or is it?
I have been journaling for a very long time, now. Ever since I was a pre-pubescent girl obsessing over boys at school and documenting important moments of my life. I have journals dating back to the seventies and as such they probably document not just my life, but also the essence of Australian society as I have grown. Why, you may ask?
Well, the journaling has kept me mostly sane and given me the ability to express my feelings, how I really felt, not just how I was pretending to feel. It was very freeing, and it has continued to help me through the weird and anxiety-invoking 2020s thus far. Along the way, I also kept journals for my kids from when they were very little and gave them to them when they turned 21. I don't know if they have read it all, but I hope that knowing what I was thinking and feeling while they were going about their childhood will reassure them that they are important to us and to the world around them.
As I settled into my arty persona, I began to keep art journals. I have 8 or 9 of them now. They are kind of different and not so dependent on words, but they hold all my ideas, images, inspirations and intentions regarding my art journey. Some of them have become full-blown works of art, others are still just ideas, but again, they document my journey as an artist, and should anyone care, at any stage are kind of like a window to my soul. I know that these days things like Pinterest Boards and other digital tools have replaced the need to journal, but there is still something about a book container with all your ideas and notes that works better than the digital medium.
I also used journaling as part of my autoethnographic and reflexive methodology for my Doctoral project. Those journals are almost artist's books, and I personally love to look through them still. So when I was thinking about what to do this year in terms of classes, that may help people with their creativity, wellness and coping with life in general, journals were the obvious answer. I will be taking some in-person journaling classes later in the year, but for now, I am going to run fortnightly zoom sessions where you can join in a journaling group to keep your creativity happening and help to keep you sane as well. I will be offering some ideas developing your journal and the sessions will only be $20 each. Alternatively, you can join the self paced program and a group of like-minded creatives.