"I don't know what to write in my journal" steal my start-of-the-month journal routine
6 pages ideas for you, even if you're a beginner with an empty notebook :)
“I don't know what to write in my journal”. That's what I hear almost every time I talk about journaling and scrapbooking.
It's true that starting a journal can be a little intimidating. You don't know what to say, where to start, you think you've got nothing interesting to say, that you're going to spoil that lovely notebook... And you end up never opening your journal.
There's so much to say on this subject that it'll be the subject of several articles, but at the start of May, I wanted to share with you a few ideas for pages to adopt at the beginning of the month. Things that are easy to set up, for beginners and advanced alike :).
1. A moodboard for the month ahead
Moodboards are one of my favorite pages, because they leave so much freedom.
If you don't know how to start your moodboard, here are a few tips:
Start by choosing a word, a quote, a color or an image. Once you've made your choice, make it your centerpiece, and create around that idea. You can add stickers, drawings, textures (fabric, paper...), images, photos, quotes...
For me, I choose my photos on Pinterest and from my own film. I determine a color chart and create around that. I like my moodboards pretty busy, so I don't skimp on the decor haha!
2. Life update
I don't know if there's another word for this kind of page, but that's what I call them ^^. They're pages where I talk about where I'm at in my life, what I'm looking at at the moment, what I like, what my routine is, how I feel, what moments have marked me recently, what I aspire to... A bit like talking to a friend I haven't seen for months.
I begin these pages rather soberly, usually with the same words:
“Right now, I...” (very simple I know, but it works for me)
3. Your favorite
Here are a few favourites you can include:
Music
Series/Movie
Time of day
Dish
Skin care
Place to rest
Place to work
At home
At work
In my daily life
The list is not exhaustive and you can add what you want (share it in the comments space!)
4.Grateful page
The gratitude page comes up a lot when we talk about page ideas, but it's for a good reason :)! For me, I feel that the gratitude page helps me keep a positive mindset and focus on what's going well.
At the beginning of each month, I recommend writing about the gratitude you feel, and developing your thoughts, as opposed to the exercises that suggest writing 3 gratitudes in one sentence every evening.
I find the idea of really developing what you're grateful for interesting. It amplifies the feeling of gratitude, and your future self will be happy to reread these pages and these thoughts.
5.Bucket list
List (and illustrate!) all the little things you'd like to do:
☀️ Read a book on the terrace
🌸 Pick wild flowers
🍓 Eat fresh strawberries
🎨 Create an outdoor journal page
...
These aren't goals but rather desires, what you'd ideally like to do. When I think of a bucket list, I often think “what if it were a Pinterest board, what would I put on it?” The idea is absolutely not to check off checklists and get frustrated, but rather to have a poetic vision and romanticize your month a bit :)!
6.Color palette 🎨
A page very recently added to my list and I love it 😍! If you're a visual person, you'll probably love it too!
The idea is to simply fill the page with all the hues and colors that the month inspires in you. You can use as many different textures and media as possible: watercolors, pencils, magazine cut-outs, fabrics...
I love the result of these pages, which I find very creative.
So much for a few ideas for pages to add at the beginning of the month. There are a thousand more, but I'll do another post! My aim is to give you ideas, not to drown you in too much information!
I hope these ideas inspire you! Which one have you already included in your diary? Which ones are you going to add?
Do you have any ideas you'd like to add? The comment space is open to share your favorite start-of-the-month pages!
Thank you for your time,
With love from Paris,
Amy