I drop hobbies faster than I drop my bad habits; maybe the fact that I drop hobbies is a bad habit, too. But,the one hobby I have managed to keep is journaling. Of course, I fall off every now and then, and sometimes there are weeks that pass between entries. But, I find that I always come back quickly. My secret to staying committed to journaling is writing once a week and “junking” once a month.
The system I came up with is simple. I sit down to write on Sunday evenings, but if the Sunday scaries get me, I’ll write on Monday mornings- and maybe I’ll push it off until Monday evening. I don’t worry about completely filling the page with words, Nor do I worry if what I am writing about is worthwhile. I always start an entry with a recap. This doesn’t require me to dig deeply within myself, just describe the events of the past week. As I write about what I did, it is inevitable that my heart will have something to say, that I will find something that cuts beyond the surface, like a shirt sleeve snagged on a nail dragging me backwards. From there, it’s an electrical connection running from heart to brain to pen.
My junking system is also as simple as I could possibly make it. I keep an envelope in my desk, it’s a bit tattered by now but it’s holding up well. Throughout the month, I’ll collect all my sentimental junk. Whatever clings onto my heart gets stuffed into the envelope; postcards, event flyers, stickers get tossed in and forgotten about. I try to branch out often, allow myself to get creative. I’ll dry and press flowers, add quotes that led me through the past month, or print itty bitty pictures. When the month ends, it’s almost cathartic dumping out the envelope onto my desk. I cling to the idea that all the good and bad that happened that month will be tucked between pages, leaving me with the space to start new again. For the junk journaling portion there are only two tools, again as simple as possible, glue and scissors. There are no rules or expectations, the only way this gets done is if I allow myself the freedom to be messy and unaesthetic.
I think that is the most important thing when journaling in any way, you have to allow for the mess. Write in pen so the ink will stay forever, but don’t worry about the misspelled words that get crossed out. If the lines are crooked, it just means you were writing from a comfortable position. If the junk page for the month has one hundred different colors that don’t match, then you know you experienced one hundred different beautiful moments. The mess and imperfections make it yours. Letting go of the expectations of perfection make everything easier, trust that the end result you create will still be precious. Trust that when you close the pages you have released something old and made space for something new. Maybe this system can be applied to other hobbies too, but it’s less of a system and more of a philosophy that makes the weight of life easier to bear.