Journaling, Planning, and Overconsumption: Another Rant
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- Just me, ranting AGAIN, about (mostly)women wasting their precious time and resources on stationery sh*t. I love a good pen and notebook, but social media is the thief of our common sense, money, and time -- all of which are precious resources.
I agree with you. I write for professional and personal reasons and while I do enjoy occasional stickers and color coding as part of my process, I think there is a fine line between enjoying being artsy in a notebook on occasion and becoming part of the stationery machine that makes it seem that we NEVER have enough stuff.
I hate the pressure to 'refresh' my planner every 3-6 months or that planners are on pre sale now for 2025. I hate that there is always something else to buy. I like found collage and often repurpose packaging and junk mail to add some color. I don't need 17 water color palletes or hundreds of colored pencils.
I agree that some of this is made to pull our attention away from topics that we should be be paying attention to. It feels demeaning, keep the little women busy with their toys and they won't notice or care about the sociopolitical issues of the day.
All of this. Keep the little women busy and they won't notice what's happening....
I understand what you’re saying about overconsumption. But I would counter that we as women have always transformed the mundane into beautiful. For example, women in earlier generations made quilts and blankets for warmth. But instead of just leaving those as utilitarian, they made them beautiful. They purposely chose colours, created patterns, and turned what could have been merely functional into works of art & self expression. Did that take more time? Absolutely. But making what is necessary into what is both functional & beautiful is a gift. We need that outlet for art as humans, especially when the world is so harsh & painful. Creative journaling & memory keeping is one of those outlets for me, amid the hard things I must do. A different perspective.
What I see a lot of time and what I am referring to is the overconsumption, not the creativity, per se. There is a tendency to become consumed by 1) what one must buy/acquire to be creative and 2) using activities as avoidance/procrastination.
I think creativity is great, but overconsumption and avoidance exist on a large scale in our culture. Perhaps this doesn’t apply to you and you have balance in your life. That’s great. Many people do not. They call themselves addicted and obsessed, and it’s often tied to consumerism.
@@TrinaOGorman All true.
I do like pretty things but they also help with my dyslexia and color coding. I think you hit the nail on the head to address that aesthetics has become a gatekeeping mechanism against more plain or ugly writing, planning or journaling.
This. It is a gatekeeping mechanism, like Trapper Keepers and Guess jeans in middle school. I'm dating myself.
At the start of your video you asked about what started this-and I see the bullet journal appropriation as the moment for at least this wave. I remember being so excited by bullet journaling as explained by Ryder Carroll and finding the system/way of thinking as so freeing and useful-and then everything became artistic and stickers and pretty spreads and I was just annoyed.
I feel exactly the same way! It's like a perversion of a really good thing. I was so inspired when Ryder Carroll came out with the Bullet Journal method. What the heck happened!!!!
Yes, appropriation is a good way to put it. I've watched numerous videos in which Ryder Carroll has tried to redirect that runaway train. He created a simple journaling technique for someone like himself, who is neurodiverse. Then along came the scrapbooking crew.
I remember going to a Creative Memories convention, back in the day, when they had pyramid schemes for scrapbooking supplies. Women busying themselves doing nothing. I'd rather just relax than become stressed out over a planner.
Bingo.
Bullet journaling was a tool designed for ND brains, and now that’s been largely appropriated by NT folks and morphed into “bullet journaling” as we see it now in videos etc.
It also does my head in how all the “why I quit bullet journaling & what I use now” videos come across as “bullet journaling is probably more hassle than it’s worth”, yet when they get into their explanation, it always comes down to “I customised the system beyond recognition [because it didn’t have the structure & features that NT brains like/need] and created a rod for my own back, so now I use a dated one [so that it’s back to being *entirely* NT-focussed]. Everyone should absolutely use what works for them, but so many creators blame bullet journaling when the issue was always that they started using a tool that *wasn’t designed to work for them in the first place*
I’m aware this is sounding very us-and-them (which isn’t my intention), but the astounding lack of awareness from a lot of creators about the original purpose of all of the features (that they systematically cut out without explanation/understanding because they don’t see the point of it)…well, it’s frustrating, to say the least!
It pisses me off that ND folks who could genuinely benefit from the original intended system (that works the way we do, designed to address the challenges *we* face) get scared off of trying it because they see the intense labour/effort/cost/structure/creativity that so many pretty-journalers put in and think it’s not designed for them, when in reality it is, and it’s just been bastardised beyond recognition.
Lord knows there aren’t enough ND-friendly tools out there in the first place; in a world not designed with us in mind, last thing we need is our tools getting co-opted, made ND-UNfriendly, and scaring off its intended users.
The upshot of course is that it’s made bullet journals etc. more widely available, but there’s also the massive premiums that come with a lot of that too.
@@natmickan And every time I've seen Ryder Carroll try to impress upon people that bullet journaling can be simple and minimalistic, it's back to the display case of washi tapes and stacks of planners and mind-boggling, complex process to write lists like, "Do dishes" and "Write You Tube script."
@@natmickan The original bullet journaling invented and shared by Ryder Carroll because something very ND-UNfriendly. It was truly bastardized, which moved it away from its original intent.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this from a perspective I had not even considered.
I think you bring up great points. I like stationery and I guess planning might be considered one of my hobbies, but mostly I write stuff down so I can remember.
I can't wrap my mind around planning as a hobby. I plan things and manage my time, so I can get things done. It's an executive function. I don't have to "get" everything, though.
@TrinaOGorman , I was typing up a response and it was getting too long! I think that I will make a respectful response video. Basically I recognize that for me, decorating is a way to deal with sensory and mental overload. I don't know if other people use decorating as a way to dissociate or not. I think a lot of people on social media do it as branding.
@@planningandpowerlifting This video is about journaling, planning, and over-consumption. I don't think that over-consumption is actually justifiable. It's over-consumption. For people who want to spend time decorating their planners, that's a choice. But a lot of this is being doing for social media attention, other people are getting caught up in it, and they are wasting a lot of time and money. There are people with regrets. If that's not you, then this is not speaking to you.
I'm not sure why people find it necessary to defend themselves again general remarks made about something. I honestly wouldn't bother, but that's me.
@TrinaOGorman I think what you said struck a chord with me. It made me think about how easy it is to get caught up in the rabbit hole of chasing the latest trends or trying to chase "planner peace". I did feel the need to defend my preferences, but I feel that maybe you said something that I should pay attention to. Honestly, I went overboard this year. I tried to save money and ended up spending more. So, do I feel called out? Maybe. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so because if I feel that way, I need to examine it and make improvements.
@@planningandpowerlifting I have felt the insatiable craving for stationery stuff. The addiction to that hit of dopamine was real for me. And getting the notebook cover or the new ink would relieve the urge...,for a while. It never tasted for long.
It eased whatever anxiety or sadness or emptiness or feeling of worthlessness that I was struggling with at the time...for a while. I never lasted. I'd kick myself for falling victim to the temporary fix, yet again.
For me, it has the characteristics of addiction to any substance or activity. It requires impulse control for me, which at times can be very difficult.
A lot of it comes from the need to be apart of the community and since the majority votes the for pretty and well layout pages it makes others say I want that too (the attention, the compliments, I too want people to say I inspired them I helped them ect ect… however it’s a hard act to follow this is why we have Videos discussing peoples burnout and their regrets of things they bought only to continue buying the thing … there is a lack of self control, awareness of what is actually needed and not just wanted, some people have even spoken about there financial woes due to their over consumption and a desire to be seen it leads to over consumption
I don’t fall prey to FOMO because I know it’s not going to change anything it’s a waste and it’s temporary satisfaction
Totally agree, I prefer channels that show no fuss journaling or budget friendly supplies. I adore my composition notebooks, I buy things at TJ Maxx and other budget retailers. Dollar tree has some of the same pens that are marked up other places. A planner from walmart or amazon can organize information just as well as an $80 one. There is nothing wrong with enjoying your supplies but this never-ending overconsumption is really unnerving.
When I spoke about this last year on Instagram, other creators had a fit. They came for me. Now those same creators are making videos saying they have planner burnout. Planner burnout. That's not a thing, just like planner peace is not a thing. Let's grow up. I want f'ing world peace and for women to have bodily autonomy and for us to have more choices for President than two incompetent, elderly White men. I don't the rules on TH-cam. Am I about to get shadow banned here too? I stay in trouble.
@@TrinaOGorman. I do remember that but the facts are we need hear this and think about what it means to move forward in a different direction thank you for speaking up
I just got out of decorative planning after figuring out over a few years that all this time and money would be better spent on something other than putting a high priced clean the toilet sticker next to where I wrote "clean the toilet" and then just toss it away lol It did take me a long time to figure out how ridiculous it was though due to social media posts. Now I put a few things in my journal of which I will keep and look back on but I'm waaay more cognizant of what I'm spending my money on so I don't go back to buying scoop the catbox stickers lol
Are you joking or do those stickers really exist?
@@TrinaOGorman yep just do an Etsy search lol I've never gone that far though thankfully hahaa. There is even a sticker of a CAT cleaning a toilet of all things. lol
@@LesaKenner Wow. I wish I could get a toilet-cleaning cat, though. That would be cool.
I’m glad that you made this video. It definitely needs to be said. We often times mince our words as to not hurt peoples feelings or ruffle feathers but these things need to be said. People need to hear the truth. So many people spend so many hours and days obsessing over their planner journal systems and then upload videos hauling several books they can’t possibly use only to complain about it later. And we encourage it by telling them that if the system doesn’t work try something else. Try whatever you need to to find whatever works. Not minding the persons financial situation or home life. So many hours “back planning” and rewriting things. I did that once and let me tell you it’s a complete waste of time lol some people do it on the regular. It’s crazy. I like watching planner videos for tips and tricks, but if someone just has hauls over hauls and complains that nothing works then I just can’t watch that channel.
Yaaassssss! I’ve been struggling to make my systems as streamlined and efficient as possible. Personal journal: I date each new day and might put a time notation to distinguish notes made ‘after therapy’ or ‘after coffee with y person.’ I’ve even started using a mechanical pencil b/c I can write more quickly. Sometimes I’ll use a color to make notes while on calls w friends b/c I can find it more easily later. Planner / calendar: plain & simple - bulleted lists, doodles or asterisks for emphasis. Life is for living!
Life is for living and there's never enough time. Life is fleeting.
This video was not rambling at all - it was clear and focused, at least that's how I experienced it. I agree with everything you say. I'm in the same age bracket as you (50s), and I have always loved stationery. One of the first things I remember wanting to learn as a child was how to write. At first that was literal. I filled page after page of the scrap paper my dad used to bring home from work, with pen marks I made by mimicking the motions and sounds that my parents and older siblings would make while writing with a pen or pencil. I didn't care what the paper looked like, nor whether I used a crayon, pencil, or (rarely allowed!) pen. I wanted to know how to write real language: the alphabet, numbers, words, letters to other people, and stories. But recently I have been sucked down the exact rabbit hole you're talking about: acquiring and having too much stuff in general, and stationery in particular. I never got into the trendy way of using notebooks, but I DID want to have fountain pens, nice paper, Hobonichi planners, Traveler's Company notebooks, etc. Recently I've begun to understand this as a shift away from seeing pens and paper as tools, as media for communicating with, and creating stories for, myself or other people. The other side of that shift is toward seeing pens and paper as aesthetic objects, things to collect, or even ends in themselves. Recently I have also been feeling very frustrated by the impulse to buy more, and by how much space all of this stuff takes up - physical and mental space. And as you said...life is too short and too damned expensive for me to waste time and money and storage space on stationery items that are not also tools that only need to be replaced as I use them up. But now I'm stuck with a small stash of empty notebooks sitting on a shelf. It's OK, I'll use them, but I don't need to have more than one spare notebook on hand, right? And I could probably use that shelf for something else.
My office is currently a nightmare. I'd have a garage sale, if I thought I could get rid of it. But it's all very niche stuff.
well said. it's the commodification of anything that leads to its downfall; it strays so far from the original intent, that the plot gets completely lost. I believe this is true of literally every hobby or "online community."
for example, you mentioned bullet journalling. Internet content creators completely co-opted the term "bullet journal" from Ryder Carroll, so now it is synonymous for crazy time-consuming artsy DIY planner in a dot-grid journal covered in washi tape and stickers and brush pens and paintings when exactly NONE of that is part of the ACTUAL bullet journal system that Ryder Carroll created. It's WILD. Content and stationery creators try to convince people they need to watch all their content and buy all their stuff in order to 'bujo,' when ALL of what they're selling, arguably, TAKES AWAY from the intent of bullet journalling in the first place, which is mindfulness and focusing on the stuff that really matters.
Ryder Carroll seems so Zen. I mean, I know he profits from the popularity of the bullet journaling concept, so that has to be tough. Money is money, and who would turn down opportunity to earn it. He's not intentionally hurting anyone. But I also think he wishes it had remained the more serious, useful tool that he invented.
Thank you for saying this! Planning as a leisure hobby/artistic/activity might be fun for some but as a whole it is sensationalizing the products that are used to achieve an aesthetic. I need planning to remember. I have a goldfish memory. I wouldn’t be productive without writing it down and organizing my thoughts. Do pretty pens and pretty stationary make the task more enjoyable? Yes. I just HATE that I feel this consumerist pull to have an item. It gives me pause to think it over and wonder if I’d ever even want such a thing unless I was influenced.
I’d social media just an open door to be advertised to? To be distracted? To absorb our valuable time and potential? Love the deep dive.
All of it. Consumerism, distracted, Our money and our attention is what they want. Providing creators with attention is a powerful drug. The likes and popularity is like middle school all over again.
Although I definitely am part of the problem, I resonate with this so much. I've always been a visual person who likes to surround herself with beautiful things, but not necessarily excess amounts of it. Last year, the amount of money I've spent on stationery was nauseating to me. I don't even enjoy the "shopping" aspect of things, like when people describe the excitement of the anticipation of the order etc., I don't really get that, unless it was a thing I've wanted on my own for a very long time, rather than a long streak of impulse purchases. Continuous shopping is a stress and a distraction. That said, I now have a very lovely collection of supplies that will last me a good while and I plan on slowing way down on my purchases from now on until...forever, because I feel like I've saturated the baseline of supplies I need (and beyond...). And within my system, I'm now going in the direction of simplification and effectivity, because as nice as I thought some layouts were, I found them just eating up my time and then going nowhere in terms of use, for which I don't have time or energy in my life.
What is particularly irritating to me, however, isn't so much time spent on planning & journalling as shown in the community (though some people truly take it to an extreme), but rather the phenomenon of "planner hopping". I mean... that to me is the epitome of 1st world problems and overconsumption and not knowing what to do with money. What I enjoy about my planner/journal system is that I've carefully considered my needs before making the purchase and it is flexible enough for me to experiment within those books with whatever aligns with my current needs. And therefore I actively use all of my notebooks. Abandoning 50 dollar planners after 1 month because you either didn't think it through or it isn't perfect due to 1 small imperfection that doesn't reflect your perfect needs is mind boggling to me, because true creativity lies in the ability to work around it for the time being and after staying in the system for a substantial amount of time to truly grasp your needs, redirecting yourself on your next year's purchase with those take aways in mind. But no, I've seen videos, where one person tried over 15 planners in a year, not being happy with a single one of them. At that point, I don't think planners are the issue...
As an artist, it’s like a second nature for me to make the things I’m working on look better. But there’s a huge difference between putting stickers all over the places and making some hand drawn, casual lines to section the pages for them to be just a little bit more organized and visually pleasing. I will sometimes also visualize the events of a day because I find it clearer than a block of words.
I can’t work in an overly decorated page. I’ll get distracted. My brainstorming book and the planners are pen-based. There are other notebooks and journals that I use for collage, sketches and creative journaling. Those are like therapy and a real hobby. My brain doesn’t treat them the same way. One is for work and to be functional and productive in life; the other is for fun. They’re not mutual exclusive.
I don’t think it’s a sin to have a hobby and enjoy the beautiful things in life. I tend to do more creative journaling when I have more time at hand for whatever reason. My parents have always been busy “saving the world” and family had never been their top priority. So forgive me if I’m a little biased against this “someone’s suffering in the world still so I shouldn’t be enjoying my own life” mindset. I grew up believing it and missed out on an entire childhood in a no-fun-allowed household. I’m not going to sit in worries and anxiety about things I’m in no power to change and let them ruin my life. I’ll do what I can when I can. But I’m not going to deprive myself in the process.
Yes, this is the central crux! Because we as a society have become so fragmented many of us use social media in an effort to find community & kindred spirits but social media will always commodify any & everything it can 😑 I've also noticed how social media spaces (particularly IG & YT) have shifted from more organic sharing that actually imparted knowledge & creative ideas about different planning styles morph into fluffy highly aesthetic product endorsements. Folks who talk about the actual planning/goal setting/writing have become outliers in the land of "show & tell" hauls/unboxings & before the pen videos where people turn their planner into an adult sticker book or the bullet journal equivalent , a perfectly hand drawn masterpiece art project. There are a few planner centric creators I still watch but if I'm thinking over something I usually just search the topic and type in 2014-2016 as that window usually has more meaty content vs fluff. However, I've also gained a lot from the planner community! I met my planner bestie in a FB group for my local community ( I live overseas) and she has absolutely enriched my life. I've learned a lot about the local culture (generally & planner/stationery centric) thanks to her & got to experience many things I never would have without her those experiences helped me gain confidence to seek out more on my own without her when she moved. I currently live a pretty boring life I'm a sahm and most of my to do lists & notes are highly repetitive a lot of the old school planners & their related content (eg Franklin Covey Method, GTD, Day Runner) are focused on corporate/professional life and while I can translate a few concepts to my life honestly I'm not setting many life goals right now...I'm just trying to navigate my kiddo's high school years & the remaining time til my husbands retirement to civilian life.🙃I use the TRC inserts because I can balance boring pen to paper to do lists and appointments in the weekly vertical and use the monthly for a reading log & the weekly with memo as a mini scrapbook where I archive ephemera (some of it is pretty from attractions or events but most of it is random stickers/labels & packaging things people normally don't save that I find novel or helps tell the story of that moment in time) from the day to day. I use stamps & zebra click art pens to document highlights from each day its a way for me to achieve creative flow without much fuss as I'm not producing the doodles or drawings unless I don't have a stamp I can use or modify to. The key is balance, life got busy leading up to summer so while I'm still using the vertical to do list insert to stay on track I can't remember the last time I sat down and played with my stamps to do the creative documenting but its whatever, I can return it when time allows because I've got my pen & paper insert & notes on my phone for reference. I didn't touch on the consumeristic aspect because this is becoming a novel but I love it when you bring up this topic because it makes me question habits and mindsets.
Hi Leslie!!!!!
I'm sending you a few goodies. I have it all packaged up and ready to go. I just have to take it to the post office.
I love that this topic generates thoughtful discussion. The community aspect is wonderful, but social media platform care little about that these days. Perhaps they never did, but that's how they sucked us in.
Thank you to the algorithm for bringing me here, because what you've said resonates so much with what I've been witnessing lately. I tried to get into planning as some kind of hobby when I was younger (I think around the time Kikki K planners were all the rage) and failed miserably because the financial barrier to all those aesthetically pleasing planner spreads was just so high. It was all just so overcomplicated too, and more importantly the goal never seemed to be to make me actually more organised. These days I use a planner and a notebook in my working life to write down what needs to be done, scribbled down using a nice fountain pen and ink I enjoy, but that's all.
It's frustrating seeing videos put out by men and women and seeing how different the purported goals are. Where are the female journal and planner youtubers who talk about how writing can help your mental health, or think more philosophically, or help you to learn more? Why don't I get recommended more intellectually driven women who use planners and journals? I want more content about how I can nourish my mind, not just how to collect trinkets and make things look pretty - and I say this as someone who does enjoy owning beautiful objects. But I hate consumerism, and I hate that it always gets pushed on women, and then we're denigrated for being frivolous and silly creatures.
I've always been a diary/journal-keeper to some extent since I was a child, but the people who inspired me later on weren't women who had the prettiest, artiest journals. They were Anaïs Nin, and Virginia Woolf, for whom the most important thing were the words being put down on the page.
I don't think intellectually driven women talk about notebooks and planners. I keep trying to find them too, but I think they are simply tools and not a topic of conversation. At least not to the extent that one could devote an entire social media account to. There's just not that much to say. They are writing about and sharing information about the topics of their work, not the tools they use. Right?
Joan Didion's essay, "On Keeping a Notebook" is delightful and talks about the compulsion to keep a notebook. There are not many pieces like it, that I've found. And even though it is great, how many similar texts do we need?
Our work, our intellectual endeavors are not the tools we use to take notes.
It’s a fair point to make- that the practice of journaling has more to do with escapism now than with introspection and exploration of one’s identity and interaction with the world, as well as the state of one’s present reality. Both qualities are needed, I think, but they must be in balance. I’m only halfway through the video, so I might edit this comment if I have more to say!
Edit- I deeply feel the need to incorporate colour in my journaling. I’ve felt this way ever since I started getting into painting as an adult, and now I cannot live my life without colour. So my journal is the love child of a traditional journal and a sketchbook, and I’ve found that being an artist means I get to put in doodles, sketches of my cats, my books, my morning coffee, all with just a couple of pens or crayons and colour pencils. I don’t feel the need for washi tapes and stickers, and other ephemera, partly because I can now self-fulfill the need for colour, plus I feel that ephemera can distance you from the paper, like there’s now a barrier between your self and the journal (am I making sense at all? 😅), and I find that immensely distracting. I find the act of planning immensely distracting too. Planning a spread? I can’t do it, it feels stressful and I’d just start avoiding my journal. Planning a day? Unless it’s a busy one, I can’t do that either- I’ve always failed at routines and schedules. But I could plan a week, in the vaguest sense possible. That gives me a lot of leeway with a bit of structure. Perfect for my brain. I’ve reached the conclusion that while I do like seeing other people’s beautiful journals, I am capable of admiring that beauty without coveting it because I know that system wouldn’t work for me. Everyone’s system is different and one needs to spend time with just oneself and one’s journal to figure that out. I think that would bring down the over consumption portion as well. I loved your video, even though you were pissed in the making of it lol. Please make more. 🖤
I think you're right about doing what works for oneself, as an individual. People buying what other people have and trying to make other people's system work for them is a recipe for disaster and waste, IMO.
Thank you also for taking the time to circle back and share the remainder of your thoughts.
I got all into planning in 2022.I was starting to grow on my social. I was buying all the planner things. And feb. of this year I stopped it all , it became tooo much and had me feeling like I needed to keep up with others. Currently I’m still off social media except TH-cam, but I’m not posting I’m not shopping for the newest stickers etc. I just started using my planner again last week. I feel so much better doing so with out the social media. Anyway, I agree with you
I think it is very smart to step away from social media.It is toxic on so many levels that people don't realize.
You have taken the words from my mouth!! I totally agree. Planning as a hobby is an enigma to me, I just don't understand it. I have a planner, but it's functional and wouldn't look good on Instagram. AIso, I don't keep old planners, I recycle them when I'm done.
I do understand the appeal, but it takes so much effort and money to recreate something like what I see on social media. Plus, I quickly get bored with copying things. For me, creativity is better found by drawing and painting, not putting stickers on a page in a planner. Making a clone of someone else's planner , to me, isn't creativity.
I realise that this is an unpopular opinion. You make a very good point in how it is mostly women who are corralled into this. I didn't used to think of "planning-as-a-hobby" is harmful , but now I'm not so sure. There are better ways to be creative. Cheaper ways. More intellectual ways.
There, I'm done.
You sound like me. There, I'm done. It needs to be said. We need our energy and our great minds and our attention or important things. The state of the world is SHITE right now. Women can be smart and powerful.
Yes!!!!! ❤@@TrinaOGorman
A lot of things you expressed, I agree with, regarding the fact that things are getting dire in the world. I also think that the overconsumption of planner items is a symptom of a larger issue of overconsumption overall due to convenience. I'm seeing the same conversations in the fashion/personal styling spaces, the decluttering/sustainability space, the home organization and decorating space, etc. Anything online that was once meant to be a form of personal expression is now a space where people will try to sell you things because that is what social media, and because community, personal connection, and identity is now based on what we consume.
Artsy planners aren't the issue... it's capitalism.
Capitalism is definitely clashing with creativity. The most creative people I know use simple tools and use them well.
I totally get you with the superficiality that’s been added to the community. I think it’s more of a condition of being a content creator in the community rather than a regular participant who doesn’t share their spreads or collections. Most of the time I see women write “Laundry day” or whatever simple task (like you noted), and my primary reaction is “I don’t got time for (writing) that.” Like in the time that it took to write and plan out doing errands, I could have done or started those errands. I think the conflict in all of this is that journaling is something so personal, sometimes even to the point where you don’t even want to share those thoughts to the public. So content creators (primarily female content creators) are kind of forced to focus on the aesthetics rather than the content of their writing. Or they’re compelled to share their massive collections rather than what is actually written in their pages in private. I don’t think this video is offensive, I think it touches on an important topic. In the fountain pen community, so many people are talking about “burnout” because the hobby has just turned into another marketing to consumer circlejerk. People are exhausted with having to be fake, superficial, and materialistic.
Sorry for the long comment. But just to add, there’s a beauty in just writing whatever the h*ll you want to, no matter how ugly it looks or sounds. Me as a viewer, I can watch videos from these more materialistic creators, but I can recognize that it’s a representation of them but it shouldn’t necessarily be a representation of what my journal or collection should look like.
Thank you for this very thoughtful response. I kind of CHECKED OUT of TH-cam in July. I find social media to be exhausting on the best of days. But I appreciate your insight!
I look forward to seeing notifications when you upload a new video! I relate so much to your content and your way of thinking.
I giggled as you were dumping washi tape, ink pens, and stickers on your desk, and as you stacked your notebooks. I giggled because I, too, have a rather large stash of ink pens and journals/notebooks, and had an inkling as to where this video might be going. 😉
Like you, I write to process my thoughts. I have a hard time (sometimes) putting things into words verbally, and writing helps. It's also very therapeutic and cathartic. It's not a hobby for me. It's an outlet.
Planning is also not a hobby. At least it isn't for me. It's a tool or method for keeping everything straight. When my children were growing up, they were very active in sports and extracurricular activities at school, plus band and orchestra, and then you throw in the occasional doctor and dentist appointments, parent/teacher conferences, open houses, field trips, etc and it's a lot to keep track of. I lived and died by my planner. It went everywhere with me. My time was and is precious.
I do like having pretty notebooks, but the pages in between the pretty covers are just for me to use for writing and/or keeping track of everything I have going on from one day to the next. Like you, if i write something down on a stray piece of paper or sticky note, that will be lost to me forever, and I'll most likely forget whatever it was that I wrote down. I take notes in a notebook for that reason. Even at work. I have a notebook that is just for work related things, tasks, etc, and it stays on my desk at work.
Any stickers I have sit in a plastic container, on a shelf, all but forgotten. They serve no purpose outside of beautifying a page. They do not help me plan better or get my tasks done or achieve my goals. I may try to use them up for the sake of using them, or I may donate them. I hate being wasteful, so I hang on to them...
I digress, though... I totally get where you're coming from!
I think what I love the most about this video is that it prompted so many thoughtful and insightful comments like yours. Rarely do I come across really thoughtful comments on social media, and here we are. Thank you for sharing your thoughts here.
@@TrinaOGorman absolutely! It's refreshing to be able to engage in conversations with others whose thinking is in line with my own. Not that I need to live my life in an echo chamber, because I value opinions that may differ from my own, as it challenges me to consider things that maybe I hadn't before. It's just nice to know that I'm not alone in feeling that we've kind of lost our way as a society, when it comes to creative writing, expressive writing, and what journaling actually is. I love that your videos are saying exactly what I've been wanting to say about this topic all this time. I'm glad there is someone - you - with a platform from which do it.
My view on what some call journaling these days is that it is more akin to scrapbooking, which I do find fun. I just wish they'd call it what it is. I'm making scrapbooks for each of my children, as I want them to have them as memory books with photos of all the wonderful experiences we've had over the years, but they aren't journals.
I'm a GenX'er so I grew up without all of the technology we have today, and watched that technology be birthed, and become what it is now. I remember a time when we had a rotary phone that was attached to the kitchen wall, I remember a time without answering machines, caller ID, call waiting, etc. I even remember not having a microwave, and that was the norm. I miss those days. We wrote letters to friends and family who lived halfway across the country, and they wrote back, sometimes on plain old looseleaf notebook paper and sometimes on pretty stationery.
When did we lose sight?
I’ve always used whatever notebook I can find lying around and prefer just a normal pencil. I’ve tried to be fancier but can’t!
I’ve been facing some emotional upheaval recently and fell down the rabbit hole of stationary overconsumption as a coping mechanism. I know it. I understand how unproductive it is. But as you pointed to in one of your comments, the addictive nature of that momentary dopamine is strong. So very strong. But the crash after it’s over does little to assuage the root cause. It’s a temporary bandaid on a gaping wound you don’t want to acknowledge is there. Watching so many of these content creators does little to help. It feeds that impulse desire for the new and pretty things. Even watching one I thought was not too materialistic at first, it still turned into basically product reviews. And, oh to be helpful, we’ll be sure to share those product links below. Social media and the associated influencers are, at the most basic level, a machine meant to sell goods. And even if we don’t buy the goods advertised, we bought the access to their sales pitch with our personal information on these ‘free’ platforms.
Im not down with all the stickers and washi and fancy pens, i got my notebook, my cover (which is way too expensive, ill admit that, its my one splurge) and my fineliners and highlighters and thats all i need. Im sorry for those who love all the pretties, i got over all that stuff real quick, im almost 40, i cant with the frillies and stickers, and its super distracting when i have stuff written down i need to remember and there's a ton of random decoration all over the page, its unhelpful and unproductive and i started planning to BE more productive! That said, a lot of the stickers and frillies are from female owned small buisnesses so im not gunna say others shouldnt buy them and use them if they enjoy them, do what makes you happy. But also, dont feel like you need to make your planner look like someone elses, do what genuinely works for and helps YOU. That is all from me.
I think what you said in conclusion, really is the bottom line. We have to do what genuinely works for and helps each of us. I've look at so many people's systems and no two people have the same exact process, and that's actually really cool.
Overconsumption is such a huge issue in literally every facet of our lives these days. If capitalism can take advantage of something, it will. And soooo many people fall for it (including myself sometimes!!)
I get sucked in too! I have a LV planner. It’s 20 years old and in great shape.
I do get what you are saying and realize at least for me that all things aren't needed.
Bravo, Trina, bravo.
OMG YES! This is my first video I have watched from your channel and I love it. I have definitely fallen victim to the consumerism trap many of times. I was having a similar conversation the other day because this trap is everywhere and for everyone! For example, I was specifically talking about pride month (I love the LGBTQ+ community and I am apart of it, I am not hating on it specifically but the consumerism surrounding it) but the conversation has soured in my mind because of how it is treated. Now pride month is about getting a new version of everything you own already but with a rainbow on it to show support. Unless the money is going to an organization, and even then why not just donate the money, it just seems like a scummy way to play on people's feelings, get more money, and keep our eyes off of the real issue which is awareness and acceptance!
We have consumerism around voting, breast cancer, racial issues, and yes, yes, yes, the LGBTQ+ community. There are tons of LGBTQ+ stuff via Amazon. Cheaply made products with rainbows on them, and who's benefiting and profiting? No one even knows.
You are spot on.
Could use this wake up call myself. I do think art journaling is a beautiful healing hobby onto itself, but the pressure and distraction, and even waste, that women are sometimes cajoled into-it’s weird. Like, even our planning is being “feminized” to the point where it might not be serving us anymore. The function of it is what strengthens us more than the decorative aspects.
I find that this pressure to "prettify" things has been around forever, and has a lot to do with gatekeeping and belonging. I don't understand it, but for many people it undermines the benefits that come from these practices.
Art journaling can be cool. I talk to a lot of people who have developed unique, personal practices.
They look pretty but it’s not for me.