WHat is Notebooking?

Notebooking is showing up to the pages of your notebook. It's grabbing a pen, a pencil, a marker—even a crayon—and using it to tell your story.

Can it be journaling? Yes.

Can it be junk journaling? Yes.

Can it be planning? Yes.

Can it include doodling? Yes.

However you show up to the page, that's notebooking.

There is no one right way to notebook.

Journaling is one way to notebook. Journaling often uses writing to explore thoughts, feelings, experiences, and our inner lives. All of that can happen in notebooking—but it's not the only thing.

In notebooking, the notebooker might write about something deeply personal, but they might just as easily jot down a list, paste in a photograph, doodle on the page, make a plan, collect a quote, or write down something they don't want to forget.

Notebooking is inclusive of all kinds of showing up to the page. Journaling is one of them. Your notebook can be part journal, part commonplace book, part scrapbook, part sketchbook, part planner, part collection—and completely yours.

The simplest answer is everything. YOU are the boss of your notebook.

Feelings.
Doodles.

Lists.

Plans.

Ephemera like stickers and photos.

Poems & song lyrics.

Big feelings & tiny moments. 

Everything goes into the pages of my notebook. And anything can go into yours.

You may record what's been going on in your life, or you might use the pages to rehearse a tough conversation. You might reflect on the past week, month, or year. You can be messy and scribble all over the page or meticulously craft a page of beauty. You may write everything with a blue pen or fill the page with many colors. Some days you may fill a page, and other days you may add only a line.

It all counts: the messy, the beautiful, the quick jot, the long entry. It's all notebooking.

NO.

Notebook when you can. This isn't about streaks or forcing yourself into a daily habit.

AND...I do show up most days.

I've found a rhythm that works for me. As you're beginning, think about where notebooking might fit naturally into your life. Maybe it's with your morning coffee. Maybe it's once a week. Maybe you reach for your notebook whenever you have something you want to untangle, notice, or remember.

Be intentional about making space for notebooking, but don't let it become another thing you're supposed to do.

Find what works for you.

Notebooking That Matters is the community and practice I've created around noticing our lives, following curiosity, exploring creativity, and putting what matters to us onto the page.

We notebook together during our Notebooking Circles. We gather in person to notebook. We share ideas and inspiration. We ask questions and support one another. We share favorite tools and supplies, too.

We believe in showing up to the page. We believe that you are the boss of your own notebook. And we believe in the power of this practice.