What Journal Should I Choose? #2021VlogmasDayEight
As I searched the world wide web I found myself thinking of days when you walked to the local store and just purchased the journal they had. If you wanted something fancier. One, I'd you had to save up your money. Two I'd have to wait until someone drove me to purchase it. This is when I become interested in journaling. No one else in my family journaled. Yes, I got questioned about my writings several times. I accidentally let it on my bed. The silly writings of childhood made my parents question how much they knew about the child they were raising. That's when I began to understand the power of the written word. Falling in love with letting myself write stories in my imagination. That's also when I begin to understand not all paper is alike.
Some paper allows the ink to flow through the pages with this touch that is almost magical as it glides across each line as I wrote. The first time this happened I asked myself what is that? What just happened? Then it became a quest to understand what type of magic does the paper has or is it the pen? I remember those years. Learning the quality of paper and ink affects how we feel about writing. Our sensory skills are involved in everything we do. I'd begin my journal experience and then quit falling out of love with the things I had purchased, until the next new thing.
I couldn't believe that a paper and pen could have such a strong impact on my curiosity to seek knowledge about the products I was using. How could I make a good choice for myself if I didn't understand? My girlfriend and I would talk about school supplies and their impact on my life. What is this magical power? It didn't have the same effect on my friends. Their parents just purchased the paper and they use what they were given. Not I, I needed or information. I would purchase stationary every chance I had and write my friends around the world asking them questions to see if this affected their lives and how. I learned my friends in Japan had different papers than in America, Rome, and Italy too. Spain was altogether different. Yet all of us had one thing in common. We enjoyed receiving mail in our mailbox and enjoyed learning about each other's lives and growing up wasn't want any of us thought.
One day I met a printer who explain some of what I was asking. I went to him for some social thing I was getting items printed. He took the time to talk to me about paper and ink. I know he thought I was a stupid little girl who asked a lot of questions. He had just poured different types of paper in the trash and when outside and pulled a variety of papers so I could experiment with them. How funny, I laugh today cause back then trash wasn't trashed if an adult was helping you. Definitions change or are it maturation in that little girl? He told me to test the paper to see how it reached. I think it still applies today so I'll pass it on to you. The type of paper and writing material have to work together to obtain beautiful results. If one fights the other everything gets ruined. He then went on to explain the finishes on the paper. I think the biggest thing he taught me is to understand what I am trying to achieve before purchasing the paper.
Paper Testing:
water test. Drop of water on the paper and see how it reacts
ink test. Drop a drop of ink and see how it reacts.
fire test. (ask the parent to light a corner of the paper to see how it burns. The faster the burn the thinner the paper)
watercolor test. See if it holds watercolor or fades.
Journaling is about knowing what materials you want to journal with. Will you be journaling using other material? Washi tape? Inks? Stickers? Paints? Watercolors? Then you choose the journal you want to use. That's the exciting thing about 2021 journals letting you know what their paper can uphold, therefore if you know the supplies you'll be using the decision is easy. Journaling can be a little addictive and lots of fun. It allows the imagination of a child within to be free. It's also a safety tool you can use. Leave it out and see if your parents question your writings. That day my parents question my writing helped me later in life, when I needed help and didn't know it until they stepped in to help.
Happy Journaling.
