The Journal of My 59th Year

There are two ways of looking at being 59 (or any age) – as if it’s the end of the world or the beginning of one. We all know the alternative of aging so with that in mind, it’s best to adjust our perspective, find the grace and the gratitude in our current place in life and shine our light.

I received this beautiful journal as a birthday gift from my sister, and rather than fret over what goes in the journal (as us journal hoarders are apt to do) and never use it, I decided right away to find a purpose for this journal that would keep me focused on using it regularly. This one will be added to the four other journals I currently keep (Junk Journal, Daily Diary – just a couple lines, Pandemic Journal begun on March 13, 2020, and my book journal).

As you can see the Soothi Journal is handmade and personalized. It also came with a smooth writing black pen.

I decided to make my first entry stand out by writing it in pink. My plan is to make it colorful and include pictures, doodles, washi, rubber stamp images, lots of colored markers and different colored pens.

I am not planning to use it as a junk journal, which, for me, has a lot of stuff glued/taped inside of it. I don’t even think I’ll use glue in this, but rather, if I need to adhere something, it will be done with Washi tape. But I like the thought of using lots of colored markers and pens as I have a lot of them, many of which don’t get used often, plus, it will make the use of the journal stand out since most of my writing is with pens (black), although occasionally, I do use inks of different colors.

The card below was included with the journal as an inspiration to use the journal. I like it! We can all use encouragement at some point to do what we want, but are reluctant to get started.

The black gel pen writes very smoothly and has a generous ink flow, which is needed for the special handmade paper in this journal. On the Soothi website, they have a page dedicated to talking about the paper used in their journals. Here is some of that information:

Fountain pen can be used with our journals (with tree free paper) however the ink is not absorbed fast so there is a risk of smearing. Additionally, the coarse nature of the paper makes it not as smooth of an experience. Ideally, we would recommend an ink jet pens for the best writing experience. Our paper has a lot of texture to it so ink jet will help create the smoothest writing experience.

I am excited to see what this year brings – adventures, lessons, surprises, new skills, people, experiences. I’ll keep you posted!

What’s in store for you this year?