#selfcareplushie

[selfcareplushie]

Everyone look at my whimsy book rn 🔫

I call it my whimsy book because most of my current journaling is very serious and practical, and I need a break from that sometimes

This one is a leuchtturm1917 B6 softcover

[selfcareplushie]

finally deco'd my journal cover :)

[selfcareplushie]

edited from a rant i sent to my friends on discord

i have a love hate relationship with journaling/stationery content online

because on one hand i love getting inspiration and seeing a community of people and i love the actual process of journaling

on the other hand SO MUCH of it is just rampant overconsumption and consumerism

to me there is a huge emphasis on brand names (filofax, louise carmen, hobonichi, even field notes atp) with big price tags attached when YOU LITERALLY DON'T NEED THE BRAND even if you like the style of the journal there are a gazillion alternatives that are much more affordable and do the exact same thing

not to mention like. i love my journaling ecosystem, but i have absolutely fallen into the trap of buying way too many notebooks that i literally didn't need and now just collect dust in my room. like do whatever is going to work for you, of course, but it can absolutely be frustrating seeing how influential some creators can be when they choose to promote so many products like this

idk, i use two notebooks atm and i have probably about a dozen more collecting dust rn and the two i actually use cost about 25 dollars combined compared to some notebooks i've seen being promoted that are upwards of 100 dollars or even more

tl;dr journaling is a wonderful and useful hobby and tool, but if you're just starting out PLEASE do not think that you need so much to do it

anyways this was inspired by watching a youtube video of a tour of someone's journaling bag. which to be fair is very cool and she does use it all (i would assume, since i don't actually know her) but god. i can only imagine how much it all cost

[selfcareplushie]

Updates to the Filofax! Feels so nice to be using it again ☺️

[selfcareplushie]

I haven't been posting much here, but I do still journal regularly. I got promoted at work which is cool, and I also just redid some things with my filofax. I'll probably do an actual update when it's not one in the morning.

[selfcareplushie]

One of the best self care lessons I ever internalized was the idea that you do actually have free will.

Like sure there are circumstances that are often outside of your control, you could be coerced into making a decision, etc. etc.

But that's not what I mean, really. Your actions and inactions will have consequences both good and bad, but like-

You don't have to talk to those people. You can choose a new hobby or interest. You can put that project down, re-do your current routine, literally anything.

In the end, the only thing holding you back from these types of decisions is you.

[selfcareplushie]

7/4/2025

Only ten days until my birthday (not that I'm counting or anything). Commonplacing has been my saving grace these past few weeks; that plus an effective budget has greatly reduced my stress. I'm trying to edit a youtube video of my journaling ecosystem, but it's slow going. I may also post about it here. Picked up a secondhand copy of Dracula to annotate, and I'm quite pleased with that. I initially went out looking for a collection of poetry by J.V. Cunningham, but I was unsuccessful. I am less fearful these days. I don't want that to change. We'll see what the next ten days bring.

[selfcareplushie]

The accessorizing continues!!