Writer on the Wall

“Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” ~ from the Broadway play “Hamilton”

For the past several years, I’ve struggled to find a solution to my journal dilemma. Paper or digital? I’ve tried any number of methods to try to find one that would stick and, more importantly, work for me in a way I want it to.

Finally, as we near the end of 2024, I seem to have found a good system, for me, for now.

Last December, I started using a Moleskine weekly planner, hard cover, large size (5 by 8.25 inches). Each Sunday, I would set up the spaces on my two pages for the coming week — adding room to track habits, what I’m watching/reading, meal plans, art projects. Space in the middle columns for notes. Not extensive notes (this blog space can be for deeper ruminations), just quick thoughts throughout the days.

It evolved through this initial year. My structure for my pages changed. I added monthly dividers. Post-It tabs rise from the page tops to mark sections: Medical notes for me, my husband and our dog Cooper, Art Ideas, News events (though next year, I’ll probably just fold those in as they happen, in the weekly pages) and Correspondence. I bought fancy stencils for journaling, but as the year ends, I only use one stencil consistently, for little check boxes. And I bought a self-inking stamp to do the Habit Tracker box, the most tedious set-up chore.

But each evolution made it a system I’m more likely to stick with. In August, I bought a leather journal cover to protect the journal itself a little more and also allow me to carry more of my “journaling supplies.” Once I took that step, I decided to add a small softcover Moleskine notebook to the setup for longer notes, during movies, lectures, meetings.

A handwritten journal can never be as searchable as a digital document or calendar. But as things happen, if I think I might want to search something, I try to cross reference it in a digital format, either on Facebook or social media, or in my Google Calendar.

These past few weeks, I’ve looked back over this year’s entries. There’s room for improvement, of course. But it’s a pretty satisfying record of my 2024. And I decided to go ahead with this same system in the coming year.

Maybe 2025, I’ll harness my journal system and start to dig a little deeper, as Natalie Goldberg suggests:

 “Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open.”