Time Capsule of Little Memories

Appreciating the little things in life that bring us joy is the key to real happiness because cherishing and remembering them can remind us to be grateful for all the blessings that we are lucky enough to have every single day. The way I keep log of the little things in life is by journaling. For me, my journal is like a little time capsule which allows me to revisit all the happy moments of the past. Journaling is also my way of de-stressing after a long day of harsh reality. I’m not talking about the kind of journal that we are taught in academies. In the hobby universe, it’s a hybrid of scrapbooking and diary writing, a balanced mixture of both. In journaling the word ‘Spread’ means one pair of pages where you journal about your preferred topic.

There are a lot of different ways of journaling. If you like art and want to be minimalistic, you can do art journaling by drawing the themes and events that you want to depict in your writing. If you don’t want to deal with drawing or painting, then you can just print out the pictures and attach them in your spread. Lastly, if you want to go all in then you can use stickers, stamps, patterned papers, washi tapes, calligraphy, coloured markers, pens and printed pictures for journaling. After decorating the pages, you just have to write about whatever you’d like to write about. As I’ve been journaling all my life, I’ve tried all these techniques. When I was a kid and didn’t have access to all the fancy stationary materials, I would do art journaling and express my feelings through depicting my drawings on the spread. After my parents got a coloured printer, I’d do journaling by attaching printed pictures on my spreads. Now that there are a lot of online stationary shops for journal lovers, I’m able to have access to all the other fun stationary materials to make my spread more visually pleasing. As a busy student I prefer this over art journaling as I don’t get that much time to draw and write at the same time anymore. Pouring all of my imaginations and sentiments into two pages of paper has always calmed me down and brought me immense joy.

A completed journal spread can reflect the favourite aesthetics, books and shows, desired dreams and memories of a person. In my case, I like to journal about a lot of things like a movie or a book that I enjoyed. I also enjoy making journal spreads themed on the different seasons and write what I love about them. Or if I’m not writing about a specific topic, then I’ll just use my personal style and aesthetic as my theme and write about the little happy moments and achievements that I want to reminisce from time to time.

The whole process of journaling can be spontaneous, or it can take a while depending on the distinct theme. If I just want to unwind and spend some alone time, then I’ll just journal using the stationary materials I have in my collection. But if I want to make a journal spread based on a show, movie or a book that comforted me then it can take a while because I have to find and purchase stationaries and print out pictures relating to the story or the cinematography. The whole process of making a spread layout is exhilarating as it inspires me covey my thoughts into writing.

I feel the most rejuvenated when I’m journaling. Usually, I create a calming ambience before starting to journal by preparing my favourite beverage and playing serene music in the background. As I make my spread layout using the printed pictures, cute stickers and colourful pens and write about the pleasant memories that I forever want to remember while also enjoying a sweet drink and music, I feel like I’m being transported to a tiny vintage café in Europe that has a large glass window overlooking the passing people in a tiny alley. It’s like I can vicariously experience being anywhere when I’m journaling through my imaginations and momentarily forget about the everyday bothersome things that make me anxious. That’s why I love journaling because it’s free therapy.