The Evolution of my Journal Practice

For most of my life, my journals were filled with words. I loved being able to untangle my thoughts and let my feelings spill onto the page. Putting pen to paper in this way was deeply therapeutic, a steady practice that carried me through many seasons.

But over time, I found myself engaging with my journal less and less. The reasons could be many, but they don’t feel as important now as the truth that something was shifting. The practice of writing it all down, getting it out, and closing the cover no longer felt like enough. How I wanted to express myself was changing.

Slowly but surely, multimedia journaling found me. I took a workshop that cracked something open. I worked through a round of The Artist’s Way that nudged me to journal differently. And, like so many others, I stumbled into the vast world of art and mixed media journaling on YouTube.

My journal pages began to come alive in new ways; layered with paint, paper scraps, fabric, and collaged pieces of life. Suddenly, expression wasn’t confined to lines of text. A torn photo could hold grief. A splash of color could say joy. An envelope glued to the page could protect a secret. My brain has always dreamed in images and metaphors, and this style of journaling felt organic, like a language I’d been waiting for.

The evolution from text to multimedia hasn’t replaced writing for me. I still love words. But now, my journal feels more like me—a reflection of where I am and how I experience the world today.