{what I've learned about journaling with a friend}

 

It's taken me a week to post these photos, but better late than never! 

There's something magical about journaling with someone else. There are a few things you need to be comfortable with if you're itching to do this. Here's my little list:

1. Be comfortable with creative silence. (What happens when we get into the flow? We don't talk, we focus. You may spend hours sitting at the same person and speak three words. You need to be comfortable with this, with being social without speaking. I love that I can be around my art friends and get into what I'm working on without worrying about making them uncomfortable, and vise versa.)

2. Be excited about trying new things. (Becca pulled out a baggie of feathers, and I now have a pink one taped in my journal. I love seeing what she's up to, and we share supplies, paint, papers, bits we've made, etc. In fact, we usually are excited about something and bring enough to share with each other!)

3. Be comfortable with your own work. (I never feel pressured to make something awesome. I just have fun, and bounce around. Sometimes, I'm painting the entire time, sometimes I'm simply sketching.)

4. Know what you love. (It's easier to go journaling with someone when you know what you love and can condense it into a container easy to carry around. You really learn what you "need" in order to journal and what you can use when you're at home.)

Becca and I journal in public every week, in a popular cafe. We've had people stop and chat with us, ask us about our art, page through our journals. The employees know us because we're the ones that spread out and clutter the table with paint and markers and bits and papers. We're always respectful of the space we're in, and endeavor to leave it as we found it. There's something about being out in public, in watching people come and go, in mugs of tea and the best damn pastries I've ever found. I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

(I am so in love with Thickers, particularly painting them a color to match the page I'm working on. Thankfully, the font I like, in white, is only $2 at Big Lots. I really should grab myself a new package before tomorrow morning's journal time...)