Although the New Year-New Me slogan is lame and lasts a couple of days (a couple of weeks tops) for many, the beginning of the New Year can be an excellent period for self-reflection and setting goals. It presents a time frame to think about what we’ve accomplished in the last year and how we can do better in the following. Starting a journal is a great way to do that in most work and personal areas. While it’s immensely therapeutic, It can also help us take control of emotions, keep us motivated, and improve our communication skills.
What Materials Do You Need for Journaling?
Some will say you don’t need special supplies to start journaling, assuming everyone has a notebook and a pen somewhere at hand. However, gathering the right supplies before you begin can help you stay prepared to make journaling a lifelong habit. Additionally, they’ll help you discover your journaling style. These include different writing tools for creating such as a high-quality rollerball pen, a notebook or a specialised journal as a canvas, and some crafting supplies if that’s your cup of tea.
Writing Tools
While some prefer keeping a digital journal, most people love to write by hand. Latest neuroscientific studies reveal many advantages of handwriting over typing, including expressing your thoughts more clearly, building brain connections, and manifesting. Unfortunately, many of us write less and less in today’s increasingly digital world, leading to our handwriting not being the neatest. That’s where a nice pen comes in to help your journal not only be beneficial but also look aesthetically pleasing every time you turn those pages back. However, choosing a pen that fits you can be challenging because “nice” is a relative concept.
Ballpoint pens are a great option for writing brief notes, such as a phone number or a quote, but they have the disadvantage of taking a bit more work to write with. This makes writing with them more difficult, which isn’t helpful when attempting to write daily. For a smooth and elegant writing experience, a designer rollerball pen may be the answer for your hand not to begin to hurt after a while. These elegant writing instruments are useful for many people who write regularly and wish to get better at handwriting.
Rollerballs, like fountain pens, employ liquid ink. Because of this, they require less pressure to write with than ballpoints, which relieves hand strain and enhances the pleasure of writing. For those who do not like the physical connection to paper that this offers, wetter and wider-tipped writing alternatives offer a beautiful, smooth feel. When searching for the best choice, choose a stylish rollerball pen that perfectly combines the usefulness of a ballpoint pen with the vibrant, rich writing of a fountain pen.
Depending on the journal style you plan to start, different types of pens, highlighters, and pencils such as easy-to-use pastel pencils can add variety and colour to your journal pages. These are also excellent for keeping an art journal where art and craft elements are essential.
Journal or Notebook
Die-hard stationery fans know how big the difference is between cheap and high-quality notebooks. They also know that upgrading from one to another doesn’t take a fortune–it usually costs a couple of cents by page, or a few dollars by a notebook and it’s totally worth it for your journaling journey. Because you can’t create masterpieces without the right canvas.
Both notebooks and specialised journals (bullet, art, organisers, planners or diaries) come in a rainbow of hard and soft covers. You can find blank, dotted, lined or squared ruling options, making it easy to designate them for different purposes, needs, and even moods.
For the ultimate sensory indulgence and tactile experience, opt for notebooks with translucent paper that provide a unique powdery feel and a tone that’s easy on the eyes, such as a cream hue. Compared to less expensive paper, this pleasurable toothiness—which promotes the friction of a pen nib or pencil tip—makes me more conscious of how and what I’m scribbling. Even if I’m only writing down ephemeral thoughts or a log of unfathomable dreams, it gives everything I write on it a unique vibe.
Crafting Supplies
These aren’t essential if you have a straightforward journal in mind that’ll only contain your thoughts written on paper. But for every other kind, such as art, bullet or junk journal, crafting supplies such as adhesives, binding and embellishment tools, stamps, stencils, templates and rules are nice to have at hand.
Cutouts from magazines, receipts, tickets, ephemera (notes from loved ones), photos and post-its are all excellent ideas for your junk and memorabilia journal. In other words, do you! Most of these are free but can serve as great supplies for creating a unique journal that’ll inspire you every time you open it. One great thing about creativity is that there are no limits. Just get creative, and reap the many benefits of keeping a journal and slowing down in the fast-paced reality we live in.
