Journaling has been something very dear to my heart. I've been secretly keeping a diary ever since I was young for I hope to use them as a guideline to publish my autobiography someday. It is a dream that I hope to fulfil ever since I was little. You heard of famous diaries like The Diary of Anaïs Nin or Anne Frank: The Diary Of a Young Girl, you wonder would your diary be that famous someday? So you write and write for the saying goes, " Keep a diary, someday it will keep you."
However, not many people enjoy diary keeping for it involves lots of words and sometimes there's just not a lot we can write about, especially during these times. Thus, we evolved to journaling. A journal is more like a logbook where it's more often used to explore ideas and record your days. It's not as personal as a diary where the pages are jammed pack with private thoughts and emotions. This allowsjournal pages to be shared with others without the fear of giving too much personal information on yourself.
A thing that is prominent about journaling is finding your style. Be it junk journaling, bullet journaling, there's a certain style when it comes to different people. For me, I have changed my journal styles multiple times ever since I launched IJournalUsee.
The thing about journaling is it takes a while to find your style. Even then, you will soon realize that 'your style' doesn't suit you anymore and you continue searching for your new style. I guess how you journal depicts greatly on who you are as a person - ever-changing.
Recently, I've been more focus on IjournalUsee rather than IreviewUread for it felt nice to be in a community that accepts you for who you are becoming. Like I said before, we're ever-changing. With that, presenting my Journal With Me collaboration compilation featuring my new journal styles.
Dreams Journal With Me
The first collaboration of April was a dream journal with me. Mariel and I exchanged quotes for this collaboration and we were to create a spread out of it. I created a dream spread with a fold-out and a hidden origami.
This spread was done in my old junk journal planner so you're able to see some scribbles from the past in the background. I decided to not cover these scribbles for it reminds me of what I was doing at that time of my life. My journal with me video recording style have also changed to a more ASMR theme instead of the usual chatty journal with me. It's easier to produce and I've had good reactions to it.
W.i.t.c.h. Journal With Me
The week after, I collaborated with HauzOfUs for a W.i.t.c.h. themed journal spread. Chasing and reading all these W.i.t.ch. comics was my childhood. I would eagerly await for my father to get the latest comic-magazine, month after month until they stopped production. For years I did that and when they stop production, I was left hanging. Soon, life got in the way and that pain was forgotten.
None of my friends read these comics so I was having my very own fanclub. When I saw HauzOfUs used a Corneilla sticker in her journals, I was excited. It felt as if I found someone that have the same interests and childhood as me. Thus, I approached her for a collaboration.
I love doing this spread. Digging out all the stickers, items and old comic magazines from the past made me indulge in my fandom even further. This time, I finally had a friend in my fan club. I drew out the comics section for it breaks my heart to cut them out - even though I had multiple copies of the same comic.
After releasing the video and the photo, I realized that I am not the only person that remembers W.i.t.c.h. There are so many others out there. Even though it's been 10 years, I'm glad to finally meet and talk to these people who were equally obsessed with this comic series as I was.
Anime Journal With Me
I'm a geek that hang out with people that are not geeks. I like reading comics, watching anime and playing games but I don't necessarily talk about them for they were frowned upon by others. Because I do other things like blogging and being on youtube, it's not that obvious that I'm an Otaku. I didn't have to think much about the discrimination that Otakus face until that one incident in university where my classmate asked me this question in a judgmental voice," You watch anime?!" I was so taken aback by her tone and question that I automatically disagree.
Now that I think about it, there's no reason for me to be ashamed about my likes. That was when I met keropinjournal793. She too is an Otaku that bonded with me over an Otaku related Instagram post that posted about this issue. I liked her vibes so I figured, we should collaborate.
In our collaboration, we touched on the anime that we were currently watching and a quote from the anime. She enjoys Gundam so I included that in my journals while she included the anime that I was currently watching, Toilet-bound Hanako-kun in hers. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to make someone's day by suggesting something so small.
Other collaborations
Aside from collaborating with others for journal purposes, I also collaborated with others for the DIY part of IreviewUread. From 5 ways you can use your washi tapes to 5 ways you can pen pal while being on a budget, these collaborations showed me that if pushed, I can produce a video every week. Just not DIY videos with my face in it for that DIY video cause me a stye-cyst in my eye that I am still currently trying to solve.
With that in mind, I'm going to be more active in producing videos and blog posts to keep myself in check and stop giving myself excuses. You can check out other journal related blog posts here or follow my journal themed instagram account here.
