5 Fabulous Journals That Help Me Organize, Navigate, and Ponder Life
My first journal was a bright pink diary that had a tiny gold lock on one side. I stashed the key in my underwear drawer.
FYI: To my 8-year-old self, that drawer was an impenetrable vault where I kept my most sacred items, including a very grownup lipgloss I was too self-conscious to wear, my lucky rock, and a photo of my celebrity crush (cut from a magazine and decorated with heart stickers).
I wrote every night, from under the covers of my bed, using a sparkly, purple-ink pen. Decades later, I still love to write with colourful gel pens. It feels magical!
There were days when I poured my heart and soul into those tiny, lined pages, and days when I simply recounted what I had for dinner and what I watched on television. But regardless of the subject matter, writing down the details made it feel important.
That’s the power of journalling. The best journals for organizing and reflecting focus on what’s important to YOU.
Journaling is a fantastic way to capture life’s moments, explore your feelings, and express your creativity. But it’s also a means of clarifying and sorting through the tasks and tidbits of daily life.
My brain is a mad jumble of overlapping thoughts and ideas. My journals help me categorize, filter, prioritize, and examine STUFF.
“All the noise in my brain. I clamp it to the page so it will be still.”— Barbara Kingsolver
To me, journal is a holistic term that encompasses any kind of writing that’s from-me-to-me.
There’s a glass cabinet in my office with an entire shelf dedicated to my many journals. There are also a couple of journals beside my bed, one in the coffee table drawer, and one in my glove compartment. I’m a bit of a journal-hoarder. Is that a thing?
Each journal has a rectangular white label on the front that tells me what I’m using it for. Based on those labels…
Here are the best journals for organizing and reflecting:
🩷 My Gratitude Journal is where I jot down at least five pleasant moments in the day. These don’t have to be HUGE things. Often it’s as simple as the sweetness of my morning coffee or the jolt of joy I get from smiling at a toddler in the grocery store.
I’ve kept a Gratitude Journal for many years and it has made me more aware of those moments. In fact, I think it has re-wired my brain to look for joy instead of focusing on minor annoyances. I highly recommend starting one.
Helpful hint: Completing your Gratitude Journal first thing in the morning is a lovely way to start the day.
🩷 Travel Dreams and Plans is a bucket list of places I want to visit. But it’s more than a wishful thinking journal. I also create pages on HOW I can make these journeys happen. Once I’ve selected my next adventure, I figure out a budget, list the things I need to buy and organize, etc.
This journal has helped me activate my dreams! I’ve been to so many parts of the world that I suspect would have remained unseen without the motivational power (and practical support) of my Travel Dreams journal.
🩷Cool Words, Takeaways, and Random Facts
I have more than a dozen of these journals, dating back to 2012. When I read something that clicks with me, I reach for a pen! Over the years, I’ve amassed an eclectic collection of trivia and wisdom on both trendy and obscure topics.
For example, I just randomly opened one from last year. There was a gorgeous quote from Maya Angelou on the left page. On the right page, there was a brief explanation of why Dawn dish soap is used to clean ducks after an oil spill. Both important pieces of knowledge to have at-hand.
When I need inspiration (or a quick fact about cleaning ducks), I peruse through these journals – and I ALWAYS find something that sparks my imagination.
🩷 My Doodle Day
This one is super fun! Sometimes, when I’ve spent the day battling with words and generally functioning as an adult, my brain hits overload. That’s when I whip out my Doodle Day journal and my embarrassingly large collection of sparkly pens. Instead of struggling to express my thoughts with nouns and verbs and adjectives, I switch into doodle-mode and play.
It’s astoundingly easy to disconnect from your worries when you’re focused on swirling and twirling around a page, crafting flowers and dragons and whatever else your heart desires.
Note: There’s a fellow named Austin Kleon who’s brilliant at combining doodling with writing. You should check out his blog and his books.
🩷 Rants is the necessary counterbalance to my Gratitude Journal. Because 21st century life can be infuriating and while gratitude is valuable, toxic positivity is NOT.
Honestly, I find this journal hugely beneficial to my mental well-being. It’s both cathartic and therapeutic. Once I’ve vented freely – with no judgment and no need to temper my language – I have a larger capacity for deep thinking.
It’s funny how I become more attuned to the nuances of an issue or a situation only after I’ve spilled my rage onto the page.
Conclusion
The best journals for organizing and reflecting are the ones that match YOUR life.
Right now, at this stage of life, those five journals are what works for me. That said, when my children were young, I didn’t have time for doodling and my budget didn’t allow for much travel. But I DID create a journal filled with funny things my kids said and did.
I keep that journal in a special place and peek inside when I’m feeling nostalgic. It never fails to warm my heart and bring tears to my eyes.
My old diaries live in that same special place. And opening them immediately transports me back to my childhood bedroom. I guess writing with colourful gel pens IS magical!
My advice is to NOT overthink it. Whenever you see a beautiful notebook, buy it. Leave it on your desk, your coffee table, or beside your bed. And act on your first impulse to open that notebook and put pen to paper!
