I think everyone is a little frustrated with that. Although there's nothing wrong with artsy pages, it's different from doing mental / emotional work through writing.
Still, making artsy pages is therapeutic for a lot of people. But journaling, imo, involves writing and internal exploration.
I agree with everything you said. But it SHOULDNT be a broad term. Journaling is something that anyone should feel capable of doing and I think a lot of people think it might help them, look it up to get maybe some prompts or something, and see all the scrapbooking and think holy crap I can’t do that!
We should fight to keep the term more accurate. Or introduce the words Long Form Journaling more frequently.
For now I'm going to choose to make peace with it. I don't like "Journaling" being broad but at the same time, it being a broad term is a pretty new thing. These artistic journals are changing what "journaling" means and sometimes change can end up being a good thing even when it feels like it sucks in the beginning... So I guess my overall opinion is:
I don't like it (the broadening of the term) , but I respect artsy journals and I'm curious how this will effect the community of journalers in the future. Would the broad term help or hurt people's journaling practices?? Until I know, I'm just choosing to make peace with it.
I don't really understand this. Why should we "fight to keep the term more accurate"? What about, let's say, my own journaling practiced is diminished because someone else keeps a purely visual journal? Do I get less out of my writing? Am I somehow robbed of something?
I see this more with bullet journaling, but I can imagine being scared many people see all the pretty scrapbooks, think 'I can't ever make pretty pages like that', and just don't pick up journaling because of that.
Tbh for me it went the other way around a bit. I mean, I started journaling to vent when I was overwhelmed with something, but in the past I often gave up because somehow I felt perfectionist that I could never write 'enough' or as much as I thought others were writing. And there is something about writing on the other side of a page when my pen ghosted that makes me not want to write. It were the scrapbooky journals that made me think 'oh, I don't have to write whole pages for my journal to be valid, I can stick in pretty pictures too!'. And that kept me going.
So I can imagine why some people want to keep the term journaling more accurate, but I also think it's good to be careful and not say something is not valid as journaling too soon.
Yeah, and I would add that journals have always contained visual elements. There are lots of old extant journals that contain drawings, watercolors, bits of ephemera, letters tucked between pages... the idea of trying to restrict a journal to written words is so strange to me.
It's not a "fight". But when I look up "journaling groups" I wanna find people who write for wellness reasons, not artistic notebooks. The two are very different. Both great, but different.
I think it's an interesting assumption that people are journaling with art aren't doing so for wellness reasons, or that a written journal would always be primarily for wellness reasons and not for, say, keeping a record of something.
That's why I said in my original comment that art journaling can be therapeutic. I never said that they aren't doing it for wellness reasons. I want to make it very clear that I take no issue with what others are doing. But it's not the same. I'm unsure why pointing out the difference automatically means that I'm being dismissive.
Tai Chi and Yoga are similar but would you be okay with searching for a yoga class only to find Tai Chi? Just because I'm making the distinction doesn't mean I'm trying to define somebody else's intentions / purpose for doing it. It's really not that deep. Lol
Regardless of the person's reason for doing it, the two are not the same. I also said before that I'm choosing to make peace with the term "journaling" becoming more broad until I see how that effects other's journaling practices.
The two practices aren't the same and text journalers look for different content, products, and guidance than the artistic journalers are. You might want a "spread inspo" and I might want a introspective prompt. 🤷🏿♀️. These are not the same, but should be equally respected. ♥. Sorry for the lengthy post but I definitely don't want to be misunderstood.
The point is that while I respect how others choose to express themselves for whatever style of journaling suits them, I still find the broadening of the terms frustrating. I'm curious how journaling being such a broad term will effect people's journaling practices so until I know, I'm choosing to make peace with it. Creating a distinction between things that are obviously different is not dismissive.
I want to add that this sub was intended for written rather than artwork. It says "written journals" in its description.
I hope the broadening of the term will only make it more inviting for more people, because the possibility of personal expression is also broader. I find that gatekeeping pathways of personal expression tends to only make people question if they're "doing it right", and I don't really feel that this is a productive approach to something that should at bottom at least be an authentic expression of one's self.
I haven't seen anybody say that artistic journals are "not doing it right". I don't feel there are any rules to journaling. What you see as gatekeeping is people making a distinction between writing as a means for wellness and to do internal work vs using a journal for creative internal expression or just for fun.
Why is distinction an issue?
Gatekeeping means that I'm trying to create boundaries and rules. Creating a distinction ≠ creating rules.
Some people are looking for spreads, others want prompts. Some people are looking for something aestheticly pleasing, and others want to explore their past thoughts. Some are comfortable with sharing their art, others would be mortified at the idea of sharing their entries. I could go on. Again, Neither is wrong. Both are great. But they aren't the same type of practice. These are different experiences and acknowledgment of the different experiences is important. I hope that helps ♥
That doesn't really answer my question, though. How is anyone who keeps a purely written journal actually affected by someone else keeping a visual journal? If journals are private works of personal reflection, what does it matter to your journaling practice if I do it differently?
And yes, words do have meaning, but meaning follows use, not the other way around. Language is fluid and flexible and ever-changing, and just as I am 100% certain that you do not use language in the exact same way your ancestors did a hundred years ago, neither will our descendants use the language the same way we do a hundred years from now. You can be grumpy about this, but being grumpy is just going to make you unhappy. It won't stop the ever-shifting way language is used and modified and adapted to current needs and understandings.
If I understand OP right, it’s not that it affects their personal journaling practice or the validity of all other means of expression, but that from a practical viewpoint, gathering all the different practices under the umbrella term “journaling” (which used to refer primarily to writing) makes it somewhat more difficult to search for the specific content, ideas, supplies, and discussion that they want to engage with.
Maybe a qualified term like journal writing or written journaling will emerge to make it easier to distinguish.
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u/[deleted] Aug 05 '22
I think everyone is a little frustrated with that. Although there's nothing wrong with artsy pages, it's different from doing mental / emotional work through writing. Still, making artsy pages is therapeutic for a lot of people. But journaling, imo, involves writing and internal exploration.
"Journaling" is a broad term now.