to be liked (and to not be judged) just in case someone would read that journal, even without our consent.

I also think that when one stops being honest in their journal there is a very real risk to lose interest in journaling altogether. Which I would not want to happen.

I did lie for a while in y journal, openly I mean. I called that being 'hypocritical' but it was only me lying to myself and to that hypothetical and very unwelcome reader. It did not last long, it was during a very challenging time with a lot of self-doubt... not that long ago as a matter of fact. I stopped doing that soon after I started as it was exhausting and not very helpful. And not fun at all.

Also, there are much simpler way to tell lies to an audience. Being an actor or a politician are two obvious ways of doing it. Or be a writer and write (or sketch) stories in which you lie. Not all stories are lies, but many are and that's perfectly OK.

Stories are great as in them one can pretend absolutely anything. And they're also much simpler to share than a journal, if that's what you're wanting to do. I mean, beside traditional publishing in books or magazines there are many places and communities one could share their ~~lies~~ stories to an audience more willing to believe them ;)

I see quite a few new members have joined our small community in the last few weeks which is great! (Edit 16th Dec: we passed the 300 members!)

A warm welcome to every single one of you!

I was wondering if you would be interested in post where everyone would be able to present themselves in a few words if they wanted to, maybe share a little info about themselves and their journaling habits or why they're considering journaling?

No obligation, obviously, and nothing too personal should probably be shared but here it is.

If the discussion gains enough traction I may pin it as a permanent welcome post and an invitation to new members to introduce themselves. If it doesn't, well so be it.

I will introduce myself in the comments, read you there ;)

This year, I wanted to start keeping a reading journal.

That’s certainly not a revolutionary idea, but I still managed to get stuck on a simple technical consideration: should I use a dedicated journal? Or write them in my existing journal, next to my usual entries? But then, how would I be able to easily spot my reading entries and distinguish them from the journal entries?

In the end, I decided I would do everything in my existing journal but that I would write reading entries in a different color from standard journal entries. It’s simple enough while still making it very easy to instantly tell them apart.

What would you do?

Edit Jan 4th: re-uploaded the banner with the correct version—yep, I'm that professional :p

Like announced two weeks ago, I wanted to update the banner and icon for the new year. Here they are.

Let me know what you think about them. I saved a copy of the old files, should everybody prefer the previous version, it'll be easy to revert back.

And once again, a big thx to @SomeAmateur for your remarks and suggestions regarding my first proposition. They helped me a lot, hopefully ending up with something nicer ;)

It's the first time I'm so proud of what I did !

Have you decided on a New Year resolution related to journaling? Maybe to start journaling? Or to journal more, or more regularly? Or you want to start sketching in your journal, or to decorate it in some other fashion? Something else?

And have you decided on a backup resolution, in case your main resolution does not go as planned?

For 2025, I’ve decided on two things related to my reading journal. They are not huge or radical changes, mind you. They’re stuff I want to get better at because I know they will help a lot my readings.

1. I want to read less randomly. So, I have made a six month worth reading list (6 months to begin with, to see how well it goes) that I will stick to no matter what. My issue is that I have a real tendency to drop whatever book I’m reading and start reading whatever new or shiny book I can get my hands on, which doesn’t help me move forward in the other book(s).
2. To systematically—systematically, like in ‘making it into a true habit to’—write down a short review (summary + comment) for every book I’ve read. Was well as for anything else I will watch or listen to during that same 6 months time frame. I’ve been doing that for essays and for other serious stuff already, but I've recently realized I could not remember that well old novels and short stories I've read. So, I think it’s worth doing it for those too.

My backup plan is kinda cheating as it's there to help me not fail in my main resolutions (to read less randomly, and take more notes about the books I read):

1. Take reading notes with every single book (or podcast). Not summarizing or analyzing it in any ways, just jotting down stuff and impressions as they occur to me. Like I used to do much younger, writing down in the margins or underlining passages save that this time I will not be doing it in the book itself (most of what I read is borrowed and when it is not I will give either give it away or resell it after reading). Doing that, even if I fail to write the short review in time I should still be able to quickly read through my notes and make something out of them.
2. The reading list itself contains more books than I can read in six months. That is on purpose as I want to be able to switch book if I realize I can’t read one or another. For example, in that list there is Proust À la recherche du temps perdu one I’ve already tried (and failed) multiple times to read in the last 30 years. I still want to give it a chance but I know there is a high probability I will fail again and since I certainly don’t want to turn reading into a chore, if it happens once more Proust doesn’t suit me I still want to be able to switch to another author. The only thing that matters here is that I stick to the reading list.

Btw, let me know if you're interested in looking at that list or if it's something you would like to discuss more?

It comprises both English and French books but should cover a wide range of topics, from essays (philosophy, sociology, stuff like that) to fictions, spirituality, poetry, as well as plays. Starting with my undisputed favorite French playwright next to Racine: Molière). But fear not, if there are indeed quite a few classics in that list (some older than Molière) there is also a few more recent authors... and don't forget it's just for 6 months, so the second half of the year could easily and entirely be devoted to our contemporaries ;)

I find I get some really quality introspection / observations around this time of year, and also just during holidays in general. Maybe it's just the time off, or maybe it's having an event to write around. I'm not sure.

Do other folks especially look forward to writing their thoughts down during the holidays? Like I'm visiting family for a couple days, and I can't wait to document the memories that haven't even occurred yet.

Figured it might be a good discussion question. Crossposted to [email protected].

Especially as someone who wants to help grow [email protected], and to participate to help it grow, but in the end I come from [email protected] and I think of what I have far more as a Personal Knowledge Management System than a journal. I spend far less time on personal feelings and thoughts and "what did I do today?" and a lot more on making it a knowledge repository for Future Me. And if what I do is actually pretty separate from journaling it would be cool to know so I don't invade threads I shouldn't be talking in.

Edit 18/12: I updated the proposition, based on u/SomeAmateur remarks.

What do you think? Feel free to comment, even if it is to point out the things you don't like, or that you don't like this proposition at all and prefer the old one. I'm no logo designer, I can promise you won't hurt my feelings ;)

Original post:

Since 2025 is getting closer I thought it might be a good opportunity to change the banner and the icon.

Here is a quick mock-up to promote something a tad less... serious.

There are two versions of the banner, one with and one without our dear Lemmy. And two versions of the community icon too, one with and one without the name in their default square shape and as a circular icon too, so you can get a better idea what they would look like.

What do you think? Is there one you prefer? Do they both suck, and the banners too?

I have not. Not a single line written since the 6, and I write this on the 16.

All I have is a shaky pencil note saying 'Jeudi 12. Malade.' as for the last four days, I was simply too sick to be able to sit at my desk, and I was exhausted from the lack of sleep.

But even if I could not find any good excuse, that would still be fine with me to not be constantly writing in my journal. I have been keeping a journal of some sort for almost 50 years and during that time I have made many pauses. Some of which lasted a year, or two. That's part of the process as far as I'm concerned.

What I have recently started doing when such a break happens is to write down a quick summary for the concerned days (it has been a while since I have had a break lasting more than a week or two), writing down the few the things I consider noteworthy, or the ones I can remember. Like how I almost suffocated to death yesterday laughing so hard and coughing and trying to catch my breast at the same time, because of that silly joke my spouse was telling me ;)

Are you OK with breaks/interruptions in your journals, or are you trying your best to be consistant?

Just curious.

How to hold a pen (or pencil) properly and write without pain [8:41]

Summary:
No right or wrong way to hold a pen/pencil, choose what's most comfortable to you. However, if uncomfortable, try changing to a tripod grip, with pen resting on middle finger and lightly held between index finger and thumb. If you use this grip already and experience pain, be mindful of your grip, stop as your hand tenses up, start again and practice maintaining a relaxed grip.

I'd also recommend other videos from this channel as they go into a lot of detail on another handwriting method that can help reduce fatigue. See their playlist, Fundamentals of Arm Writing.

For another perspective on the same topic, you can also check out the video, Practical Penmanship: Fundamentals | Grip, Posture, Muscular Movement.

A lot of the posture advice is roughly the same as with standard typing posture advice (feet flat on ground, no slouching in seat), so if familiar you can skip around those to the details on grip and muscular/arm movement.

Lastly, and somewhat curiously, neither of the individual videos above mention this as much (that I recall in the case of the first), but some simple, basic advice is: take a few second breaks when writing at length and stretch your hands or arms.

Also if you're having trouble relaxing your grip, don't be too proud to get or make grips to put on your pens, if they don't have them already, or pencils. This video mentions these tips, including making writing grips with some tape or rubberbands to help.

Amusingly, I found my way to the first person's videos in part when trying to find advice on drawing without discomfort, but it turns out it's just as applicable, given handwriting is itself a sort of drawing.

Hope these guides and tips help anyone that's been going back and forth on getting into analog journaling but staying away due to finding writing by hand uncomfortable. Maybe this could be your motivation to get into it, to retrain your method of handwriting!

I added a limited selection of links to (what I consider) interesting Lemmy communities, in the sidebar.

• As a fountain pen user myself, the [email protected] seemed quite obvious. Note that I would love to add a link to a Bic/ballpoint pen, pencil, and to other writing implements communities, if you know any or feel like creating a new one :)
• The [email protected] is all about Personal Knowledge Management which, in its own unique way, a journal can also be. If you’re wondering, next to my journal I also write a lot in my Zetellkasten and yep, like my journal it is an analog one: after many years and many attempt trying and trying again to be full digital I decided it was time to fully commit to analog.
• [email protected] and [email protected] are all about posting art. I don’t know about you, but I like art books a lot and I also like to look at art online. I also sketch in my journal and even though I'm no artist, I like that a lot. I find it inspiring to look at the work of others.

Are there other communities that you would like to suggest? It goes without saying but better be clear: no politics, no hate, no porn. Only stuff that you think relates to journaling in some way. Do you know a community around office supply or notebooks or a community dedicated to sketching, maybe?

What do you think about having those links? Is it a ‘Yeah!’ or is it a ‘Nay’?

Keep in mind this is only a proposition, let your voice be heard :)

Edit: in case you did not noticed it, I also slightly updated the rules/description.

It is a recurring topic on the reddit Journaling sub, Mom accidentally read my Journal, or My cousin read my diary, and so on. Bet it a cousin, a dad, a mom (my mom read my journal when I was a kid and my life changed, not for the best), siblings, SO, colleagues,... People may rightfully feel devastated after someone read their journal without their permission.

It goes without saying that no one should read a journal without being invited to. And that there is no such thing as an 'accidental reading' of a journal.

Anyone accidentally reading more than a few words of the first page in a journal is doing it on purpose. They decided to read (a little, or a lot more of) the intimate thoughts and words of another other person because they wanted to read it.

Do you protect the privacy of your journal? And if so, how?

I used to, as a kid (after the 'mom even' I mentioned). I learned to replace names with fictitious ones, and to hide my journal in odd places. I also very quickly learned to write in English, because she could not read English and because, back in those days, there was no such thing as the Internet with instant-translation. Also, I knew very well she would never dare ask anyone to translate it for her, she was way too afraid of people reaction and judgment. She did try to coerce me into translating it, though... with little luck. Later, I learned to... destroy all my old journals, in order to preserve my privacy.

As a young adult, I kept it hidden in a box or in a drawer with a lock.

And as a less young adult, I quit hiding it. I did kept regularly destroying it, alas. A sad habit I only quit recently.

Nowadays, my journal sits on my desk (and the few remaining old ones are in plain sight on a bookshelf). My spouse could easily take it and read it the moment I turn away. But I know she would never do that, not without me telling her to read it. Like she knows I would never go through her paper without her permission. In the 25 years we’ve been together, we’ve learned to trust each other and to be OK with not sharing everything together, We both have our little if not secret at least they're private gardens. But I also realize I’m very lucky to live with someone like her.

Have you ever experimented such an intrusion in your privacy? Or would that be ok for you?

If privacy matters to you, how do you manage to protect it? Do you ask to your SO other, or kids or whomever to simply respect your privacy, do you store it in some place? Do you use a password protected digital journal? Or?

Digital is safer?

As much as I prefer a paper and pen journal, I must admit that a digital journal is probably the best option for anyone concerned with privacy.

Be it in most word processors, like LibreOffice Writer (which is free), MS Word, or even Apple Pages, it’s very easy to password protect a document so no one can open it without knowing that password. And if you’re using a dedicated journaling app (like DayOne that I have used for many, many years next to my paper journal), there is an option to password protect it. And I'm pretty sure it's the case with most if not all apps.

Feel free to share your own experience!

One of the reasons I see people advance when explaining why they gave up on regularly keeping a journal—a pen and paper journal, I mean—is that writing longhand can be exhausting.

Sadly, they’re right.

One can quickly get cramped fingers or a tired hand and wrist, which won’t do much to encourage anyone to pick up their pen and write a little more in their journal.

But what’s even sadder is that there is an easy fix: use the right pen.

OK, to be exact there are three things one should consider:

• the paper used,
• the position we're sitting in and the ergonomics in general,
• the pen used.

In conjunction, they can as easily drain all our energy or help preserve it tremendously. And writing is all about managing one's energy.

Imho, of those three things the simplest thing to change is the pen. To find one that will work great for you. One that you will enjoy writing with, instead of dreading it.

Take the ballpoint pen for example.

I'm willing to bet it's the most widely used writing device anywhere on the planet. From the cheap Bic crystal to the expensive Montblanc Meisterstück, even the classic Jotter from Parker, all ballpoint pens work exactly the same. They use a tiny ball to dispense an oil-based (aka thick) ink when they're pressed hard enough on the sheet of paper. They're incredibly reliable and practical. They can be used in almost any position and anywhere—even in space.

Alas, it's also the one requiring the most force to write with (even the space pen requires force, just a different one). As one does need to press them hard enough on the paper otherwise it will not leave a mark and because one needs force, one also needs to grip it tight.

A ballpoint pen is a great tool but if you have any excessive fatigue writing with one, or with any other tool for that matter, imho it’s worth trying something different.

Ballpoint pen, gel pen, rollerball, pencils, markers, fountain pen, maybe a dip pen and why not the quill, and I certainly forgot to name quite a few others.

What's you favorite? And do you have one dedicated to journaling?

My favorite depends on what I’m writing. For short notes on the go, I’m an official fan of the cheap Bic and the Uniball Eye (this one is a rollerball pen). For years, I also used one of those Bullet Space Pen (it was incredibly reliable). For anything longer than a short note? I’m a fountain pen guy.

Alas, unlike with a ballpoint pen, there are many wrong ways to use a fountain pen which can make the experience less than... effortless.

Back in my days, it was part of the lessons but since kids aren't been taught to use a fountain pen anymore there is a high risk that even the more adventurous may not fully enjoy using a fountain pen if they try one. Simply because they aren't taught how to properly use it.

In case you would like to know more about that, here is a great introductory video on the subject: How to Write with a Fountain Pen. It’s made by the Goulet Pens Company, a fountain pen seller in the USA. I’m not affiliated with them, I'm not even one of their customers. It's just an overall excellent series of advice. You may also watch their other beginner videos. And here is a written article which is excellent too, this one was made by JetPens, another US seller I’m not affiliated with: How to Write with a Fountain Pen.

Before I leave you, I have a request

Let me know if you think this kind of topic is interesting or if you think it does not belong here. Obviously, I find it interesting but I’m also experimenting stuff, trying to find ways to encourage people to post and to comment. So, any feedback will be appreciated :)

It's a question I just read on our Reddit cousin sub Journaling that’s worth sharing, imho.

The op seems to be concerned by the fear of the blank page and also seems to have a hard time expressing their emotions in written form.

Is it something that intimidates you too?

To avoid being intimidated by any new notebook, I have made it a habit to ruin its first page. Either by making some stupid drawing on it, or by staining it with ink. Like, literally staining the page.

Here is the first page of my current journal (left) and previous one (right). One is mere stains and scratchy nibs. The other is written in French and it reads 'Tuesday, 28th May 2024' (I only write the full date on the very first entry of a journal) 'To finish—therefore to start a journal' and next to this very deep thought I did a sketch of the XLR plug of my microphone that was lying on my desk.

Now, why should I care about ‘damaging’ my pretty journal? It's already a mess. And I find that incredibly liberating.

Have you ever done that? Or what else do you do to avoid the 'fear of the blank page/new notebook'? Or you simply don't care and start writing?

As for actually writing stuff in the journal, like I mentioned previously), the simplest thing I can think of is to write down the day and the date, plus some tidbits of info I value keeping. I may or may not write more below those snippets, and I may or may not do it every single day either. It doesn’t matter.

I have no set rule if I shall write in the morning to recap the previous day, or summarize the day right before I go to bed. Or write at any specific time in between.

What about you? Do you have any rules?

Lastly, what about writing down emotions? That’s very personal, obviously.

The key point to keep in mind regarding the way I journal is that I don’t care much about writing well in my journal. It’s not a novel or some paper I want anyone else to read. It's merely a collection of short and random notes about what happens around me, or in my head, I want to remember or reflect upon. So, I try to write them as they pop in my head. Well, it’s a tad more nuanced than that but it would take much longer to explain and maybe it’s worth discussing in its own thread?
What do you say?

... and how do you journal about your emotions, if at all?

Just in case you're wondering why I have a shiny moderator badge next to my name, I've been promoted.

Why is that?

It's not because I have posted a few messages here. I would even say that imho it's not a promotion at all. But it still is a needed thing.

As the creator of the community seems to have vanished for quite a while now, I explained to the guys at sh.itjust.works (where the community was created) what my plan was and asked them what we could do if a troll was to decide to make their nest around here, since we had no one to moderate the place. They agreed someone should be able to gently ask said troll to go lay their eggs elsewhere. Hence the promotion.

If you think I'm not cut for the job, I would not object but I will still try to do my best until someone better qualified shows up and asks for the badge—to which I would not be mad, nor angry. Seriously, make your voice heard.

Super-Mini FAQ

• Do I accept bribes? Absolutely. In the form of new posts, comments, and participations in the community only.
• What are my qualifications? I post journaling-related content and I know one should never feed a troll. Which undoubtedly demonstrates how qualified I am.
• Did I get a pay raise? It goes without saying. I'm not the kind that will work for free, you know.
• Did I get a six shooter with my sheriff badge? Oddly enough, the guys refused to give me one for some reasons I did not fully understood, I'm not a native speaker you know, it was something about someone obvious lack of maturity and someone being a bit too trigger-happy. Obviously, I have no idea who they were referring to. I got a pretty whistle, though.

I don't know about you but I like to sketch in my journal.

I will simply sketch anything that grabs my attention or that I want to remember, no matter how insignificant it can be. To keep a visual record.

I sketched that electronic thermometer the day after I had an infection and my temp reached some worrying level, while I was still recovering at home (the temperature reached 39.7 C, approx 103F, and when I called her the following day to inform her of what happened, my doctor was very unhappy I did not call her immediately 0:p)

I have no particular skills and zero illusion to ever become a professional artist, mind you. And that's fine with me. I have fun sketching (and painting) and, later, while I browse the pages of my journal I will often have fun looking at those silly sketches. Often, not always ;)

Someday I will sketch plenty unrelated stuff. While other days I won't sketch anything. And that's probably the one thing I would love to be more consistant at—sketching at least once a day.

What about you?

Do you sketch in your journal too? Or do you do any other kind of visual stuff, just for the fun/joy of doing them, or for some other reason? Decorate your journal maybe?

Are there stuff you would like to improve?

For example, I would love to get better at doing nice page layout in my journal. We can see so many gorgeous examples online, whereas mine are, well, blocky at best.

As an example of great visual journals, if you don't know him already, you might want to check Danny Gregory's YT channels, and probably read one (any) of his books: https://www.youtube.com/@SketchBookSkool and https://www.youtube.com/@DannyGregory

As for his books, the first one I would suggest must be 'The Creative License', closely followed by 'Everyday Matters'.