I have a bullet journal. For some reason, that phrase has always kind of scared me when it’s coming from my own mouth? When I told my family and friends about the new artistic endeavor I had begun, a good majority of them had no idea what a bullet journal was. Zero clues. I think I grew more and more awkward talking about it each time I had to explain, “Oh, so it’s kind of like an art journal or planner that you get to create yourself, it’s really fun!”  

But I think the main reason talking about my bullet journal is so intimidating is because it’s become something that is so wonderfully personal. So here I am, telling the world about my experience with bullet journaling. Is it still intimidating? Absolutely. But most journeys often are, so hello, I’m Ashley, and here is #MyJournalStory.

One night in early 2019, I was out for dinner with a couple friends when we started talking about bullet journaling. At the time, I wasn’t too familiar with the concept, but the next time we met, we went to the craft store, got journals and some super cheap markers, and went with it.

It would definitely be a lie to say I instantly fell in love with bullet journaling and it was a breeze from there. I thought it was super fun starting off, but actually staying consistent with it and using it for productivity was a whole different story. It was definitely rough because I would spend so much time making a cover or spread that I would end up not using for its intended purpose.

Nevertheless, I still was proud of the spreads I was creating and I thought making an Instagram account for my journal and art might be fun! My account was born in May 2019 and I had no idea at the time that it would eventually become a huge part of my life.

My biggest bullet journal inspiration starting off was an account called tinysilverlinings, now @mondaymorningdesign on Instagram. Funny story? I somehow didn’t know who Amanda Rach Lee was at all, for months, LOL. I never looked into bullet journaling on YouTube for some reason so whenever people mentioned her I was like?? Who? But another reason I didn’t hear about her was that I was never really immersed into the bullet journal community until almost a year after I started my account. I didn’t even know it was a big community! Geez, my own unawareness is so amusing, haha.

I was oblivious to how much the community had to hold and just kept sharing my spreads every time I made them (which was not often, oops). Bullet journaling was definitely an on and off process, and still is more than I’d like to admit. Creativity fluctuates. Art block hits. You stop journaling for a few days and sometimes that turns into weeks or even months. Life happens and it’s more than okay to take a step back.

It definitely took awhile for me to realize and accept that. In fact, it probably wasn’t until pretty recently. In March 2020, I reached 100 followers! I remember being so ecstatic because the thought of a hundred people caring about what I had to put out there felt so surreal. From then, my account started to grow more. I became more immersed in the bullet journal community and made some really amazing friends! Meeting new people inspired me to create more in my journal and pretty soon, a lot of my spare time was spent drawing, coloring, and erasing (a whole lot of erasing). Of course, being in quarantine played a huge role in this since the walls of my home were the only end in sight, quite literally. Bullet journaling helped to brighten my life a little bit and I pretty much became hooked.

But as I said earlier, it wasn’t until recently that I came to terms with not being at my best with journaling all the time. Since my follower count was growing, I felt more pressure to post and sometimes bullet journaling started to stress me out instead of serving as a creative outlet. In the past few months, I’ve had to spend more time figuring out what worked best for me in terms of productivity instead of hastily putting together a spread for a pretty Instagram post. 

Although I went through many rough patches, I’ve grown to love bullet journaling so so much. I can happily say I’ve made some of my closest friends through this account and I’ve loved all the laughs we’ve shared and the support I’ve received! I’m still figuring out what the heck I’m doing, but I guess that’s the fun part! Bullet journaling has definitely shaped me into a better person and it’s crazy to think that there was ever a time I lived without it.

A piece of advice I want to give is to figure out what works for you personally. Bullet journal for yourself, not for your followers or for likes. It isn’t easy, as you can tell through my roller coaster of a journey. But experiment! Try new things and be spontaneous! Not everything has to be pretty as long as it reflects you

Sorry for all the cheesiness, haha!

If you read this far, thank you and I love you! I hope something I said resonates and feel free to reach out to me anytime. :)

- Ashley, @toastyjournals