J is for Junk Journals by Carol Harrison

 

 

 

Store aisles filled with journals and pens grab my attention. It is hard to resist the call of a pretty journal even when I have a shelf full at home, waiting to be used. I ask myself, at times, if I really love to record parts of my life journey in these books or do I just like the idea of it and the prettiness of the covers? Actually the answer is a bit of both.                  

 

I don't journal every day even though I feel like writing thoughts, stories, and life events should happen more frequently. When I wrote Amee's Story, I had lots of notes of bits of paper, old calendars, and journal entries that helped relive the events of her life that needed to be captured in the book. It brought memories to the surface, gave me specific incidents to write about in detail recorded at the time, and what I felt as well.                 

 

But what about these things called junk journals? They have become a new hobby which helps with my mental health and creativity too. I can take bits and pieces that would normally end up in the recycle bin, add in some odds and ends of scrapbook papers, and find decorations in stickers, stamps, old buttons, beads, or dollar store finds. But making these handmade journal books is only part of the process.                                                 

 

There are lots of blank pages waiting to be filled with writing, drawing, or photos. There are pockets and tuck spots waiting to hold memorabilia and other paper ephemera. I often make the closures to enable me to add many pieces of paper, pictures, and other bits and pieces that add to the story, growing the journal fatter and fatter, yet still able to be held together in a pretty way.                                                                                                       

But the best thing about these handmade junk journals is that they are one more method of recording story. We all know the value of a story and we all have a story or many stories to tell. These stories can be preserved for future generations. But writing in a journal of any kind also gives you that option of going back and seeing where you have been and comparing it to where you are now and God's leading over the course of time. It offers research opportunities for creative non-fiction or even a fiction book or short story which can then be shared with a wider audience.                                                                       

 

As I pull out all the supplies to make a new junk journal, creativity takes hold. Choosing the colours, types of covers, and finally what to add into each book offers the opportunity to get lost in the process. I've given some as gifts to bless others and allow them to begin to jot down their own life journey, thoughts, and story. Others I have sold with the same intention of giving others an opportunity to use them for whatever purposes they choose including recording stories, collecting quotes or recipes, hiding away an encouraging note from a friend, or coming up with ways to use it I've never ever though of.  I've kept several for myself to use. One contains Bible verses that mean a lot to me, encouraging notes, and ephemera I want to keep. My one daughter uses hers as a gratitude journal.                        

 

The possibilities extend as far as the imagination takes us for using these journals. But whether we wander the aisles looking for a new journal or take the time to make one, one thing I know is that they need to be used to record moments to remember, questions you're searching an answer for, or simply being grateful for something today. Do you enjoy journaling? Have you ever made, been given, bought or used a junk journal? What might you put in one? Enjoy the process of keeping a journal whether daily or sporadically. It might surprise us all with the benefits it brings.                                                              

 

 

Carol Harrison loves to tell stories, read them, and share them with others so they can be encouraged and inspired to tell their own. She enjoys the creative endeavor of making the junk journals as well.