[Image Description: The words "SydneyBlu's Guide to
Journaling" surrounded by various journaling-related items like tape,
notebooks, markers, polaroids, pencils and paperclips in pink, yellow and
black.]
Art & Writing By SydneyBlu Garcia-Yao
I've always had a kind of obsession with documenting my life. It
scares me that one day, I'll forget. Since I was five, I've had some form of
journal on and off as a record of my life. A lot of times I question whether
I'll even want to go back and read all the little details of what I used to do,
but something keeps me going back to it.
I still journal because there's a relaxing aspect of it, and it
lets me validate my thoughts. I normally journal for two or three months
writing page after page before I go to bed and then pause for a while before
rediscovering journaling in a new way. Throughout my life, these are they ways
I've tried to journal:
1. Writing in a Journal
[Image
Description: A large notebook laid flat so both pages are showing with the
words obscured by neon blue lines for privacy reasons.]
I start my journal entries off by rambling; most is about my day
and what I've done - that type of stuff. Although sometimes I write about
book/movie/TV characters and how I feel like they relate to the real world to
mix it up. I often feel that just writing my thoughts feels very raw and
authentic, butI often cringe over what I've written in the past.
2. Journaling through
Poetry
[Image
Description: A single sheet of poetry with the words obscured by neon blue
because the author is shy.]
This started when I really wanted to write a rambly poem walking
through a city (although I was never able to write one I
really liked) but later became one of my favorite types of journaling! There's a different
type of feel to this type of writing- it feels, well, poetic!
My biggest problem is that when I write poetry, I tend to
dissect things too much, which can make its beauty fade. I recommend
considering this style more of a journal than a poem; when I first started, I
would try to go through tens of pages to look for anything worth reading, but
it was too all over the place to really be of any use. I consider writing
poetry an entirely different type of recording yourself.
3. Journaling through
doodles
[Image
description: A polaroid of the author (with her face obscured by neon blue
marks) with various doodles questioning what the paper cones are in the photo.
The page is titled, "Fooling Around May 2019."]
(Unfortunately, I am no longer in possession of these doodle
journals, but the above doodles are an examples of that style)
Originally inspired by Amelia's old art journal post, I
bought a notebook without any lines with the thinking that I was going to draw
in it. This didn't pan out as the paper was too thin, so I wasn't able to paint
or use markers. Instead, I journaled using pen and little blobs of text next to
it almost as a caption. I think the important thing for this is to not try to
make all the doodles look too pretty because with the simple drawings I had, it
was taking me 30 minutes to do a night. Of course, it’s all up to you!
4. Scrapbooking
[Image
Description: A two-page spread titled "Philly 10.4.19" with the text
blurred out. There are a few stickers of penguins interspersed through large
chunks of colored text. On the top left is a photo of a train warped through
taking the photo at an angle and on the bottom right is a photo of a highway
taken behind a gate and fence.]
When I got a polaroid camera as a birthday present, I ended up
with 50-some photos and nothing to do with them. I ended up sticking them in a
notebook (also with pages that were too thin for paint) and doodling around
them with some explanations of what was going on. Later I tried printing out
photos of drawings, songs, etc. that I liked and writing about them! I tend to
do this pretty consistently, but only like once a month or so.
5. Annotating Poetry
Books
[Image
Description: The poem Threshold by Ocean Vuong with many underlines and illegible notes on the
sides.]
I think annotating poetry is a great way to record how I think
at that time. What I do is take a poetry book I have (works better with poems
with a lot of space between lines or in general, less with prose poems or other
styles with a lot of text close together) and write all my thoughts about it
and underline lines I really like. I think that the connections my brain makes
shows how I feel that day so I try to switch up the colors of pen I use to make
it more clear how many times I come back to the same poem!
Hopefully these different types of journaling inspired you to
write something! Remember not to feel any pressure writing; journals are for
raw emotion!
For more Risen posts on journaling, click any of the following
links: