I'm doing events in California and Maine this summer in support of One Last Summer! 

For my full schedule, click here.

Recently on Instagram, I shared a new hobby that has been an absolute joy: 

 

I've tried a variety of journaling in the past, everything from Morning Pages (The Artist's Way practice of free-writing three handwritten pages each morning), to bullet journaling. Nothing has ever quite clicked; I was never consistent with the Morning Pages and would then kinda beat myself up about it, and I found bullet journaling to be too restrictive, too focused on lists and tracking. Neither were particularly creative or visually satisfying for me.  

 

And then I stumbled on a tiktok about junk journaling. Which lead to another tiktok, and another, and then another (yay, the algorithm), until I was convinced to give it a try. After all, I was a person who bought approximately eight million notebooks a year, why not put them to good use? 

 

Junk journaling was described in many videos as a mix of journaling and scrapbooking, but “more relaxed.” (Here's another great explainer.) It's a place to share memories, moments, and thoughts, using personal and used materials. Receipts? Ticket stubs? Cards? Trash? Stick in the junk journal! 

 

Some people seem to just fill theirs with items (aka, junk), while others also write in their junk journals as well. There is a real ‘anything goes’ sort of vibe, every journal I came across online was wildly different from the next. I immediately loved that this was a way to express myself and capture moments from my life that wasn't solely just writing. And, as I continue to better understand my ADHD brain, I have also realized I really enjoy processing things visually. Junk journaling scratches that itch. Plus, I collect a lot of junk at the bottom of my purse. I'm always saving weird little scraps of things and have nowhere to put them. Truly, junk journaling feels like it was made for me.

 

I was surprised, when I started, to discover that I found the act of junk journaling to be very  relaxing and grounding. It's a slow, steadying practice, and I love the tangible, hands-on act of cutting, and pasting things onto the pages. I often find myself doodling in my journal, drawing pictures to go with my entries, which is not something I normally do. The colorful, varying pages are a joy to look back on, and as cheesy as it sounds, the entire process has thus far been incredibly healing. Junk journaling takes me out of my head, and gives me a new way to express myself. 

 

You really don't need anything for a junk journal other than a notebook, some sort of adhesive, and your junk. I did buy a Canon Mini Ivy Photo Printer which prints photos off your phone onto small, sticky photo paper, and I am in love with it. Here are some of my other personal must-haves: 

 

You can find all my favorite journaling stuff over on my ShopMy page, where I also have skincare and beauty product faves shared. 

 

Do you already junk journal? Are you going to try it? I would love to hear from you about your past, present, or future journaling practices. 

 

Lots of love,