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Bita's avatar

This is really insightful, Caitlyn. I have always been one to carry a notebook with me and I am known as the one who is always writing about everything that crosses their mind (mostly to spare my poor friends from my overactive thoughts and mouth and to stop the words from spinning in my head). In fact, I am about 18 notebooks in now (all completely filled with thoughts) and I love revisiting them for snapshots of who I once was or to see how I've grown. Recently, my partner was talking about how we are insignificant, how we will not be remembered through history and I was happy to remind them that if my notebooks outlive me, we both will.

To me, journaling is also a way to record the people in my life that matter, in case history doesn't do it for them. That way, I leave a trace of them and the impact that they had on me in my pages. I also have a little polaroid photo printer that allows me to include pictures of those people in my notebooks.

I hadn't thought of adding other items. My notebook is mostly thoughts, poems, song lyrics, book reviews all color-coded with highlighters. Adding letters I receive (which never really do) or event tickets seems like a wonderful way to put all of my keepsakes in one spot. I am grateful to you for that idea.

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caitlyn's avatar

this is such a beautiful way to think about journaling.

i love how intentional you are with your process—it’s such a rich archive of who you are and the connections that have shaped you.

thank you for being here <3

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Luis Senna's avatar

my favorite: fiction in the form of a journal

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caitlyn's avatar

ohhh, i love this

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ink and epiphany's avatar

my eyes got a little bit wider when “but once i let go of the idea that journaling needed to be performative—that it had to be for someone else’s eyes” realest sentence today

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edu 🌸's avatar

got into journaling in the middle of the pandemic in 2020, & i haven't looked back since.

for a constant overthinking mind rambler such as myself, it is the perfect outlet for me. it's also always so fun to look back at who i was & what i felt that one thursday afternoon in march of 2021 :)

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caitlyn's avatar

I love this so much 🤎

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mercury's avatar

thank you for the ideas!! 🫶

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caitlyn's avatar

Of course!

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authentically amanda's avatar

Beautiful. Just wrote a note to write about green flags this weekend 👏

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caitlyn's avatar

🤎🤎🤎

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Mary Beth's avatar

I finally started journaling daily while reading The Artist's Way last year. It was soooo healing for me to learn to write in a way that was truly raw and even painfully honest at times. This year I want to keep two notebooks: 1. A rage notebook for angsty prose and ugly handwriting and things that I may not want to revisit but feel good in the moment to get out; 2. A curated scrapbook, much like what you have suggested, for the pleasant keepsakes that we want to go back and revisit. Thank you for all the ideas!!! I always look forward to your posts <3 P.S. Also, loving your youtube channel. You are so lovely on camera.

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slow morning diaries's avatar

The "dear diary" took me right back to childhood, being so excited to write for an imaginary audience lol. As an adult, morning pages have truly been transformative, in a way like you've detailed. Thanks for this!

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Bella's avatar

I also love writing down what my friends are up to this week "This week, friend A is traveling to India, friend B had a job interview, friend C is listening to the new Ethel Cain album, friend D and I got bagels and went for a walk on Sunday" etc!

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Lemony O'Lemony's avatar

Linking to Amazon 🫣 Please reconsider

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caitlyn's avatar

Can you recommend some good alternatives?

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Shaun's avatar

bookshop.org supports indie bookstores! Fuck Amazon forever, but especially when it comes to books

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Lemony O'Lemony's avatar

great suggestion!! also fabulous journals on Etsy

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Lemony O'Lemony's avatar

Sorry for the delayed response. Local is best but Barnes and Noble is a decent alternative. They still have brick and mortar stores, which enrich their communities, and they’ve always had beautiful journals and assorted gifts for writers and diarists.

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Killian's avatar

Reading this truly filled me with the urge to journal again. There’s something beautiful about writing all the little things, and the big things, and have them all laid out before you by your own hand.

Thank you so much for the inspiration!

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Catherine Modica's avatar

Hi Caitlyn, I really love your work and saved today’s post for relaxing in the evening, when I could give it the attention I knew it would deserve.

But I became sad in reading the journaling post when virtually every link to a pen or notebook that could enhance one’s journaling turned out to link to Amazon. Given Jeff Bezos’ new closeness to the new administration, and especially his choices that undermine free expression, especially at the Washington Post, it was disappointing to see support for Amazon.

I understand that making a living as a writer is hard, and the links to Amazon provide a financial benefit. But I’ve started reaching out to everyone I read if they use links to Amazon, simply to ask that you consider whether the benefits outweigh the problems of doing business with a company whose founder is doing damage to free expression.

Thank you for reading this.

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caitlyn's avatar

Can you recommend some good alternatives?

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Catherine Modica's avatar

For books (most of the folks I’ve written to are using links to Amazon for books) I will buy through bookshop.org - they are a supporter of local, independent bookshops. There isn’t an equivalent that I know of for writing and art supplies, unfortunately, but one very good mainstream supplier is Blick Art Materials. They’re a good company both in their brick-and-mortar stores, which are located across the US, and online - their website is comprehensive and has interesting sections for artists and educators.

Thanks so much for asking!

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Lilipod's avatar

Hi there ✨ I write about pop culture, identity, and the chaos of (not so young) adulthood — from LA, with love. Come check it out. ❤️https://lilipod.substack.com/

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Ink & Omen, by L.R.'s avatar

oh you are a junk journalist’s god. never have the things i put in my journal, or the journal contents itself, been allowed to be performative, they are consecrated in daily life. the receipts are memoirs to the memories i would otherwise forget, the hardcover spine a balancing weight against the weight of the words. each scrap of life is an offering.

this is an excellent resource that i very much will be coming back to. thank you.

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ketireddy's avatar

such a well thought out, detailed, and researched list, thank you so much for publishing this, definitely archiving this for future reference!!

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Ire☀️'s avatar

My whole diary is a mess, but that's why I love it. It holds my thoughts and those little things that I notice during my day and that make it better. I think also that a journal is not supposed to impress just the eyes, but mostly the heart, just like you said. I really like this article!

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