I have a journal sitting on my desk. How do I decide what I want to do with this journal? How am I going to use it? Why do I want to use it that way?

The first thing that I do is sit down with my diary or some fresh sheets of paper and my favorite pen and I would write out my answers to those questions.

I have a few other questions. Will this journal fulfill my needs and contain my purpose well? Will I enjoy using this journal? Will the pages handle all the media I plan to throw at it? If it won’t handle everything naturally, is there something I can do to prepare the pages so that they will handle all my different media?

Once I am happy with my answers, happy that this is the journal that will suffice and fulfill my needs, I might break down everything I wrote into a phrase or a sentence and write that on the inside the front cover of the journal to remind me.

Do I do this with everything single journal and notebook I use? No. I don’t do this for school notebooks or things of a transitory nature. I do do this with my bullet journals, planners, diaries, art journals, as well as journals I made by hand that I am going to use for whatever reason.

This way the journal itself is more of a consecrated safe place and safe space for me. It makes using it less like a chore and more like an experience to savor. It also feels as if I am honoring the journal or notebook for the service it will be providing me. That to me makes it special and makes me feel good about using it.

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