By Adila Shahira
Edited by Harith Syafiee
Hobbies. I would describe hobbies as escapism. You know like how some people indulge themselves in books or baking or crocheting? Hobbies are vast and entertaining. It is interwoven with a swirl of passion and interest, creating whatever your heart desires until the product you made could be considered a masterpiece (We tend to praise our own work and that is totally okay).
Speaking of hobbies, mine is journaling. And before we dive deeper, I would like to introduce a few types of so-called journaling. There are many types of journaling I have tried in my decades of living and a few of them are bujo or bullet journal, anime journal, and scrapbooking. The differences between these three are not that far apart and it’s pretty easy to identify which is which.
Bujo, or bullet journal is the levelling-up version of a diary. When we think of a diary, a picture of a simple book with lots of writing on each page pops into our minds. But bujo is not only filled with words but with the element of drawings or doodles. Compliment with many colours and patterns of washi tapes and stickers, you can get an even more interesting and eye-catching level of a diary! Most people used bujo to record their everyday accomplishments, mood tracker, calendar, and even as simple as ‘How many books I’ve read in a year.’ I had a bujo for one or two years during high school and even so, I’ve never completed the entire book (I found that it is not my cup of tea).
The next one is my favourite type of journaling, also what I have been doing for years now, anime journaling. It’s a type of journal where you can let your creativity flourish. Use whatever type of style, layout, colour scheme, lettering, et cetera that you want. Most people do anime journaling to dedicate a spread for their favourite character, anime that they just finished watching, or simply just for the fun of it. Some write a few sentences or a whole paragraph on their spreads, and some just fill the entire page with pictures, stickers, lettering, or washi tapes. It depends on the individual’s style and for me, personally, I went from writing a few sentences about what I felt for the character or my anime reviews, to just a bunch of pictures put together.
My anime journal spread in December
Last but not least, scrapbooking. Even though the name does not have the word ‘journal’ in it, scrapbooking is also considered journaling. In fact, it is the earliest form of journal. Scrapbooking is a type of journaling that most people use to collect their memories all together. The use of polaroids, cup sleeves, wrapping paper, receipts et cetera were used to create a spread. I would say that scrapbooking allows you not to waste the little things you get and it gives you the access to look back at what you did years ago and what happened on that particular day. I just started to familiarise myself with scrapbooking and it was fun!
My scrapbooking spread in December
Anyone can start journaling and there are no restrictions or rules that need to be followed. Just a book, a pen or pencil, and a few pictures or scraps and you are ready to go. The extras that most people used were to enhance your spreads and the fun of decorating each page was what made people obsessed with journaling. A few of the things that I recommend you to use for your journal are stickers, washi tape, brush pen, watercolour, dried flowers (for the aesthetic), and unused books or papers. Maybe it is your turn to try something new and keep memories in a more artistic and long-term way instead of keeping a plethora of pictures in your gallery without looking at it back anytime soon. Happy trying!
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