That was very vulnerable of you to share how you journal. Thank you for sharing. I write a LOT. I have kept a journal since I was 10 or 11 years old. I don’t keep different journals based on different levels of anxiety but I do have different journals one for every day stuff, one to keep track of pain since I have a chronic illness, I have a Hobonichi that I write in every morning and then I have a bullet journal that I create each month. Journaling for me is very healing. I have conversations with people that I would not have in real life. I work out problems through my writing. I am much better at getting my thoughts out though writing than speaking. I write so much that I can go though a full TWSBI fountain pen 🖋️ in just five days! In a converter pen I am refilling my pens every other day!!! Thank you so much for sharing how you write. I learned a lot!❤
This was super helpful! I forget to follow what intuitively/naturally feels right; I tend to make every journaling session a "whole experience," which honestly *isn't* helpful if I'm doing that every single time.
No pressure journaling! Absolutely, I’ve been there where I want my journaling practice to be a certain way over a period of time. A blend of both structure and tending to what you need in that moment is good! Thanks!
I have my common place planner that I treat as my planner plus memory keeper. I have an ink journal where I’m trying to keep track of purchases and ink searches and pen fills. I have a prayer journal for Bible study, sermon notes, prayer, and I keep a reading journal in a dot grid notebook. I also have a hobonichi weeks I had bought for diet/meal prep but now just lives in my purse for random thoughts or notes or things that come up when I’m not at home. I like the idea of your level 3 book. This was a great video.
These are great journaling ideas. Thank you for sharing ❤❤ Couples counseling is fantastic once you're able to find the right person for your situation. If I thought it was hard finding a therapist that clicked with me, it's three times as difficult to find one that clicks with my partner and I both. Writing letters with no intent to send is great. I have a lot of these long speech-to-text documents in my phone that are from an "activated" mindset. I never thought to write them down though, I just word vomit. I have a few unused journals and notebooks laying around, it might be a good idea to transcribe those to paper. It's helpful to reflect on these after some time in our own handwriting.
This is such a great idea! I may have to implement this into my journaling. Right now I have one for Morning Pages, one was my regular journal which has turned into a watercolor journal where I write notes from devotionals and prayers, and I have 3 Commen Place books. One is a catch-all, and the other two are specific to my health and weight loss journey. I struggle with depression and anxiety along with other things and I notice some days I won't write at all because I don't feel either book is for those moments. You have inspired me to come up with a method like yours. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Liane, for sharing. I've begun doing Dr. Rangan Chatterjee's morning/evening questions: (1) What is the most important thing I have to do today? (2) What is the one thing I deeply appreciate about my life? (3) What quality do I want to show the world today?/(1) What did I do for someone else today: (2) What went well today? (3) What can I do differently tomorrow? Each a.m. and p.m. I write out the questions, hoping to weld them into my brain. Use the Perpanep notebook I got from InkJournal and love it. Not sure why I love it so much, but I do. lol
That was wonderful, Liane. Though I use basically just two journals--a combination three-year and a Hobonichi Techo as my level one and a more traditional journal as my level two and three--I think I could easily categorize my actual journaling using your taxonomy. But I have developed one process that I find very helpful, especially when my thoughts and feelings are flowing faster than I can record/develop: I use only the right side of the page for my primary journaling and I do that in some version of blue or black. But I liberally use the left page to capture ideas I might want to elaborate on shortly (later, never!); and I do that in some other contrasting color (these days Taccia EBI). That left page can be a bit like taking a walk, where I record some ideas, often simply bulleted, as if I were on a walk. They are often less things I am thinking than thoughts I am having. It is a place to note things that I hope to be, as you say, more curious about later, on the right hand side, which is typically made up of paragraphs. (I also will throw a footnote mark in the middle of one of those paragraphs and jot the note down on the left if I want to hang onto it but not leave my current train of thought.) Sometimes, all my writing is on the left-hand pages, and often that is where I start writing. Thinking is discursive and oddly passive if we allow it--we are thought as well as thinking--and my left hand page allows me to think before I am ready to be a thinker. Thank you, again, for sharing so generously!
Thank you for sharing your process. I love that you dedicate your left side to thoughts you are having and preemptively creating space for these thoughts and feelings.
Such a great idea! I have a yet-to-be-used journal lying around and I think I’ll use it to fit into one of my levels that I don’t have a space for yet. Thank you for sharing 😊
This is awesome, Liane. Thank you! Do you ever feel like your level of intensity increases when you reach for your high intensity notebook? Or does the act of choosing it calm you a little. I'm just curious.
That’s a great question. I see both outcomes happen, sometimes it intensifies even more, other times I feel great after writing it out. I’ve found that if feelings magnify, I get more curious about why it intensifies. Either way, it helps me to get clear on what’s underneath.
Thanks for these ideas , love that you have levels and different note books to help express each level. I do journal but I don’t have this system which to me makes a lot of sense. It has taken me so long to get back into my love of journaling, as this was my therapy until an ex boyfriend opened and read my deepest thoughts and violated my privacy. Since then , over 20 years ago, I still hold back in case ….someone reads it again! 😢. But I am trying to let go and do more here.
I keep a raw notes journal and one that's more restrained. What do you do with the more activated notebooks when you finish them? I'm terrified of someone finding my raw notes journal, which is a tool to help me, not for display. My processing journal is sort of like a dirty scotchbrite I use to clear my mind, so what's on the page is the gunk I needed to get out. My clearer mind is the product that matters, not the journal. But someone seeing the journal would be like "eww!" Or could be hurt by something I wrote. I write the petty grievances, grudges, etc., to process and move past them, not to enshrine them. And yet, they also remind me of how I've been able to manage things so far, or to show me patterns I'm still stuck in. I also think sharing our process (not necessarily our writing), like you have done, can be helpful to others. Thank you for the ideas!
I haven’t thought that far ahead, lol. I keep them tucked away and trust that my family members don’t get into them! I have put all my most intense thoughts and feelings in the five star notebook precisely for the goal of tossing it in the future.
I highly recommend that all person who have feelings watch this video it is brilliant Thank you Last year when I was trying out the hobonichi a5 I found that I had 3 main books my currently inked book my hobonichi and my run over and stuff I wanted to stick into ajournal without bulking my hobonichi up so it really helps to have different books for different tasks I highly recommend the book the Pointless book by Alfie deyes He made the book for those people who sometimes need a creative outlet and sometimes it will be write a sentense about cats and sometimes it will be like fill this page with marker and the next will be tear it out and make a crane with it or write a letter to your problem and tear it out and crumple it up and throw it in the bin...Thanks for all you do for the community I appreciate you
A fitting sponsor for a great video. Yes, writing things out is so helpful. I have an aversion to writing out the messy stuff in a bound journal, so notebooks with removable pages are my go-to for that.
That was very vulnerable of you to share how you journal. Thank you for sharing. I write a LOT. I have kept a journal since I was 10 or 11 years old. I don’t keep different journals based on different levels of anxiety but I do have different journals one for every day stuff, one to keep track of pain since I have a chronic illness, I have a Hobonichi that I write in every morning and then I have a bullet journal that I create each month. Journaling for me is very healing. I have conversations with people that I would not have in real life. I work out problems through my writing. I am much better at getting my thoughts out though writing than speaking. I write so much that I can go though a full TWSBI fountain pen 🖋️ in just five days! In a converter pen I am refilling my pens every other day!!! Thank you so much for sharing how you write. I learned a lot!❤
Oh wow, you really are a prolific writer! Thanks for sharing your process.
This was super helpful! I forget to follow what intuitively/naturally feels right; I tend to make every journaling session a "whole experience," which honestly *isn't* helpful if I'm doing that every single time.
No pressure journaling! Absolutely, I’ve been there where I want my journaling practice to be a certain way over a period of time. A blend of both structure and tending to what you need in that moment is good! Thanks!
I have my common place planner that I treat as my planner plus memory keeper. I have an ink journal where I’m trying to keep track of purchases and ink searches and pen fills. I have a prayer journal for Bible study, sermon notes, prayer, and I keep a reading journal in a dot grid notebook. I also have a hobonichi weeks I had bought for diet/meal prep but now just lives in my purse for random thoughts or notes or things that come up when I’m not at home. I like the idea of your level 3 book. This was a great video.
Thank you so much, Liane. This is fantastic. 🤘🏼😸🧡🖋
These are great journaling ideas. Thank you for sharing ❤❤ Couples counseling is fantastic once you're able to find the right person for your situation. If I thought it was hard finding a therapist that clicked with me, it's three times as difficult to find one that clicks with my partner and I both.
Writing letters with no intent to send is great. I have a lot of these long speech-to-text documents in my phone that are from an "activated" mindset. I never thought to write them down though, I just word vomit. I have a few unused journals and notebooks laying around, it might be a good idea to transcribe those to paper. It's helpful to reflect on these after some time in our own handwriting.
This is such a great idea! I may have to implement this into my journaling. Right now I have one for Morning Pages, one was my regular journal which has turned into a watercolor journal where I write notes from devotionals and prayers, and I have 3 Commen Place books. One is a catch-all, and the other two are specific to my health and weight loss journey. I struggle with depression and anxiety along with other things and I notice some days I won't write at all because I don't feel either book is for those moments. You have inspired me to come up with a method like yours. Thank you for sharing!
thank you for sharing your process! i took notes on all your great ideas. 😊
Thanks, Liane, for sharing. I've begun doing Dr. Rangan Chatterjee's morning/evening questions:
(1) What is the most important thing I have to do today? (2) What is the one thing I deeply appreciate about my life? (3) What quality do I want to show the world today?/(1) What did I do for someone else today: (2) What went well today? (3) What can I do differently tomorrow? Each a.m. and p.m. I write out the questions, hoping to weld them into my brain. Use the Perpanep notebook I got from InkJournal and love it. Not sure why I love it so much, but I do. lol
These are great, introspective questions! Thanks for sharing.
That was wonderful, Liane. Though I use basically just two journals--a combination three-year and a Hobonichi Techo as my level one and a more traditional journal as my level two and three--I think I could easily categorize my actual journaling using your taxonomy. But I have developed one process that I find very helpful, especially when my thoughts and feelings are flowing faster than I can record/develop: I use only the right side of the page for my primary journaling and I do that in some version of blue or black. But I liberally use the left page to capture ideas I might want to elaborate on shortly (later, never!); and I do that in some other contrasting color (these days Taccia EBI).
That left page can be a bit like taking a walk, where I record some ideas, often simply bulleted, as if I were on a walk. They are often less things I am thinking than thoughts I am having. It is a place to note things that I hope to be, as you say, more curious about later, on the right hand side, which is typically made up of paragraphs. (I also will throw a footnote mark in the middle of one of those paragraphs and jot the note down on the left if I want to hang onto it but not leave my current train of thought.) Sometimes, all my writing is on the left-hand pages, and often that is where I start writing.
Thinking is discursive and oddly passive if we allow it--we are thought as well as thinking--and my left hand page allows me to think before I am ready to be a thinker. Thank you, again, for sharing so generously!
Thank you for sharing your process. I love that you dedicate your left side to thoughts you are having and preemptively creating space for these thoughts and feelings.
This is so good, thank you so much for sharing your views on this ☺☺
Such a great idea! I have a yet-to-be-used journal lying around and I think I’ll use it to fit into one of my levels that I don’t have a space for yet. Thank you for sharing 😊
Thank you so much for sharing this. It is really interesting how you are journaling. This also males me think about my own journal practice.
This is awesome, Liane. Thank you! Do you ever feel like your level of intensity increases when you reach for your high intensity notebook? Or does the act of choosing it calm you a little. I'm just curious.
That’s a great question. I see both outcomes happen, sometimes it intensifies even more, other times I feel great after writing it out. I’ve found that if feelings magnify, I get more curious about why it intensifies. Either way, it helps me to get clear on what’s underneath.
I have some similar journals. Thank you for being so open. 😊
Excellent well done
Thanks for these ideas , love that you have levels and different note books to help express each level. I do journal but I don’t have this system which to me makes a lot of sense. It has taken me so long to get back into my love of journaling, as this was my therapy until an ex boyfriend opened and read my deepest thoughts and violated my privacy. Since then , over 20 years ago, I still hold back in case ….someone reads it again! 😢. But I am trying to let go and do more here.
I keep a raw notes journal and one that's more restrained. What do you do with the more activated notebooks when you finish them? I'm terrified of someone finding my raw notes journal, which is a tool to help me, not for display. My processing journal is sort of like a dirty scotchbrite I use to clear my mind, so what's on the page is the gunk I needed to get out. My clearer mind is the product that matters, not the journal. But someone seeing the journal would be like "eww!" Or could be hurt by something I wrote. I write the petty grievances, grudges, etc., to process and move past them, not to enshrine them. And yet, they also remind me of how I've been able to manage things so far, or to show me patterns I'm still stuck in. I also think sharing our process (not necessarily our writing), like you have done, can be helpful to others. Thank you for the ideas!
I haven’t thought that far ahead, lol. I keep them tucked away and trust that my family members don’t get into them! I have put all my most intense thoughts and feelings in the five star notebook precisely for the goal of tossing it in the future.
I highly recommend that all person who have feelings watch this video it is brilliant Thank you Last year when I was trying out the hobonichi a5 I found that I had 3 main books my currently inked book my hobonichi and my run over and stuff I wanted to stick into ajournal without bulking my hobonichi up so it really helps to have different books for different tasks I highly recommend the book the Pointless book by Alfie deyes He made the book for those people who sometimes need a creative outlet and sometimes it will be write a sentense about cats and sometimes it will be like fill this page with marker and the next will be tear it out and make a crane with it or write a letter to your problem and tear it out and crumple it up and throw it in the bin...Thanks for all you do for the community I appreciate you
Thank you for the encouragement and the book rec!
Hi, could you tell me which pen case this is in the video? Thanks
Yes! It's the Galen Leather 20-pen zipper pouch.
A fitting sponsor for a great video. Yes, writing things out is so helpful. I have an aversion to writing out the messy stuff in a bound journal, so notebooks with removable pages are my go-to for that.