journaling session

my journaling routine and what I've been journaling about

Hello everyone, happy Tuesday!

Today I'm going to take you through my journaling routine.

I haven't always had a consistent routine, and in the last few weeks I've failed a few times, but I've been journaling every day for about two years. I always liked writing, but before that I never found the necessary motivation (although often what we need is to start without thinking too much).

When I started I had some difficulty writing just what came to mind, as if it were a diary, so I quickly decided to use daily prompts (which we easily found with a search on Pinterest).

Although I don't usually do brain dumps often, I always do one a month (usually at the end to review what happened during that same month). Here it is important to say that I don't just use the journal for this purpose, but also to manifest.

I'm already on my second journal this year alone and I organize it as follows: at the beginning of the year, I always make a moodboard of what I want to visualize for my year, I write a letter to the Universe and define my goals for the year that begins. After that, I start the month. I write "January," for example, at the top of a page, and after that I write goals and affirmations for that month. On the next page, I make a habit tracker with what I like to "control". After that it's writing using the daily prompts I find. This month, for example, I'm using the following. The first ones, in English, are from a girl I follow on Pinterest, zoecwaikel. The others, in Portuguese, are also from a girl I follow on Instagram (meeelbarros) and are prompts that help you delve deeper and think a little more.

In the last few months I've been trying to invest in funny stickers and colorful washi tapes with patterns to make journaling an even more creative activity.

This was what I had in mind when I started buying supplies (via Pinterest). My goal is to turn my journal into a creative outlet. My next step is to start adding cool little designs.

But, as I told you, I haven't been that constant in journaling. I started to use the 3-6-9 method to manifest and, as I have to write in the morning, afternoon and evening, it becomes a kind of obligation and the truth is that I lose the will a little. What I thought is to research other manifestation techniques (I apologize, in advance, to anyone who doesn't believe it because of so many references to this) and understand what works best for me, especially because journaling should be done out of pleasure and not out of obligation (everything that is done out of obligation is tiring and demotivating).

However, I also wanted to bring you to what I have written. As you've noticed, I use daily prompts and these were some of the ones I enjoyed writing the most this month.

• What are the small victories I have already achieved this year?

Having started drinking more water, having published the newsletter every week, having journaled practically every day, having started reading more (and physical books that I already had here at home).

• Gratitude list.

My family, being healthy, our home, everything I have, for not living in a country at war, for sunny days, for my friends, for the food we have on the table, for my subscribers (and readers) of the newsletter, for having the opportunity to go to concerts by artists I like.

• What activities make me feel even more grateful for my life?

Going to concerts, visiting new places and cities, hiking, cooking, reading and writing.

My biggest inspirations when it comes to journaling are Bella (bellaoggioni) and Elena Téa (elea_tea). My best advice for anyone who wants to start journaling is: choose a notebook (it can be anything, as long as it's one you like), pick up a pen (blue, black, red, whatever you prefer) and start. Don't wait for a specific moment or occasion, just start. You can write in the morning, afternoon or evening (or at any time), but choose a time when you have time and don't need to think about anything else. You'll see that once you start you won't want to stop. And remember that it doesn't have to be perfect or beautiful, because the journal is just for you.

Now it’s finally time to go over what I’ve been doing, listening, reading, eating, wanting and watching.

Doing: My days have all been very similar, with the exception of this week, when I will be spending more time at home due to the heat wave we are going through. Believe me, it's not incredible to be outside when it's more than 40 degrees Celsius.

Listening: In addition to having all the songs from Gracie Abrams' new album on repeat, I discovered this song this week and really liked it. Becky G's "Shower" also deserves a little mention because I heard it last week in a video on Tiktok and it still hasn't left my mind.

Reading: I finally finished “Love Unwritten”, by Lauren Asher (and rated it 4 stars) and started reading “Magnolia Parks”. It took me a while to get used to the writing (it's as if we were inside the characters' heads, literally) and, although the main characters are both quite toxic (it's not the usual love story), I'm really enjoying it and I'm already going in the middle of the book. Then I still have the next two here at home to read too.

Eating: This morning I bought coffee granola with pieces of white chocolate and my afternoon snack was natural yogurt with granola. Even though it wasn't very sweet (neither of them), I liked it.

Wanting: After the almost endless wishlist I brought you last week, today I have nothing to show you. The only constant on my wishlist, although I almost never say it, are books.

Watching: As you already know, I'm very loyal to the same YouTubers, so this is what I've seen. In addition to this, I started watching the second season of "One Tree Hill".

That’s all for today, I hope you liked it!

See you next week,

Carlota <3