Hello, everyone – and I really hope, you’re all doing well today and just doing well in general, Jimmy’s crazy, times so today, I’m doing my first Q & A video. Some of you have asked me for quite some time not to do a Q & A and I finally decided to do one I’ve reached out on Instagram. If you don’t know that I am on Instagram, please follow me there at the journal joy and see my journals in action out in the field, my travels and stuff.
So I’ve also had some questions on YouTube depth and coming up over and over again. So I finally decided to do a video for you. It’s probably going to be longer video, so grab a coffee or tea, relax and joy and yeah, let’s get through it before I get started. There might be some honking in the background please forgive me. I live on a really busy intersection and I will not edit this video together if I butcher any of your names, I’m also very sorry, and I think that’s it for now. So let’s get into it.
So I wrote your questions and this notebook here. It’s a low stallion notebook in case you’re wondering it didn’t review on this one recently, all the journals I will mention today and show you I have done, reviews on so feel free to look through my channel and you will find them there. So the first question from instagram is by lulu park and she asks
When did you start journaling in hawaii?
So I remember pretty much my entire life, I’ve always loved books and paper, and I was always dueling as a kid and of course – and I learned to write – and I remember writing like a little short stories when I was like 8 or 9, and then I Really got into journaling when it’s about 12 or 13, and I hit puberty – and I was always a very introspective and introverted kid, and I really wanted to figure out what life is all about in how this universe works and just to connect deeper with life itself. And I started writing poetry. I started writing about the meaning of life and that’s when I really really got into it and to help me, you know figure out myself more figure out life more fine. You know answers to the deeper questions like. Why are we here? What’S the purpose of all of this, and writing has always helped me sort through my thoughts and just get more clarity and just get a really deep in life, so yeah, but it was about twelve or thirteen just out of a need to figure things out. I’Ve always been a true seeker. My whole life. I’ve always wanted to know. Why am I here and how does this war at work so and that’s pretty much why I started journaling.
So next question also the little park all-time favorite notebook to journal in and your favorite journal and journal entry zoom.
I also have favorite notebook. It is so hard because I’ve used so many notebooks over the many years have you can see my channel I’ve done over 100 reviews on notebooks and I probably have over a hundred different notebooks.
So it’s really hard but, as I mentioned in previous videos, my first love in terms of an actual notebook was a moleskin and that’s when my actual love for notebooks began, and I really made that connection that you can actually bond with a journal and just it Just becomes a companion and there’s a very tactile, essential experience when you write on nice paper and it just facilitates that flow state. Even more so when it’s a smooth writing experience and so yeah I’d have to say my all-time favorite notebook still is a pocket moleskin. I’ve had them over the years when I went through some difficult rough times. I just always carry it with me. I put my thoughts down on paper. It helps me process my thoughts and my emotions so yeah it’s my first most most most goes. My first notebook love and it always has a special place in the heart, even though I use other notebooks. Now more so, and if you ask me what my favorite journals are in general I’d say: it is of course the mole skin, since it is my first love and then now also use a lot boys term.
I’m actually using this one at the moment, as my daily journal and then as well, it also really enjoyed. I really enjoyed this coladas Habana a lot. It is incredible paper. It’s Clairefontaine paper in there and I used this for my morning pages and I filled it up pretty quickly. So I’d say these are like my top three journals, but again it is so hard because there’s so many incredible journals that I’ve used over the years. But if I had to say it’s, probably those three and then favorite journal and journal entry actually sad story.
When I start journaling, as I just told you when I was twelve thirteen, I had one drill that I wrote many poems in over the years. A lots of my own poetry hasn’t said my teenage years. I wrote a ton of beautiful poems and unfortunately, that journal got lost in a move, so I’m really heartbroken over that and I wish I could you know, go back now and read all my journals. I wrote when I was 12 13, 14 15 and see if, you know, if I still resonate with what I wrote back then, and just appreciate my writing at that time. So yeah, unfortunately, my favorite channel got lost and my favorite entry, probably my Tom’s from that time.
So next question: what are your favorite notebooks for fountain pens.
I’m going to show you real, quick, my favorite notebook, fountain pens. So I’d say it is the thing. That’s notebooks. They have incredible paper, especially for fountain pens. It’s coated paper. It’s super smooth, super slick. It gives you a great writing experience. What else then? Why’d you showed you is the cool widest Habana or Rodya again. Both use Clairefontaine paper, also excellent for fountain pens. It’s similar type of paper to the Bing vest, but dingbats. Actually, I think this is 90 gram. This is 100 gram papers, a slightly thicker and just it’s just a smidge, better paper. I’d say, then, declare 110. 
And then also if your fountain pen user, I highly highly recommend till my River paper. I felt this up a while ago and I used fountain pen in this, and it gives super dose of shading with the ink and it’s only thing this one’s 52 grand paper. No other tell my River paper notebooks with 68 gram of paper, but this one’s of 52. This is the seven seas rider buying nanami paper, so I really enjoyed using this for fountain pens, so highly recommend it. So those are my three thing: that’s Rodya everything. Clairefontaine paper and then tomorrow, river paper notebooks, like the Nanami paper, one, the seven seas writer. Next question by the range to llamas number one.Â
If you could have the perfect journal and notebook, what would it look like?
That’s a pretty tricky question. I’m Actually. I guess. I’m very plain Jane: I love my little black notebook. I think it would just be a moleskin type of notebook with that format and just a pocket in the back, maybe two two bookmarks and then better paper in there, like the Rodya paper or even Loiton paper, but probably Rodya paper promise with rody again the Format’s different, it’s an 85 it slightly wider than the covers really thick with the lawyers to him. I, like the paper better.
And I love this color, for example, but then what I don’t like about their notebooks is with the line one it always the right tested picked it up the date up here which, if they would get rid of that, would be pretty Close to my ideal notebook, so there’s always something slightly off but yeah. If I’d have to say it’s, probably really a nun boring a derivative of a moleskin with better paper. I think that would be my all-time favorite journal.
How long does it take you to finish a journal?
It depends on how much I’m writing and what kind of mood I’m in. I think the quickest I filled up a journalist about 3-4 months. I filled up a rusty cool leather notebook this winter and took me just under 4 months. I think, but often it takes me about a year to there’s notebooks, that I use every day and then notebooks that I use on and off here and there or I will have a notebook in between for a certain period of time like I did have one For the holidays. And now I started this one for the times of Corona, I hope I can fill this up on my time. I’m done with it all this is over, hopefully so fingers crossed so in general, between three different months to about a year. I’d say, and then.
I’ve also things like this five lines journal that I’m on the last year now, where you write a few lines every day and I’m on the last year, they said so when I’m done with this, I will do a review. It has held up really well so far, as I said it’s on the fifth year and it still looks fantastic, it’s on my nightstand and I write a minute every night and I have not missed a day.
So how long do you journal in a day again?
It also depends usually general if about 15 minutes in the morning, maybe 20. I really started getting into journaling every day since I’ve read the artist it’s way about a year ago. I can highly highly recommend this book if you have trouble getting into it, finding a routine or just being to judge it with yourself about what you’re writing totally recommend this book. I will link it below, took me about Oh today, twelve weeks to finish it since is a it’s a 12-week course retreat program recovery, and I think it’s a great time right now to actually do this, because a lot of us is still kind of stuck at Home and it’s you know in certain times, so if you want to do it great something great, it was good time right now read this book and do the exercises. It definitely helped me with my writing, routine.
So again to come back to the question. How long did General, probably like 15 20 minutes a day, sometimes longer? It’s also when I travel and something moves me or strikes me or I’m like feel inspired by a song that I hear just something like a beautiful sunset whoops. I would just get out of Journal and then write about that moment to just capture it and just remembered forever and…
Jasmine Xango asks what are you favorite, pens and inks to journal with?
So I have a few here. Some of you might know, I’m not a huge fountain pen user, mainly because I am too lazy to deal with it and just refill it all the time and pick it back up. So I, when I have a great journal, that’s super fountain pen friendly, like gay, told me a river paper notebook. I will pull out the fountain pen and write in that for a little bit, also the epic, a notebook, it’s an Italian journal. I wrote in that with a fountain pen more so because the paper was really great, with fountain pens. So again, if I do use a fountain pen, I will use the pilot metropolitan with diamond marine ink.
And then what is my Ultra favorite pen or at least for the moment right now, would have used the most in the past year. It’s the uniball jet stream. 101, I think it’s this great hybrid pen, between a ballpoint pen and the gel pen. It has the same texture as the ink of a ballpoint pen but the smooth smoothness of a gel pen. So it gives you a really smooth writing experience, but it you know it’s great for any type of paper that just performs well with a ballpoint pen, so highly recommend this one.
And then other ones that I use are the og DeMarre Vela pen. I used said mostly my five lines and also sometimes Tama River paper. I also use a paper made sometimes ink join then. What I also like to use when I like to use a different color is the zebra Sarasa clip 0.5 millimeter yeah. So this is a like a purple one.
And then what most of you also might know is a unit ball vision elite against the person with the gel pen. Smooth writing experience. So, but you can’t use that with every paper. For example, it does not do so. Well, in a moleskin, so with the Myskina, we usually use the jet stream 101.
So that was that and then Elizabeth ICP asks…
Out of all the notebooks you’ve used. What stands out as the notebook you found yourself enjoying to write more in than others.
That’s a really tough question again I’d say I enjoy molesking a lot: the little pocket moleskin. I’Ve also really enjoyed using the Cubata Savannah for my morning pages because it’s a super smooth paper and it just gives you a really smooth riding experience. I think it’s a really tough question to answer. I also like using the Loit Touma a lot so but in terms of emotional attachment i’d say it’s the little pocket moleskin. So I generally I enjoy writing in notebooks that have great paper quality that give me smooth. Writing experience, we’re just and then hold also up, okay and don’t fall apart on me, so we’re just get into the flow and just start writing and everything just starts flowing.
Oh, Ox Jake asks: do you keep multiple notebooks active at a time for different purposes and if so, how do you decide which ones to use for each purpose: a moleskin for diary, noise term for bullet journal etc?
So what I use at the moment, what I use every day, pretty much what it’s active is. I used the five lines that just record and a few lines words what I’ve done that day. So I can always look back what it did each day and I think it’s great, because I don’t like keeping my calendars here after year business. I have so many notebooks and I don’t want to keep all of those. So this is the first one.
Then I also used the black wing black wings slate for work notes right now, I’m about halfway through, and I will do review on this one once I finish it, it has held up amazingly so far and I really enjoyed using it. I love that little pen loop right here, so that’s the second one for like work stuff.
The third one is the LOI to mines and seeps in. I used that for my journal journaling for my morning pages every morning. I write about a page at the moment when you do the actual artists way. Of course, you write three pages a day, but now I’m down to one page and then I’ll do like a gratitude page along the five minute journal prompts. What are you grateful for today? What would make today great? What else is it like daily affirmations? I write like daily truths and then what amazing things happen today is something along those lines. So I’d do that. One side is like I’m just morning pages like just stream of consciousness and the second one is like a five minute, general type of thing.
And then I use right now the mole skin daily planner to just plan out my days every morning as well. So these are what for notebooks that I use every day and sometimes for work. I will use a bigger notebook like the work to be 5. I used for a while the sequence 362 larger one. I’M going to start using after this with daily planning, also used a moleskin Excel planner, but I like to plan in the evening in bed, so the Excel planner was kind of big for my nightstand, so I switch to the daily planner and then also what I Write in my daily journal as well is I read a ton of books on personal development, metaphysics, spirituality and that kind of stuff, and I write down like important passages and notes from those books that are really inspirational and uplifting, and it’s just you know inspire me To write about that as well, so this is what in it’s in my note, is in my notebooks and then here and there, like. I don’t have a little pocket moleskin when I go and walk there on a trip, or I have like another journal that I use just on and off here and there and stuff like that,
Tim poet reads asks I would like to ask you if you Have a favorite notebook app and, if so, and if you use it in conjunction with your current notebook.
First of all, thanks for all you support Tim. I really appreciate all your comments and no, I do not use a notebook app if you’ve heard of one – and you know one please let me know I’m curious to try one. I think moleskin has one, but I’m pretty old-school. I just in general, just like planning my day in a calendar, just something very gratifying about just checking everything off on a notebook. You know just mark everything off that he did like you know to-do list versus just having it in an app and crossing it off, and then I just I prefer just writing on paper not on on an app and I’m a horrible typer, really horrible. I just misspelled so much that no yeah I like running my hand, and also I do not have the best handwriting, as you can tell, and somebody actually left me comment that they really love my videos, but they can’t watch them because my handwriting is so awful And hideous so I found that a little cruel, but if it made you feel better. You know letting me know that you can’t watch my videos because my handwriting so be it anyways.
So then kavya chandra asks to use any prompts.
Usually i don’t. I just do the stream of consciousness in the morning and then prompts usually what prompts me is life itself, like certain moments, like a beautiful view, a sunset, you know crashing waves, beautiful meadow rain. I write about things like that successful experiences that really put me in the moment and that moved me deeply, and i just try to capture that with my words and and just try to describe that moment. So that’s when I actually prompt. Sometimes i will do something like when i don’t want to change my emotional state like i’ll right question like as it’s just for example, right now we’re going for really difficult times. So i ask myself: how can i make this the most exciting time in my life? Instead of seeing as something really scary because right now there’s a lot of unknowns in the world, so i’m trying to shift my mind by asking myself empowering questions and then journaling around those questions. But it’s just something that i’d do intentionally, but for everyday writing off and just do stream of consciousness.
Again. Do you sit for a particular amount of time?Â
No, Not really i just when i wake up. I usually i meditate, and then i do my morning pages and my gratitude pages, and so i I guess if you want to see that 15 20 minutes, I maybe yeah, but I don’t sit down every day for like an hour or two right?
Do you draw paint in your journal?
I did a little bit as a teenager, but it was a long time ago and again I’m not a visual artist. I really love seeing all you bullet journals like beautifully decorated and with your beautiful handwriting, I’m I really really enjoy I’m seeing those, but me personally. I I’m I’m just I’m a writer, I’m not a visual artist, so I don’t really no.
How do you make sure you’re, not judging your thoughts as you write them.
Again as a remedy, or I can really recommend if you do so is read the artist’s way And it really helped me: how do you do that? Just by start writing about something really benign like could be just something simple as breakfast of what you have to do today, so you don’t you know you don’t overthink it, which is right for yourself, don’t write for other people. I think that’s really important too, especially if you want to write something: I’ve never written a book before, but I’ve had a few tenths and I’m sure will eventually write one. It will be nonfiction, but again I will write it for myself and not for other people. I think that’s the most important thing and the next question is…
Do you revisit your journal entries?
I do sometimes usually when I’m done with a journal, I will actually go and read two-inch our journal before I put it away and I wasn’t gonna say: lost material someone’s, knocking at my door. It’S probably one of the neighbors. It’S totally distracting me. I read my journal entries before I’m I put a drawing away after him down to filling it up. I will read again one more time and then sometimes he was later like. Occasionally I will I will. I will read them here and there yeah my neighbors still knocking. I don’t know. I don’t want to end this. Video here just has been going so well, so I’m just gonna ignore that.
So that was that and then what effect is journaling have on you.
As I said, it brings me a lot of clarity. It really helps me just connect with the moment. Helps me be present, it’s all really distracting, so the neighbour. So essentially the tool for me to be more conscious of life and what’s going on in the world, what’s going on with myself my emotional state, what’s going through my mind, and just it just helps Me get getting my thoughts on paper maps. We do not overthink everything to just get more clear. What’s going on, it helps me calm down, it’s really soothing to me as well and, as I said, it helps me deeply connect with life itself and then do you set intentions before you begin to gentleman. Usually I don’t, as I said, there’s a few times. I I do when I intentionally want to shift my mental state or my emotional state, but usually I just start writing to just get my thoughts on paper and have more clarity and just have an empty your mind. So I can process new information better and yeah.
So I think those were all the questions for now. If you have any more, please feel free to leave me comment also, should please share with me why you journal and why you love it so much, I’m always happy to hear from you guys. I really love connecting with you. One of my main reasons for having this journal is because it gives me a sense of community to connect with you guys and also to help you figure out which journals to use for you know your own writing process and yeah.
Thank you so much for reading.
If you still are readom boom yay, we made it and if you’ve enjoyed it, please give it a thumbs up. Because does that leave a comment? If you want to see other notebook entries, please feel free to subscribe to my bog and again, thank you so much..
