Commonplace Journal - Blog Posts

if you feel like you don’t know yourself, i recommend keeping one notebook in that you put everything. thoughts, quotes you like, cool art work, postcards, to do lists, diary entries, reviews of books, tv shows, lists of things to to, places to travel or stuff to buy, playlists, moodboards, trackers, pictures, sticky notes, tickets of any kind, shadow work, letters, dried flowers or leaves, brain dumps, gratitude and plans. everything. while in the process of filling this journal you will get a sense of yourself, of things you like and little bits you didn’t know about yourself before, esp. once you reread old entries or look at old photos.

On Journaling

Hi, so i LOVE journaling. im obsessed with it, i love talking about, its my main personality trait, i try to convince everyone i meet to journal (and have succesfully convinced many of my friends to do so).

I would like to talk about it, and answer questions about it. More than anything i think this is an interest and hobby of mine that has become so integral to my being and i cannot live without it and i think its super super helpful and fun. Obviously for many people it isnt helpful or inspiring but it could be! give it a try! so here is a LONG post about my basic journaling practice, why i journal, and how i became consistent and happy with it.

My journal collection.

Currently im actively using a 3 notebook system, and i have 4 total journals. the first (A) is my regular journal one that i will habit track, write my goals, ramble, diary entries, collages. anything. the second is my commonplace book (B) (the most recent additon) which i use to collect information i want to reference back to (everday reciepes, facts, excersizes/activities) and i also use it as a on the go notebook since its small enough to fit in my purse. 3rd (C) in my system is my planner. its a blank notebook that i draw a calender in and use it for to-do lists or things i need to remember, its the messiest of the 3. the 4th is a bit of a wildcard, i have a journal that i am making for a friend and they are making one for me and we trade them once they are done. fun little bonding activity, i do more prompts and artistic collages and lists for them.

I am pretty picky but also broke so i wanted to share the types of journals i use. type A is currently a art creation sketchbook (im canadian so a win for us) i adore it and its a good length of pages for me since i can finish them quickly and they are thick enough for me to draw in on occassion. B is a A6 spiral bound blank muji notebook, small enough for my purses and i like the hard cover so i can flip it over and write even without a hard surface. C was a gift, a grid notebook a freind got me but i have in the past used an A5 muji blank notebook, im the least picky with this type. Just no lines, my handwriting is messy and lines get in the way.

My History + Why

so i have been doing diary writing of some sort since i was a kid, if very sporatically. i was definitly inspired by dork diaries <3 and i for sure think it was a way for me to talk to someone about the traumas i was experiencing without guilt or shame. I have journaled on and off for years. i started taking it a bit more seriously in highschool, I'd finish one journal every like 2 years/1.5 years. last fall i had a pretty thin notebook that i didnt love that i had for oct-dec since i didnt want to start a new nice one so close to the end of the year and for some reason i just poured into it. i think the goal of finishing it was motivated 1. because i was excited to use my new one for the new year 2. i was very conciously working on my mental health and developing new hobbies, 3. i was away from my friends, and 4. I decied that instead of having the like 5 journal system i previously did (why idk) and being so precious about it i would mush them all into one and build from there. this year I have finished 2 journals and started my 3rd one yesterday. not even that i was trying. infact my first journal of the year i thought was so beautiful so i was a bit precious about it sometimes. It just got solidified as a habit, and i needed it as a coping mechanism. its definitely something i use more when I'm feeling lonley or my friends are away at school, but even during the summer i love it. I dont force myself anymore which is a wonderful feeling.

The biggest change i made to become consistent started with me noticing how bad of a vibe my journals had before. i only ever journaled the bad things or the things i was too embarassed to say. So everytime i picked it up i felt BAD. i stopped using my journal at the time half way through and started a new one with the express mentality that i was going to do both good and bad things in one space. make it my life. I started writing out my goals semi regularly, documenting good days like my birthdays, journaling while waiting for friends at cafes, sticking in receipts and packaging, doing pretty/ugly collages, all while also journaling through late night breakdowns, difficult times, therpay sessions, and coping strategies. i used it as a place to extend my joy AND process my sadness and mental health. the point is, make your journal a confidant. Its so helpful for me (a chronic oversharer) to write stuff down and then if i still feel the urge to talk to someone i do. this doesnt limit my social interaction but enhances the conversations i can have because I have already processed parts of my emotions.

So generally speaking i journal because its helpful and fun. I suspect i have ADHD and i also dissacociate from my depression/anxiety so i forget things. both good and bad. so i need a record of not only my plans but also the good things that happen in my life. Nostalgia runs deep in my bones and i cannot wait to read these back as i age. every year i wish i had journaled more in my childhood. its also a way for me to process my emtions and feelings without spiraling, i write slower than i type so it forces me to slow down. I also feel like externalizing my emotions to a book gets them out of my head. there are a few anxiety reducing things i have learned that help A TON

You dont need to be consistent about it, there has been days or weeks where i dont touch my journal because i dont feel the need to. But because of the years of practice i know when i havent been thinking about my emotions or I feel like my brain is a mess that i need to. Even when i've just had a really really good conversation i know its something i want to write down. sometimes i will type entries into my phone and either print them or copy them into my journal.

My journals, past and present, are some of my most prized possessions. PLEASEE feel free and encouraged to ask me things or tell me about your journaling practice!!!!

❝When I am grown up I shall carry a notebook–a fat book with many pages, methodically lettered. I shall enter my phrases.❞

— Virginia Woolf, The Waves

Virginia Woolf, mid-twentieth century:

❝[L]et us take down one of those old notebooks which we have all, at one time or another, had a passion for beginning.

Most of the pages are blank, it is true; but at the beginning we shall find a certain number very beautifully covered with a strikingly legible hand-writing. Here we have written down the names of great writers in their order of merit; here we have copied out fine passages from the classics; here are lists of books to be read; and here, most interesting of all, lists of books that have actually been read, as the reader testifes with some youthful vanity by a dash of red ink.❞

— Virginia Woolf, "Hours in a Library". Granite and Rainbow: Essays by Virginia Woolf (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1958),p.25.

[21/100] days of productivity

Slowly but surely, I'm making an analogical version of my Storygraph. A journal dedicated to tbr lists, monthly wrap-ups, favorite books of the year, etc.

Started commonplacing and the first thing that came back is my writer's bump!

[15/100] days of productivity

Did research for some articles for my Substack, wrote one, and read a lot while enjoying a delicious afternoon snack.

[14/100] days of productivity

I'm making progress with my process of copying my most valuable screenshots in my commonplace journal. Anything like quotes, interesting facts, useful websites, articles and so on.

I've started transcribing things from Sept. 2023 a couple of days ago, and now I just finished the ones from Oct. 2024!

This is such a therapeutic activity. I love it.

[13/100] days of productivity

I've been really into this task of copying all the good stuff i screenshotted into my commonplace journal. The screenshots started in September 2023 and now I'm transcribing things from June 2024.

I'm slowly catching up!

[12/100] days of productivity

Spent hours copying quotes and other random things collected during the months―thanks to my "obsessive screenshotting mania"―into my commonplace journal.

So relaxing. Almost therapeutic. I recommend.

[8/100] days of productivity

worked on some articles for my Substack, made a lot of progress with Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates (this book is...devastating and kinda traumatic), did house chores, and went for a walk.

May 2025 wrap-up

The Closed Doors by Pauline Albanese - 4/5

The Ravishing of Lol Stein by Marguerite Duras - 4/5

Vladimir by Julia May Jonas - 4/5

The Beautiful Summer by Cesare Pavese - 5/5

Among Women Only by Cesare Pavese - 5/5

A Fairly Honourable Defeat by Iris Murdoch - 5/5

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - 4.25/5

10 Days in a Mad House by Nellie Bly - 4/5

wonderful reading month!

check out my reviews here 💌

[7/100] days of productivity

worked on my May wrap-up article for my Substack, that will be out tomorrow, read A LOT (I'm currently juggling 4 books), and rearranged my bookshelf.

[6/100] days of productivity

I finished reading Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Laurence and started adding my favourite quotes on @literarymood

made notes about a couple of interesting articles (I'll share them soon)

the weather was miserable, but I went to the bookstore just to browse and walk a bit

ate pasta with chickpeas...it was delicious!

current reads:

• Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates

• Sappho of Lesbos by Alexander Trocchi

• The Triumph of Death by Gabriele D'Annunzio

• The Dead City by Gabriele D'Annunzio

[5/100] days of productivity

Made some notes about this article on the Romantic movement and Friedrich's paintings.

Such a nice read!

I'm really enjoying this new commonplace practice, and keeping you posted about it.

[4/100] days of productivity

read this great article about journaling and went through my current notebooks to sort them out.

[3/100] days of productivity

Today's Sunday, so...relax time. The only productive thing I did from my list was reading. Started this little book about Sappho that I found in a thrift store recently.

Obviously, I also did some house chores etc but I don't track that stuff here. Then I watched several episodes of Dark. So unsettling, tangled and raw. I'm addicted.

Hello! I'm Nicole🌷

31 | Infj | ♑ | Italy

Welcome to my book blog.

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where to find me:

@literarymood (quotes & web weaves)

• instagram • substack

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articles to read instead of doomscrolling.

Demonology

A Question of Free Will: Inside the Final Days of Katherine Mansfield

The Humiliating Act of Falling In Love

How to read a painting

When Horror Is the Truth-teller

Love Is Like Cocaine

Lizzie Siddal: The life of a Pre-Raphaelite supermodel

Joan Didion Against a Performative Life

Women drawing nudes: a history of forbidden bodies

How midlife became a crisis

and more to come!

paintings details and words from the art exhibit I visited this morning.

[1/100] days of productivity

starting my new commonplace journal with some notes about this article on demonology. such a fascinating read.

I want to keep this practice up. keep me accountable!

currently: reading carnivorously Lady Chatterley's Lover, mentally preparing myself for my next read (i.e. Babysitter), eating pokè, enjoying the warm weather and sunny days, wearing wide leg jeans + my bf botton downs, and starting a commonplace journal.

Recent journal spreads 📃