We’ve talked before about how becoming a postconsumer and finding the satisfaction of enough is a process, and we’ve also talked about how we believe that journaling is an important part of any process. Starting a satisfaction journal is an important step in learning about the things that make you feel satisfied. It’s also a great tool for working through the changes in you mentally and emotionally as you work on reducing your dependence on stuff. Here are some tips on getting your satisfaction journal started!
Pick a Journal That You Like: Writing in your journal every day should be enjoyable to you, and as silly as this sounds, part of that means liking how your journal looks. Journaling is an important part of your day. It should be part of your “you” time. Don’t just grab the first notebook that you see in the drug store. Take some time to look around until you find a journal with a cover that visually moves you. Better yet, use a normal notebook and then decorate the cover so that it’s customized to you. What’s important is that, when you pick up your journal every day, it visually sparks you to happiness.
Write Every Day: You may only write one sentence every day, but that’s enough. It’s the process of taking the time to think about you, consumerism and satisfaction that’s important. Writing it down just makes it real to you. You might only write one sentence, and that sentence may simply be something that made you feel satisfied that day. That’s enough! As long as you’re recording things, you’re meeting your goal and you’ll find the path to postconsumerism easier.
Consider Other Creative Journaling Types: It’s possible that writing in a journal isn’t the best solution for you. Consider other creative ways to accomplish the same goal. These include a journal where you draw a picture every day, or index cards that you draw on and file, or even a canvass that you write on each day. If you’re an audio person, consider a voice recording each day, or a video log. However you do it, documenting your journey is going to help you get to your destination.
Stay Away From the Computer! We’d recommend trying to stay away from forms of journals that get you on a computer, particularly a blog (even though we’re glad you’re reading this one). Part of postconsumerism is reminding ourselves that there’s beauty in the world away from the technology that we use so much. That’s not to say that we think that technology is bad, but we need to actively work to reduce how much we use it!
A journal is a key element of any change you make in your life. We hope you’ll use these tips for journaling for any type of self-improvement that you’re trying to make!
