My New Pet Project

I am so excited to tell you all about my latest project. This summer I have started a bullet journal. It is a fun phenomenon that is sweeping the Internet. There are countless blogs and Instagram pages dedicated to the subject, not to mention the Pinterest pages. I won’t go so far as to dedicate my whole blog to my journaling, but I do want to tell you about what I’ve done so far. For those of you that don’t know, bullet journaling is a new way to keep track of your life and plan it out too. It is notebook, planner, and journal all in one. I am constantly learning new things to add to mine. The fun part of starting a bullet journal is the trial and error. Each month I try new ideas and even different ways of doing the same things. I have set up the typical, perhaps even unimaginative, weekly pages that can be found in a traditional planner. My planner is something I take very seriously. Every year I try to find the perfect one for myself. I always go back to a minimal variation on the same one I’ve been using for years. This year, I bought my new planner and filled it up with the usual information. I wasn’t pleased, but I needed a planner so I had no other choice. Then, a friend of mine showed me her bullet journal and I was intrigued. I spent weeks on Pinterest looking at different lists, layouts, and more. I watched videos of how to start and soon enough I felt ready. So I bought a new sketchpad and some fancy pens and markers. Being an avid fan of coloring I already had some supplies. I started with a basic calendar and a few pages of weekly spaces. Then I got a little fancy and added sleep and habit trackers, meal planning pages, and pretty holiday wheels. The wheels were the first pages I was most excited about. I got to flex my creative muscles and was rather proud of the results. There have been a few down sides that I have thought of. But instead of doubting my new project, I am trying new ways to tackle them. I started a page for future things that will need to be added since each month’s are created as they are needed. One of the main reasons I decided to write this particular post is to brag about a few of my better pages. I have a quirk where I tend to keep track of all the books I read and the movies I see. I have created a page for each of these things and I absolutely adore them. Truth be told, I mostly stole my ideas from pages I saw online. I copied but didn’t trace, so the drawing is something I am proud of. I dabble at drawing and am nowhere near a talented artist. However, I love the few pages where I tried more complicated drawings. The holiday wheels, the book and movie lists, and then there is today’s accomplishment. Since the bullet journal is truly a journal, someone came up with the idea to track his or her moods throughout the month. I have seen a few different options, but decided to tackle the mandala. I have a coloring book full of mandalas and think they are beautiful, but complicated. I was skeptical of whether I would be able to actually draw one. Today I achieved my goal! I drew a mood mandala. There are 31 rings within it that will be colored in with corresponding shades designated to each mood. It will be a masterpiece, but this first step was the hardest and it was successful. I have added pictures of my favorite pages below so I can share my work. I wrote this post though because I am proud of my work and also because I want to help share the concept of bullet journaling. It is something that has helped me to be more organized and more creative. I am not solely right or left brain oriented so this is something that allows me to use both sides of my crazy brain. I am happy to share it with you all.