Do you even journal, Bro?

[Toothpick]

I just wanted to say it's my Dad's birthday today, he passed away nearly 5 years ago. Shortly after he died we rediscovered a daily journal he kept during the year 1981, when I was 7 years old. It was just ordinary daily musings, details of his work day, etc, but to me, it was a treasure. Getting to read through it as an adult, a little bit older than he was when he kept it, was an experience I am truly grateful for.

I used his Old Spice mug during my morning shave today and wore his old work jacket

This was my intention, and still is, for keeping a journal. My dad passed in 2017 and there is very little left behind of his. All we know is what we were told and learned by being with him is whole life. But you know there is a lot more kept inside that people don‘t share. I almost want to overshare in my journal. So when I pass the people that find my journal will understand just who I was.

Bullet journaling for about 5 years. Leuchturm 1917 A5 dot grid notebook. A new one every year. Calendar, daily list, intentions, key ideas and notes, projects, and long running topics. Mostly early morning with coffee and end of day wrap up. Some notes during the day as needed.

Strictly utilitarian. No art flourishes, color, stickers etc.

Use a black uniball vision elite 0.5. Would like to use a fountain pen, though my fine Lamy Safari and Med Pilot Metropolitan are much too wide.
View attachment 1293518

Nice!! did you actually fill those up year after year or just start a new one with the new year regardless of being full or not?

 

[KW Driver]

Bullet journaling for about 5 years. Leuchturm 1917 A5 dot grid notebook. A new one every year. Calendar, daily list, intentions, key ideas and notes, projects, and long running topics. Mostly early morning with coffee and end of day wrap up. Some notes during the day as needed.

Strictly utilitarian. No art flourishes, color, stickers etc.

Use a black uniball vision elite 0.5. Would like to use a fountain pen, though my fine Lamy Safari and Med Pilot Metropolitan are much too wide.
View attachment 1293518

I use XF nibs on 5mm grids, and it works for me. A Japanese F/XF should/would work well. The Lamys are fatter that other American/European nibs in my experience. Their XFs write like other Fs to me.

 

[ByMyBeard]

Bullet journaling for about 5 years. Leuchturm 1917 A5 dot grid notebook. A new one every year. Calendar, daily list, intentions, key ideas and notes, projects, and long running topics. Mostly early morning with coffee and end of day wrap up. Some notes during the day as needed...

Thanks for your response. This seems to be a fairly popular option, and one that I may take upon myself regarding the daily list/intentions/etc. One question for anyone who does this: Do you keep this as personal/family lists or do you combine along with your work/business dealings? On one hand, I think that combined is certainly more efficient. On the other, I don't like the idea of mixing the 2. So, thoughts?

 

[JeffJ]

Nice!! did you actually fill those up year after year or just start a new one with the new year regardless of being full or not?

A new journal gets started Jan 1 regardless of being full or not. It's part of a year end review and reflection. Typically some things stop, some things get changed and a few new things may start. Have never run out of pages though it's been close a few years and I've filled in pages with short project to make it. This journal is ~248 pages, which helps. If I was doing long form journaling, it would be a separate book and would be completely filled before moving to the next one.

 

[JeffJ]

I use XF nibs on 5mm grids, and it works for me. A Japanese F/XF should/would work well. The Lamys are fatter that other American/European nibs in my experience. Their XFs write like other Fs to me.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out.

 

[JeffJ]

Thanks for your response. This seems to be a fairly popular option, and one that I may take upon myself regarding the daily list/intentions/etc. One question for anyone who does this: Do you keep this as personal/family lists or do you combine along with your work/business dealings? On one hand, I think that combined is certainly more efficient. On the other, I don't like the idea of mixing the 2. So, thoughts?

At the beginning tried to combine home and work. Did not work for me. Cluttered and confusing. Too much time wasted trying to keep context while searching for stuff. For me home is the bullet journal and work is electronic, mostly in OneNote. There's also the practical need to keep business documents/artifacts separate from personal for policy, ethical and legal reasons.

 

[Toothpick]

A new journal gets started Jan 1 regardless of being full or not. It's part of a year end review and reflection. Typically some things stop, some things get changed and a few new things may start. Have never run out of pages though it's been close a few years and I've filled in pages with short project to make it. This journal is ~248 pages, which helps. If I was doing long form journaling, it would be a separate book and would be completely filled before moving to the next one.

Cool. That makes it nice to know exactly what happened year after year. I put dates in mine because I don’t get a new one every year.

 

[Lad]

I use a journal, but not TO journal. I keep my calendar and main To do list electronically for the ease of making changes. I'll use the journal to write out the tasks I want to complete for each day. Writing them out, with 3 different ink colors for degree of importance, and checking them off is more satisfying than clicking a box on my phone! Also use the journal for meeting or other notes/plans.

 

[H4nk]

Writing things down helps me to remember them. An English professor once described writing as "drawing your thoughts" and I find that is true. My main problem is a surface for writing. I'm not having any luck with that.

 

[JeffJ]

I use XF nibs on 5mm grids, and it works for me. A Japanese F/XF should/would work well. The Lamys are fatter that other American/European nibs in my experience. Their XFs write like other Fs to me.

The trade lot that got me started with fountain pens included a couple of Platinum Preppy pens with fine nibs, the o-rings, and some silicone grease for an eyedropper setup. Noodler's Black ink was available locally. Switching to the fountain pen in the journal.

As the reviews say, the Noodlers Black is more of a charcoal. The Uni-ball Vision Elite lays down a deeper darker black with a slightly finer line.

 

[58Reissue]

I do. Have been since 2016. My sister has our great grandmothers diary. She kept this for about seven or eight years from around 1938 to around 1946.
It is an American treasure. As well as a family one.

in it she details the depression, the harsh times and the struggles. She writes of the attack on Pearl harbor and the men being drafted, going off to fight. The news of battles won and how they rationed everything. But more importantly to me, she wrote of the birth of my mother at home to my then 19 year old grandmother. She wrote of how she hoped my grandfather was ok because they hadn’t gotten any letters from him in a while. She wrote of my moms milestones of learning to walk and new words she was learning. How she sewed up her new clothes or when she had a cold or was being a fussy baby.
She wrote of all the events in my family’s history. When my grandfather came home from the war, the men working in the coal mines. The daily rituals of milking the cows and baking bread. She writes of slaughtering chickens for dinner and picking apples from the orchard.
She painted a picture of the people that raised me as children and young Adults. She showed us our family history, our heritage and roots. Where we came from. It is invaluable.

I want to leave the same for my family.

 

[Toothpick]

I do. Have been since 2016. My sister has our great grandmothers diary. She kept this for about seven or eight years from around 1938 to around 1946.
It is an American treasure. As well as a family one.

in it she details the depression, the harsh times and the struggles. She writes of the attack on Pearl harbor and the men being drafted, going off to fight. The news of battles won and how they rationed everything. But more importantly to me, she wrote of the birth of my mother at home to my then 19 year old grandmother. She wrote of how she hoped my grandfather was ok because they hadn’t gotten any letters from him in a while. She wrote of my moms milestones of learning to walk and new words she was learning. How she sewed up her new clothes or when she had a cold or was being a fussy baby.
She wrote of all the events in my family’s history. When my grandfather came home from the war, the men working in the coal mines. The daily rituals of milking the cows and baking bread. She writes of slaughtering chickens for dinner and picking apples from the orchard.
She painted a picture of the people that raised me as children and young Adults. She showed us our family history, our heritage and roots. Where we came from. It is invaluable.

I want to leave the same for my family.

All that in roughly 8 years. Amazing to have that first hand history to recount anytime you want. That’s exactly why it is important we record history. Any way we can. Video, audio, manuscript, any way possible. Just think of all the books that would not have been written had someone not have wrote down the goings on of the times they lived. Thousands of great novels. History itself would be lost.

 

[Lefonque]

Yes I journal. Have done for over 15 years.

 

[Dominic]

I do. Have been since 2016. My sister has our great grandmothers diary. She kept this for about seven or eight years from around 1938 to around 1946.
It is an American treasure. As well as a family one.

in it she details the depression, the harsh times and the struggles. She writes of the attack on Pearl harbor and the men being drafted, going off to fight. The news of battles won and how they rationed everything. But more importantly to me, she wrote of the birth of my mother at home to my then 19 year old grandmother. She wrote of how she hoped my grandfather was ok because they hadn’t gotten any letters from him in a while. She wrote of my moms milestones of learning to walk and new words she was learning. How she sewed up her new clothes or when she had a cold or was being a fussy baby.
She wrote of all the events in my family’s history. When my grandfather came home from the war, the men working in the coal mines. The daily rituals of milking the cows and baking bread. She writes of slaughtering chickens for dinner and picking apples from the orchard.
She painted a picture of the people that raised me as children and young Adults. She showed us our family history, our heritage and roots. Where we came from. It is invaluable.

I want to leave the same for my family.

That is a treasure.

 

[58Reissue]

I also think that the hand written word has more gravitas than that of the one typed or synthesized.
We don’t write much anymore. It’s not a secret. Writing is as individual as a fingerprint. Each of us have our own perspective and through our writing it is revealed far more than any other means.
Our prose, our individual hand writing style, the way we form the script. All unique. The typed word while in the hands of an artist or author are certainly valuable and informative, are not as weighted as a hand written note or letter. It is a physical remnant of the person that wrote it. Imagine the historical differences between the Declaration of Independence if it were simply printed out in the latest version of Word. And even today, our hand written signature is still the concrete solidification of contracts and agreements.
Writing is invaluable to the human condition. From cave drawings to the signature on the latest legislation, it is a defining element of who we are and a legacy that we leave behind.

 

[FarmerTan]

Just ramblings, daily highlights, short and/or long time goals, etc. Just use it as a window into your personal life. Someone down the road will want a glimpse into your life. What was it like back when ...

I keep saying I'm going to do this. As I have but one child I like to think that he might like to read my "Grumblings From the Grave" so to speak. LOL! Maybe I'll start this winter, as if that season is promised!

 

[stream26]

I don't write every single day, but I always keep it on hand for when I need to unload "brain junk."
Writing or drawing something helps me get my thoughts in order, and I use it especially if I'm frustrated or anxious or indecisive about something, to ground my thought process. It’s just a daily planner, but it’s MINE.

 

[Vikram]

No … if I did, I am worried that if someone reads it, it’s a one way ticket to the psychiatric ward at the local prison!

 

[FarmerTan]

No … if I did, I am worried that if someone reads it, it’s a one way ticket to the psychiatric ward at the local prison!

To this I can relate.....PLUS! None of the folks in my teenage journaling signed a release.

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

I’m ashamed to say that I bought a journal several months ago and have yet to put pen to paper. I’m extremely OCD when it comes to that sort of thing and I can’t get started because I can’t envision the outcome.