Anushri and I are both not academically from the design field. Yet the subconscious love for art always remained. She trained to be a tattoo artist while studying marketing in college. And I remember spending ~8 hours on my first visit to a museum while on a work trip. Maybe it is just the human need to connect the dots retrospectively. The itch to tell a chronological linear story to what was probably a random, or a situation-driven route.
Along that indirect route, somewhere we found Kissa-goi. We started Kissa-goi to design and make products we looked for and could not find, at least not easily. Little by little, it designed our lives too in turn. Minimal living, conscious purchases, learning the difference between upcycling and recycling. Then the continued wish to try one, the other, both. Journaling. And journaling is what we hope to bring to you today.
Journals. They are not novels or poems. Still stories but our own. Conversations, complaints, ideas, wonderings. Every morning, we write down all the distracting thoughts, worries, every what-he-meant-when-he-said-that. This clears the mind and gets rid of any mental clutter that might be holding one back. No editing, not very legible because it's fast and not intended to be re-read, just an outpour. It takes some effort to sit and write when one would rather sit and scroll (if you are more efficient, you might rather read/work/play). But if you do sit and write, this sowing reaps.
What do we do?
A combination of morning pages and task list for the day
1. Task list for direction:
I start by listing the things-to do for the day. More often than not, I will be reminded of a few more things as I journal ahead. I keep adding to this, making a comprehensive check-list of items to cross off. It allows me to plan a more effective course for the day. We could not make this and metaphorically, go North, South, East, West randomly but most days, we would rather save time/energy /effort planning ahead and going North, East, West and South.
2. Morning pages for focus:
These are three pages of longhand, stream-of-consciousness writing every morning. No holds barred, no rules, no thinking. I particularly love it because it pulls me out of my mental maze, helps quieten the little girl in the head who just won’t ordinarily shut up.
How does this happen? As I understand, this works by spending focused quality time with that girl, listening to her ideas and complaints so she wouldn’t yap at inconvenient hours. I don’t want to worry about what a friend meant when she said she judges my silences while I am thinking of new product designs. Once I write about it in the morning, all the thoughts out, it stays out for a while. Long enough that I recommend you to give it a shot.
Note: Julia Cameron brought Morning pages to us through her book The Artist's Way. Strongly recommend the book too.
What about you guys? On a journaling kick? Not sure this is worth the effort? Utterly impartial?
Few journals and diaries we have loved-
Paperdom: Beautifully crafted on banana paper
Brown books: Simple, utility driven books
Kissa-goi: More diaries than journals. Aesthetically hand-embroidered. Upcycled fabric, recycled pages :)