from Hacker News

Ask HN: Artistic Forms of Journaling

by ciwchris on 8/9/22, 12:51 AM with 6 comments

I've yet to succeed in establishing a habit of journaling. I just recently began writing a haiku a day. The thought occurred to me this can be a form of journaling. When writing down ideas for the haiku I reflect on the day, how I'm feeling, what's going on in life, where I'm at. If I treat it as a journal I wonder if I'll more likely stick with the practice because it provides a way for me to be creative. I also think I'll more likely go back and review the entries, and get more out of that process, or maybe not because details will be lacking.

When writing the haiku I try to keep in mind it doesn't have to be good, I'm a beginner and I'm learning. At this time I'm using the 5-7-5 pattern and try to use juxtaposition. That's it.

This got me wondering, what other creative ways have others found to journal? Has it been beneficial? Has it helped form a more consistent journaling practice? Any other observations from practicing an artistic form of journaling?

  • by themodelplumber on 8/9/22, 1:04 AM

    That's cool that you've found an interesting outlet like that.

    Here are a few methods I use:

    1. Intuition capture via personality archetype: Conversations with random people of interest

    I keep a list of people who interest me or who are relevant to me. Examples include people I worked with long ago. Some youtubers. My younger self. My retired self. Various characters in movies, Captain Ron included of course. There are around 100 of these in rotation right now.

    I have a snippet that picks a few and puts them in my text editor at my cursor. I have a little imaginary conversation with them, about whatever's on my mind. I try to engage my emotions in this--complaining, being excited, whatever. It helps me reset and their answers (or what my subjective intuition says their answers are) help me reflect and make plans.

    If somebody I used to work with keeps coming to mind, or if I keep watching the same movie over and over, I put these characters in the list because it seems I may need their input, general vibe, etc.

    2. General intuitive cues [0]

    I retrieve a few of these at random and the answers help me sort out where I'm at with my day, life, etc.

    There are also some more direct ones I use for things like scheduling and productivity.

    3. BLEB module in my productivity system, Task BATL (profile)

    This module is all about getting the anarchy out so I can move on. BLEB stands for Bitching and Lamenting on Emotional Burdens.

    Like a good techie I used to hold this stuff in because I thought I could live like a computer program. But after testing my emotions for productivity I learned that they are like early warning radar, or they help me move up and out of problems faster--and who doesn't want that?

    4. Frontdooring (profile)

    This is a deeper exploration-meditation that is amenable to journaling.

    Good luck & I hope you enjoy wherever your practice takes you!

    Oh and since you mentioned art as well, I do a lot of doodle or sketch journaling with each of the above, and I developed my own form of mind mapping / concept mapping as well. I usually keep some art software open on the laptop or phone, and the paper journal is usually nearby.

    0. https://www.friendlyskies.net/maybe/intuition-cues-for-advan...

  • by derbOac on 8/9/22, 1:20 AM

    Reminds me of a photographer — Craig Blacklock? — who once tried a project where he took a single, film photograph each day for a number of days. It was really interesting to read about.

    He commented that it forced himself to be extremely mindful of what he was doing.

  • by blockwriter on 8/9/22, 2:34 AM

    Reading the diaries and letters of great authors helps. Kafka's, in particular, gave me an idea as to why keeping a literary diary is useful and interesting.

  • by sys_64738 on 8/9/22, 1:25 AM

    I thought this was file system journaling. My bad.