A blank page can be very intimidating.
Seeing lined paper excites me. I always think about all the ways I could fill it up. One thing I embraced early on with journaling is that you cannot be afraid to ruin the blank pages. Dare to have messy handwriting. If you’re in a loopy letter mood, feel free to connect those ‘e’s and swirl those ‘g’s to your heart’s content. I have full pages of just scribbles from angry days. It’s all for the expression.
If you’re looking at a blank page and you don’t even know where to start, I have some ideas for you. I feel that even the most mundane entries can hold value.
Think about the little details you might remember from elementary school, or lack thereof. With this documentation, you’ll have a record of your nice conversation with your mom, or your meal of your favorite food. In a few months, looking back on the songs you listened to during this time, your go-to YouTube channels – it’s all going to turn into nostalgia. And how cool is it that you can get a head start on the time capsule?
Here are some ideas of things you can note down:
- My favorite things about right now
- What’s on my February 2024 playlist
- Something I’m looking forward to
- My favorite person at the moment
- My favorite classes right now
- Something I miss a lot
- Write a letter to you in one year from today
- Write a letter to your one year ago from today
- Something I learned recently
- Movies I want to watch
- Things I’ve been wanting to buy lately
- Something I’m glad I grew out of
I also wanted to draw attention to guided journals. I enjoy blank journals, but there are multitudes of journals sold in stores and online with prompts inside. Some journals are filled with questions built to help you grow year by year. Depending on what type of writer you are, the type of page is up to you.
Some recommendations I have are the “Burn After Writing” journal, and the “Q&A a Day” journal. Both with many questions, these books guide you into strengthening your literacy and help you dive deeper into your personality.
As always, I’ll leave you with something to ponder. Along with my slew of others above, this Friday’s prompt is, “What is one thing that stood out to you this week?”