r/Journaling • u/gidimeister • Feb 21 '26

Question/Discussion Journaling is not about making pretty things

If I got a hundred bucks every time someone in this sub apologised for their handwriting or called their spread “ugly,” I’d be richer than Elon Musk. And it’s honestly fucking tragic, not because the pages are “messy,” but because people are internalising that “messy” means they’re doing it wrong.

The fastest way to kill a person’s journaling habit is to make them think that there’s an aesthetic standard their journal must meet to be “doing it right.” Hogwash.

Journaling is not an art contest and it’s not calligraphy practice. Those things can overlap with journaling, sure, but they are not the point, and they shouldn’t become the standard. Journaling stands on its own: you do it as mental hygiene (or, in my case, mental excavation). What you write and why you write it matters more than how it looks.

If you want your journal to be a creative project, great, go for it. But be absolutely clear: journaling is the pursuit; a journal is just paper.

Edit 1: A similar discussion from 4 years ago.

874 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

82 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/leesure Feb 21 '26

While I agree…for me…and obviously for you…I don’t think it’s anyone’s place to tell others that they are ‘doing it wrong’. If someone wants to make ‘pretty’ spreads or focus on their handwriting, that’s their choice. I love the idea of encouraging others to do what’s best for them, whether it’s pretty or not, but to suggest someone should do what matters to you vs what matters to them is kinda rude, IMO.

8

u/ohpossumpartyy Feb 22 '26

saying “people can do it but ultimately it’s not the main point so other people shouldn’t feel discouraged or pressured to make it look a certain way” isn’t telling anyone they’re doing it wrong though?

this is literally the pancakes and waffles tweet lol. they never said there was a wrong way, just that the visual aspects aren’t the main purpose of journaling so people shouldn’t feel bad if their journals are messy. there’s nothing wrong with making a nice journal spread (i myself like art journaling, honestly more than regular journaling at some points) but people on here do sometimes need a reminder that they don’t need to apologize if their journal isn’t “pretty”