Oh journals how I love thee-let me count the ways

When I sit back and think about why journaling is so important to me, I think about how easy it is for me to fill a page with whatever is on my mind at that moment. Whatever spills onto the page can be used for inspiration, or act as a log for my travels. It can stay, folded amongst the pages, all by itself-waiting to be revisited when I flip through later. Whatever the pages act as, the results are an un-judged, private (but can be made public), outlet for any and all ideas that need to be expelled.

I think a journal can be intimidating too though. I know when I get a new one, all those blank pages waiting to be filled, the crisp clean cover, and the anticipation of filling it with something "important", can be daunting. Actually, the last journal I bought I sanded down the edges & front w/ a piece of sandpaper. I thought it looked more like something I'd work in, and a little less pompous. Yeah I know, sounds weird that I'm intimidated by a journal, but being comfortable with the way your journal looks, and feels in your hands, is very important. I've tried working in journals that didn't have the right vibe & for some reason my work seems more stunted, with a feeling of trying to create something good enough to record on the bright white pages.

Being comfortable with your journal is right up there with realizing that you can put whatever you want onto the pages, & no one will tell you it's right or wrong. That decision is up to you! The act of creating is sometimes hard to do without having in the back of your head, "What are people going to think about this? How are people going to
see me after they see my artwork? Is my work good enough to be shown to the people in my life?" With journaling, the only person judging your work is you, & yes sometimes you can be your own worst critic, but after working for a while in journals, you begin to realize that these are for you & no one else. You can doodle, write, paint, sketch, glue in stuff you pick up from a hike, & make MISTAKES, but no one will judge you for any of it, because your journal is there to absorb whatever you have to give it. Don't you just love that? :)

Like I said, I use my journals to record just about everything: sketches made on post it notes at work, ideas jotted down on reciepts, grocery lists, sticks & flowers I pick up on hikes, polaroids & entries from my travels, new techniques with new art supplies, I'm talking everything goes into these journals! Nothing is safe once it's on the page-I go back to pages & add & substract what ever I want. It's taken me a while to calm that critcal voice-the "this isn't good enough" voice-but now that I've gotten better at ignoring the negative thinking, I've taken my journaling to a whole new level. Journaling is so important to my creative process I can't imagine stopping. I think journaling is for everyone, maybe not my kind of journaling, but finding your own style is one of the best parts! Keep lists in your journal, glue in pics of your friends, family & pets, write mathmatical equations, make a lot of entries, don't enter something for a week, a month, or a year! Don't hold yourself to any standards, or feel obligated to wait until you're "good" at a technique, or writing, or whatever. Just do it! & hopefully you'll build that outlet that's worth using whenever you need.