If you were anything like me, growing up with unlimited internet access, then from 2014-2017 you may have heard of Wreck This Journal. Created by Keri Smith, Wreck This Journal is a notebook with prompts on every page. They range from simple tasks, such as colouring in an entire page or writing one word over and over, to the over the top, downright violent requests like attaching a string to the book and swinging it into a wall.
I grew up with the idea that I must take care of any sort of book I have. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small notebook or a hardcover novel. So, 12-year-old me hearing about a book that you must destroy? I could never imagine doing such a thing!
I had to have it.
The summer I finally ended up getting one I was ecstatic. I planned how I wanted to decorate each page, and I would spend hours working through the prompts. I had gotten pretty far into the book, but then I was almost too afraid to continue. I didn’t want to drop the book in fear that I’d ruin the pages I had already completed, or that I would remove a page, only to lose it or break the book altogether. The tagline is “to create is to destroy” and I couldn’t get myself to destroy. I would also watch YouTube videos of others sharing what they did, and considering they were adults who were very creative artists, I was further discouraged into continuing. My pages weren’t “good enough” so I figured I may as well stop before I get too ahead of myself. My sister ended up taking it from me; she had way more fun and freedom with it anyways. I ended up receiving another Wreck This Journal a few years later, and I did start it, but just didn’t get as far with it; until this year.
I’m not exactly sure what changed inside of me. I think I was yearning for some part of childhood , or maybe I’d been itching for a new project to do. Regardless, I decided to pick up where I left off and I did a page. After doing one page, I did a second, and then a third. I immediately fell back in love with making some fun and creative art again. Although this journal is loaded with prompts, the instructions say to make your own rules, and I wish I took that to heart when I was younger.
You can choose to make this book however “wrecked” you want. It’s your journal! Skip a page if you want, or add some! It’s up to you! There are multiple variations of Wreck This Journal so pick up the one that seems right for you. It’ll be neat to look back on it and remember everything you did to the book but make sure to enjoy it because it is your journal to wreck.
