One journal for everything?!
One journal for everything?!
Why I cannot have just one journal + current journals
Happy Wednesday dear ones! In this week’s letter, you’ll learn about…
✍️ Getting organized with journals
🖋️ Journaling Prompts for creating your own journals
📝 A free gift: Entering the 2nd Spring Moon Cycle journaling page
🧭 My WeatherVane: Weekly mumbles & (personal) updates
📖Why I cannot have just one journal
Once upon a time, I dreamed of having one journal for everything. Yes, I did.
Not only that but I wanted to have a journal that would make sense to me. Back then, I was already creating my own printable journaling pages and soon I came out with traveling pages. Traveling pages are journaling pages that travel throughout a journal. Soon, I found myself unable to use journals or notebooks because I couldn’t add, in an organized way, my traveling pages or the pages I created and printed.
After looking for a solution I came up with using binders.
But then another problem emerged…
I’m someone who likes to journal in several places around the house, in bed even and it became messy carrying around a big binder.
Also, I love my journals to be aesthetically pleasing, and as I’m a visual person, I love using images. On the other hand, I can be chaotic and sometimes I need to put thoughts, ideas, or whatever into paper in a messy way without first making the pages ‘pretty’.
Thirdly, I write a lot, and I write in a big font resulting in many many pages, making the binder bigger and feeling like an encyclopedia.
I soon found out I didn’t like to be carrying a big and heavy telephone book around and simultaneously feeling uninspired and unmotivated to use my journal, or better said my binder as it soon became a source of chaos.
Dividing the binder into several journals
After that failure, I decided to divide the journals and create a list of the types of journals I’d like to have.
Being a collector, and a creative soul soon, I had a tremendous list…oh no! I knew I wouldn’t be able to work on them, and surely not daily!
That’s how I thought about creating the essential journals/planners. Today’s post is all about those journals/planners. They’re essential because I use them daily, biweekly, or weekly and they’re essential in keeping track of my life and intentions/goals.
Currently, I have 5 journals/planners, and there are:
#1 Seasonal Binder
Yes, I kept the binder for my creations and for the system I’m flowing with Cyclical Living.
Here I keep track of my intentions, goals, projects, tasks, and I also track my inner landscape using the cycles of the Seasons and the Moon.
Depending on what I’m doing - tracking or check-in with my goals and tasks - I use this binder daily and for sure weekly.
This is where I add my own created journaling pages and is often what I show here or on Instagram.
If you want to check some of those pages just click here.
#2 Daily Planner
I got this daily planner on sale at the Hema store. Here I just write my do-to’s for that day. I never plan in advance!
Each morning I open my Seasonal Binder and see what tasks need to be prioritized and which tasks I’d like to spend time working on. At this time, this may be one task per day, and If I’m lucky two.
I also write here my household chores for the day.
#3 Life Planner
I got this planner also at the Hema store and it has weekly spreads. It also has pages for your goals but I don’t use them.
I mainly use this planner to track my time. The idea is that I can see how I’m spending my time. The reason is that I like to plan or add more to-do lists that I can handle.
So by tracking where I spend my time with each task, I try to understand how much time I need for my tasks.
#4 Book of Mirror (Mundane Version)
This is an old notebook where I write about everything that has to do with my mental and emotional health. These include events, rants, but also ideas, and dreams for anything that has meaning to me.
This is my messy journal and I only write in it when I feel like it or I need to vent, brainstorm, or dive deeper into an idea.
#5 Book of Mirror (Spiritual Version)
Anything that has spiritual meaning to me goes in here.
From important dreams to messages to my mission and purpose. This is an exploration of my inner landscapes.
I also write about spiritual studies I am currently undertaking and that I feel resonate deeply with me.
🖋️ Journaling Prompts for creating your own journals
Depending on the type of journaler you are, you can choose to keep your journal…
In a digital format
Use a bullet journal
Audio files
In several journals, binders, and notebook
Have a combination of all of the above
Whatever you choose make sure it’s something that works for you.
My tips for having several journals:
Make a list of the journals you would like to have and their formats.
Try to keep these between 3 and 5 journals at a time.
Be clear on the purpose of your journals.
Keep them somewhere you’ll see them daily. In this way, you’ll likely be motivated to use them.
Reflect on your journal experience at least once a month. For example, I like to do this under the Last Quarter Moon. Commit to a date each mo(o)nth.
Make changes if needed.
Feel free to share your reflections in the comments:
📝 Free journaling page
This is one of the pages I created for my Spring Seasonal Workbook. It is the opening page for the 2nd Spring Moon Cycle, which started Monday, April, 8th, 2024.
Here, I write the four main Moon Phases and any date that is related to this cycle.
This journaling page is part of The Library. To access this and other free journaling pages just click the button below.
🧭 WeatherVane’s Flow: Weekly mumbles & (personal) updates
As I’m writing this we just finished Eclipse Season and I’m not so sure how I feel.
This eclipse season and the past six months have all been about relationships actually. The relationships I have with my family, my friends, my partner, and including the relationship with myself.
Relationships are essential but only when it’s balanced. When unbalanced they can do more harm than good.
This is something I’ve experienced in the flesh. It can be painful, and raw but also liberating.
On another note, I’ve been feeling how liberating it is to be creating the things my heart calls for. This is what I do here. This is what I write about and what I share.
I added below a few images for the New Moon Cycle.
📩 Upcoming Letter
✍️ Working with the Seasons instead of an entire Year
🖋️ Journaling Prompts for Cyclical Living
🧭 My WeatherVane: Weekly mumbles & (personal) updates
🌬️ Sending you magic & healing your way,
-Vane