Illustration by Hannah Anderson
Recently, there has been a Notes app revolution. It seems that many creatives of the digital age find solace in their Notes app by writing poetry or typing up long texts that they will never send. Yet, before phones were widely accessible, these thoughts would have been written in a journal.
I, too, fell into the habit of leaving notes in my phone; however, I felt disconnected from my writing. Everything I wrote felt insignificant because it was solely electronic. My solution? Paper and ink.
For the last two years, I have taken a few minutes every day to jot down a few thoughts in my journal. Some entries are fragments of poems or song lyrics, but most are just a scribble of the banalities of my day. There is something eternally rewarding about having the ability to look back to yesterday, last month, or even last year and see changes in my vocabulary, my poetry, or even something as simple as my handwriting.
So, how should one get into journaling? To be frank, the only necessities are a blank notebook, journal, or sketchbook — whatever you have lying around — and something to write with. It does not have to be expensive; my first journal was an old high school biology notebook that I repurposed.
The only consistent rule I’ve given myself when journaling is to write the date and time of each entry. However you decide to write, have fun with it; there is no need to perform when you’re journaling, it should be entirely you! I used to title my journal entries after I wrote them. A few fun ones are: “Kaya should stop listening to sad Peach Pit songs,” “Kaya’s — surprisingly — not horrible skunk encounter,” “Kaya gets bitten by a snail?”, and other frivolous variations.
Last, but not least, don’t make it a stressful experience. There is no need to buff up your writing when you scribble in a journal. Write horrible, grammatically incorrect sentences, spell words wrong, make yourself cringe — just have fun.
So, drop the Notes app, grab a blank notebook and pencil, and get writing! In a few years, you’ll be glad to look back on the memories.
Kaya Stark is from Wrenshall, Minn.
Her majors are English and philosophy.
