Ever since I was a kid, I had always had this insane obsession with stationery. I guess my mom needs to be given credit for this because she used to buy me a lot of cute stationery whenever she went on a business trip. There was once when she went to Hong Kong and she returned with a huge pile of pens, rubber stamps, stickers, pencil cases and rulers. So, growing up, I had excessive stationery lying in my house. I didn't own a lot of toys but I sure did own a massive amount of stationery and other adorable collector items.
When I first started this blog, my only intention was to make it an outlet for myself. I didn't care about anything or anyone, it's purely for my own personal sake. However, as time goes by, this blog grew and I had to filter some things out which can't and shouldn't be put online because I realised that I will be the one accountable for the things I have chosen to put in public.
I tried opening another blog which was completely private and that didn't really work for me because whenever I was blogging there I would be thinking "if I have the time to blog here and ramble here, why don't I just devote this time into my original blog" and I would just give up on everything.
When my beloved darlings Daphne and Chanwon started sharing their passion for journaling, I started to dig deeper into it...Long story short, I fell in love with it.
To some people, like Chanwon mentioned, this habit of journaling would seem to be a useless thing to do and it's a waste of time. Why bother sitting down and taking out your so called planner or diary because we aren't Anne Frank anyway :S
However, after fumbling my way through this journey of journaling, I have started to love it.
Journaling is a really nice and sentimental way to keep your memories. Nowadays, people don't print out photos anymore, let alone penning down the stories behind those photos. At first when I started to do this, it's like a chore to me especially when I was falling behind on some days...Nevertheless, no matter what, as long as I pushed myself to replace those diary entries, the feeling of satisfaction is insanely AWESOME. Page by page as you flip through, those memories are so vivid and you get to relive that very moment.
The ironic part for me is that since I have a blog, then what's the point of me writing down my memories in a diary? Let me assure you, it's really different. Yes, you get to share whatever you want on your blog but there are things that are inappropriate / personal / irrelevant to be put into a blogpost. Just because it's interesting to me, it doesn't mean that it will be interesting to everyone, especially those inside jokes that I share with my friends. Sometimes, it's pointless. So, those things will go into my diary.
Journaling also keeps my life organised. I implement the bullet journal method because that's the first system that I came across under the recommendation of Chanwon and I am glad that it's working for me :D I was skeptical at first because the very last time I had a to-do list, I was at the age of 9 - I had my very last notebook which I used to jot down what homework I had for that particular day and what books to bring to school the next day. That's it. After that, I just went on memorising everything in my brain - which thankfully didn't really fail me often HAHA! Of course, being a human, I would have a system glitch once a while but overall it worked surprisingly well.
However, as I went into university, I realised that life's not like high school anymore. There are no teachers who will keep an eye on you all the time and check on you on regular basis, you need A LOT of self-discipline, motivation, organising skills and time management skills to get your shit together. Things could be overwhelming one day and the other day it would seem like there's nothing major going on at all. Hence, that's when I started to return to my journaling habit.
I made this mental rule and promise to myself - if I write something down on my planner, then I must get it done no matter what. Being an OCD, I love to cross out the boxes on my to-do list. What's the point of having a to-do list if you don't get the satisfaction and accomplishment of crossing things out?
In addition to that, I find journaling's a good way to unplug myself from the digital devices. If it wasn't for my journal, I don't think I would even bother looking away from the computer screen. I basically read, blog, eat in front a screen all day err day. But, when you have a journal, it's like having a puppy, you have to add "walk the puppy" in your daily routine and that's the same thing for journaling. It gets things off my brain. I love writing it with some soft music in the background and my scented candle burning by the side - it's therapeutic.
Right now, I have been living up to my habit of journaling for nearly 1.5 years and I am glad to say that I'm enjoying it. It's a passion that not a lot of people can relate to but at the same time, I have found myself a good bunch of friends who love journaling and it's a topic that we can go on and on for hours. It's a journey that you will love once you are on board, if not, you will be judging from afar and that's alright!
From now onwards, I will try my best in composing more blog posts regarding my journaling journey which will include a lot of handwriting, stickers, sticky notes, rubber stamps, washi tape and last but not least my Midori Travelor's Journal which I love very dearly.
If you are a planner / stationery lover like me, by default, we are friends :D YAY!
When I first started this blog, my only intention was to make it an outlet for myself. I didn't care about anything or anyone, it's purely for my own personal sake. However, as time goes by, this blog grew and I had to filter some things out which can't and shouldn't be put online because I realised that I will be the one accountable for the things I have chosen to put in public.
I tried opening another blog which was completely private and that didn't really work for me because whenever I was blogging there I would be thinking "if I have the time to blog here and ramble here, why don't I just devote this time into my original blog" and I would just give up on everything.
When my beloved darlings Daphne and Chanwon started sharing their passion for journaling, I started to dig deeper into it...Long story short, I fell in love with it.
To some people, like Chanwon mentioned, this habit of journaling would seem to be a useless thing to do and it's a waste of time. Why bother sitting down and taking out your so called planner or diary because we aren't Anne Frank anyway :S
However, after fumbling my way through this journey of journaling, I have started to love it.
Journaling is a really nice and sentimental way to keep your memories. Nowadays, people don't print out photos anymore, let alone penning down the stories behind those photos. At first when I started to do this, it's like a chore to me especially when I was falling behind on some days...Nevertheless, no matter what, as long as I pushed myself to replace those diary entries, the feeling of satisfaction is insanely AWESOME. Page by page as you flip through, those memories are so vivid and you get to relive that very moment.
The ironic part for me is that since I have a blog, then what's the point of me writing down my memories in a diary? Let me assure you, it's really different. Yes, you get to share whatever you want on your blog but there are things that are inappropriate / personal / irrelevant to be put into a blogpost. Just because it's interesting to me, it doesn't mean that it will be interesting to everyone, especially those inside jokes that I share with my friends. Sometimes, it's pointless. So, those things will go into my diary.
Journaling also keeps my life organised. I implement the bullet journal method because that's the first system that I came across under the recommendation of Chanwon and I am glad that it's working for me :D I was skeptical at first because the very last time I had a to-do list, I was at the age of 9 - I had my very last notebook which I used to jot down what homework I had for that particular day and what books to bring to school the next day. That's it. After that, I just went on memorising everything in my brain - which thankfully didn't really fail me often HAHA! Of course, being a human, I would have a system glitch once a while but overall it worked surprisingly well.
However, as I went into university, I realised that life's not like high school anymore. There are no teachers who will keep an eye on you all the time and check on you on regular basis, you need A LOT of self-discipline, motivation, organising skills and time management skills to get your shit together. Things could be overwhelming one day and the other day it would seem like there's nothing major going on at all. Hence, that's when I started to return to my journaling habit.
I made this mental rule and promise to myself - if I write something down on my planner, then I must get it done no matter what. Being an OCD, I love to cross out the boxes on my to-do list. What's the point of having a to-do list if you don't get the satisfaction and accomplishment of crossing things out?
In addition to that, I find journaling's a good way to unplug myself from the digital devices. If it wasn't for my journal, I don't think I would even bother looking away from the computer screen. I basically read, blog, eat in front a screen all day err day. But, when you have a journal, it's like having a puppy, you have to add "walk the puppy" in your daily routine and that's the same thing for journaling. It gets things off my brain. I love writing it with some soft music in the background and my scented candle burning by the side - it's therapeutic.
Right now, I have been living up to my habit of journaling for nearly 1.5 years and I am glad to say that I'm enjoying it. It's a passion that not a lot of people can relate to but at the same time, I have found myself a good bunch of friends who love journaling and it's a topic that we can go on and on for hours. It's a journey that you will love once you are on board, if not, you will be judging from afar and that's alright!
From now onwards, I will try my best in composing more blog posts regarding my journaling journey which will include a lot of handwriting, stickers, sticky notes, rubber stamps, washi tape and last but not least my Midori Travelor's Journal which I love very dearly.
If you are a planner / stationery lover like me, by default, we are friends :D YAY!
What a cute stamp.. I also like a cute stationery and diary, and I don't feel like a child LOL
ReplyDeletei feel like a child at times BUT without guilt! hehe! we all need to release our inner child once in a while :D it would be sad to forget who we once were right?
DeleteI've tried to keep a journal/diary for like so many times, but I just can't keep up!
ReplyDeleteI like doing it, but sometimes I just don't know what to write...
Sugarcandycandy.blogspot.com
i totally get you. i had been in your position as well, for a pretty long time. I THINK one of the biggest reason to that is finding a planner/diary/journal that is suitable for you. whether it is the size, the planning system or the design, insignificant things like that sort of affect too. i had a kikki-k planner before this and it didn't work for me so i didn't get back to journaling...until i have found myself the Midori TN which is working perfectly for me :)
Deleteregarding on what to write in the journal, maybe you can check out Pinterest for journaling inspirations, there are tonnes of ideas out there to help you kick start that habit ^^ For me, I don't write in the diary every day but I do write my to-do list in my bullet journal every day when I wake up. when i run out of things to write, i will write out the things that i am grateful for / what inspired me on that day, i find it therapeutic :p of course, at times, i do slack off a little from it