There’s no doubt that I am one of those people who loves collecting stationary. Anything from notebooks to pens, diaries and sketchbooks, but there is something new that has been creeping onto the market recently, and that is Journals.
Now, I’m aware that Journals, or even just the act of journaling, isn’t an entirely new concept. In fact it’s been around for a long time. I wasn’t one of the cool kids who kept a diary in high school or a really cool sketchbook, in fact just even looking at a blank page inside a notebook fills inner creative soul with fear! (Although I’ve already secretly wished that I could scrapbook as well as Tavi Gevison).
But in a bid to get rid of all the voices in my head and find a new outlet to let out my deep thoughts on – that wasn’t Tumblr circa 2009 – I decided to purchase a large notebook that I now call my Journal.
It was through watching Aileen Xu that I discovered the concept of morning pages and was eager to start my own! Even buying some coloured pens to match. Then, a book called ‘Let It out’ by Katie Dalebout happened to fall into my possession, and it seemed like the universe was giving me a sign to follow.
A few weeks later, I was kindly given the Happiness Planner by a colleague whom I was interning with, and my inner stationary nerd did a forward flip in joy! I have always been one to use a notebook to write down my Goals, To-do lists and Plans for the Month ahead, and I’ll admit that I was dubious as to whether I would get in the habit of using it routinely everyday… but I actually have!
Here are some the things that both Journaling, doing Morning Pages and the Happiness Planner encourage:
1. Becoming aware of your feelings
Encouraging yourself to write down how you’re feeling in a present moment, just writing whatever is on your mind at the moment in time, can feel really liberating. Katie calls it the Morning Dump, and I see where she’s coming from…
2. Practicing Gratitude
Being grateful and becoming aware of all the good things you have in your life gives you an amazing feeling of contentment. Mainly because you’ll realise that it’s all the small things, such as family and friends, that make you feel the best.
3. Setting intentions
When you realise what it is that you want to achieve, it’s so much easier to set yourself intentions and goals. Often in writing my morning pages, I’ll let out some negative emotions I’m feeling, but when I finished, I’ve found that I’ve given myself the solution to all the things that were bugging me, and then I can start my day!
4. Reflection
Whilst I only advocate looking at the past only to see how far we’ve come, it’s nice to end the day reflecting on all the good things that have happened. Setting yourself a minimum of 3 things to find, and then looking at 3 things you want to improve on tomorrow.
All of these things can be done with just a paper and pen! Although I have found that having a notebook already laid out with these questions a bigger motivator, you don’t have to go and buy the Happiness Planner. You can easily recreate your own version by including the things mentioned above.
If you want to find out more about the Happiness Planner click here
If you want to find out more about Katie Dalebout and her work click here, and be sure to listen to her podcast here!
“The minute you stop improving yourself is the minute your life becomes stale. Never stop challenging yourself to become the best you can be”
– Mo Steetutbum
