Forget about discovering other people’s secrets journals can reveal ourselves to ourselves - used effectively your art journal could help you bridge the gap from aspiration to manifestation.
Writer and essayist Joan Didion once wrote:
“I don’t know what I think until I write it down.”
Which is one reason why keeping a written journal can be so revelatory. Yet, as I’ve mentioned in my introductory post on art journalling an art journal can do that too, only through the use of images, symbols, patterns, and more.
So how can a little old art journal help take your goals from wishes to wins?
Let me tell you a wee story about a glittery-green-eyed guy…
When vision boards don’t work
Some years ago, after my marriage ended, I found myself in a quandary. I was deep in a relationship rabbithole with a glittery-green-eyed guy. By day I was employed at soul-sapping central. By night I was living with a group of thirty-somethings carrying on like students. The rocky relationship seemed like my only safe haven.
This wasn’t the way I wanted things. I felt powerless and alone - even in the relationship. So, on one of our ‘breaks’ I attempted to regain some semblance of order by piecing together the flotsam and jetsam that had once been my aspirations by creating a vision board.
As neuroscientist Tara Swart says of vision (or action) boards:
“It is a way of aligning your deep subconscious and conscious brain, so that you can stop wasting energy on priorities that are at odds with the things that you really want, deep down.”
Central to that vision was a healthy relationship, inspiring work, and a place I could call home. Yet, just as I was feeling galvanised glittery-green-eyed guy was back. Poof! Just like that, there I was lounging in the land of the lotus-eaters, where taking action on any of my aspirations - which, to be frank, was a little bit scary - seemed. So. Over. Whelm. Ing.
“Problem is, a vision board which is all style no action is just a collage. ”
And so, my carefully cut-out desires crumpled under the weight of my cold-shoulder.
Art journal your adventure
While you may not be sabotaging your goals by getting distracted by glittery-green-eyed guys, most of us will concede that navigating the uncharted gap between where-you-are-now and ideal-future-you has its inevitable ups and downs.
It’s too easy to get all enthused by glossy magazines urging you to claim your golden future, only to find yourself teetering on the edge of an unfathomable abyss. Then your inner critic chimes in.
What the hell were you were thinking, anyway? Yesterday you were bursting with confidence and self belief. Today you’re harangued by the harpies of self doubt. But why? How come you leapfrog one setback only to be floored by another?
That’s where your art journal comes in to play.
While it isn’t so much a bridge from dream to destination, your journal can become a kind of travel guide. The signs and symbols you discover as you play in your book can help you clarify your desires, and reveal the weird and wonderful things which are holding you back.
As Tara Swart explains in The Source: open your mind, change your life, keeping a (written) journal is an essential component of her goal-attaining technique and helped her uncover her relationship with relationships:
“I found my journalling a powerful way to see that mistrust was leading me into repeated patterns of holding back from or avoiding intimacy that inevitably led to self-fulfilling prophecies.”
A useful insight, eh?
Self reflective art journal prompts
So, how can you use your art journal to help you keep on choosing your own adventure?
Create one portrait of where you are now and another of where you want to be in a year or so (you could start with a photo) - try Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration
Explore your inner critic - what does it look like / say / do?
Make a map of the places, people and things that uplift you and another of those that pull you down - check out Grayson Perry’s maps on Google images
Feeling stuck? Ask what would 7 year old you do - get in the flow and use colour, symbol and pattern to reveal the answer
Find a favourite quote and illustrate it - see Pinterest for some prompts
Start with a Rorshach inkblot and see where it leads - like here, for example...
Create an abstract image detailing what wellbeing looks and feels like to you - again Pinterest and Instagram can provide much inspiration
Plus, check out Journaling.com for podcasts and articles on keeping a written and art journal for wellbeing
Wishing you a rich and revelatory art journal journey. Say ‘hi’ to me on Instagram (sometimes Facebook) where I’ll be sharing more creative inspiration and details of upcoming events in London or Essex areas.