My friend Andy recently returned from a month in Germany and I finally got to spend a little bit of time with him last night! After our brief (to be continued!) conversation, all I want to do is see what he's seen. And hear more about his adventures. And you know, be there.
And because I'm terrible at keeping up with people when they're out of the country (but also feel like, ok, they're in another timezone having amazing experiences, how can I interrupt that?), I decided to write a letter a day. Letters never to be sent, but a collection to be given upon return.
So that's what I did.
It was a really interesting exercise in journaling (though I threw a few art journal-esque pages in there, DUH), and got me thinking about what of our daily lives we choose to include in journals (if we keep them)...what's journal-worthy and what's not. What to write on the days when nothing exciting happens. But then that's the beauty of it; finding those tiny moments of magic to put down in writing; things potentially/completely unrelated to the day itself.
The more I thought about this concept, the more I realized it was like "blogging" for an audience of one. Granted, I could be extremely specific and share personal information with this friend I've known since kindergarten. But the question of how to keep it interesting without being all Dear Diary blah blah blah remained constant.
Now that the month is over, I find myself still thinking AHHH letter time! But no. I'll channel that for the blog and my own personal projects. Quite an exercise indeed.
Do you journal (writing) or have an art journal? How do you record major events, and what drives you to record them? Why and how do you express these things? I'm so fascinated by the question. Help a girl out!
The more I thought about this concept, the more I realized it was like "blogging" for an audience of one. Granted, I could be extremely specific and share personal information with this friend I've known since kindergarten. But the question of how to keep it interesting without being all Dear Diary blah blah blah remained constant.
Now that the month is over, I find myself still thinking AHHH letter time! But no. I'll channel that for the blog and my own personal projects. Quite an exercise indeed.
Do you journal (writing) or have an art journal? How do you record major events, and what drives you to record them? Why and how do you express these things? I'm so fascinated by the question. Help a girl out!
dear jessica, i've been keeping personal writing journals on & off since 7th grade. sometimes i share my poetry, but most of the time, the stuff in them, is just for me. i write down my dreams, events, glue receipts, tickets..or just vent out emotions, & experiences. sometimes i write everyday, sometimes once a week. i will record conversations or things i want to look back and remember. i keep art journals too. those are for sharing meaning i post my pages on my blog, or let people look at them. i don't know if that helps you, but basically you write whatever you want. it's for you, after all. isn't it?
ReplyDeleteMy journal-keeping sounds very similar to yours, though I haven't been writing enough "for me" lately I think. That's some great insight into what you choose to record and why. I love it! Thank you!
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