Hello!
I know I've been gone for a while, but I have a good reason (or at least it sounds like a good reason to me when I say it in my head). Basically, I just wanted to take the summer off to recharge. Adjust to being back in the US and prepare to go back to college (which I did last week). Some may call my hiatus lazy, but I felt it necessary to take in order to come back now stronger than ever. Also, I did a lot of binge reading over the summer to have good material to come here and write about. In doing that, I noticed that its a little challenging (at least for me) to binge read and give quality reviews because I have so many books and plots and arcs and characters floating in my head that I could sometimes mix up the details of my reviews. So rather than mistakenly insert Character A into Book Z, I decided to take some time off to read and sort everyone out and then come here with reviews abundantly and accurate.
But while I was taking time to binge read other peoples books, I was also working on a book of my own. Sort of.
*drumroll* I finally made my own bullet journal!
What is a bullet journal? The great part about that answer is that it, in some ways, does not exist. A bullet journal and its content are completely up to its creator to decide, but the main point is that its meant to keep one organized. To create mine, I had to watch many a YouTube tutorial and pop in on Pinterest a couple times (usually in the middle of the night), but there's so much inspiration and creative ideas out there that it could get a little overwhelming. So I tried to keep mine simple and only add what I needed to keep me on track. To someone else, my bullet journal could be completely unhelpful according to what s/he needs. But for me, my book is just right (and still in progress).
At first I had to use a practice journal to try out the writing and design styles I wanted for my journal. I found it easier to mess up in the practice journal and flip to a new page rather than mess up in my actual journal and be out of luck. Once I got the basic designs ready, I was good to go on making my book.
These are just a few snippets of the pages I made using markers, colored pencils, stickers, stencils, and a lot of patience. While my book isn't completely done (and never has to be - a bullet journal can always be added to) it has already helped me in tracking dates like meetings and appointments and giving me an encouraging quote or two when needed. While I admit that a bullet journal (and the time it takes to make) may not be suited for everyone, I do think everyone can benefit from having one (that may sound contradictory, but please bear with me). It doesn't have to be as complex as mine, but just a little something to help keep your life in order (and in my case, my blogs up to date).
That being said, with the help of my bullet journal, I will finally *hopefully* be back to regular book blogging in the coming weeks.
Until then, happy bullet journaling!