Is 2025 the Year You Start a Journal?
5 friends and fave follows on how they journal (plus a peek inside)
Hello fellow nosy people and stationery enthusiasts,
This one is for us! A peek inside five people’s journals (+ mine makes six)? A recap of what pens they like? Is this what heaven is like?
If so, heaven is long… I’d suggest opening this in your browser or clicking through at the bottom of the letter to see the whole thing (it’s worth it!).
It Started with Journal FOMO
Until 2023, I never consistently kept a journal, despite being a lifelong avid purchaser of notebooks. What was I going to write in these piles of notebooks? Maybe to-do lists? Certainly not my innermost thoughts. Even as a kid, I was paranoid about what would happen if someone were to find my theoretical journal, read these deep thoughts. It’s ironic, because I don’t think any of my secrets are particularly salacious. Apparently, I just have an overblown sense of self-importance.
But then, starting in 2020, I kept hearing about people going back to their parents’ house during the pandemic and rediscovering their teenage diaries. I specifically remember Carley Fortune talking about how her teen journals served as inspiration for Every Summer After; another podcast interview with Ella Berman and how hers sparked the idea for Before We Were Innocent.
Ugh, why didn’t I have teenage journals? My cringe diatribes were lost to time.
From then on, every time someone came on the podcast and mentioned journaling—especially if it was a longterm practice—I experienced a white-hot pang of jealousy. (Usually a solid sign that it’s something I want for myself.) So, as 2023 dawned, I tentatively purchased a five-year journal after hearing my podcast co-host
rave about her own. It felt low commitment enough that I could stick with it, and shallow enough that I wouldn’t die of mortification if I left it on a plane. But two years into my practice, it’s led to a longer form journal, too. I hawk five-year journals to everyone I know in real life and anyone who follows me online.Maybe you also have a seedling of journaling FOMO and don’t know where to start? If so, I have a peek inside my journal, plus five others’ with varying journaling practices to get your wheels turning.
Look Inside My Five-Year Journal
