Transcripts
1. Introduction: We're living in a
fast-paced world with a lot going on at all times. And it's easy to become
distracted and to land on autopilot to be a bystander in your own life, as it unfolds. That someone has
a slight fear of not remembering the
details of life. Forgetting how moments and people and places made me feel. Memoir journaling is
my way of making sure that certain snippets of my
life are well-documented. But it's about more
than just writing down a memory for the
sake of remembering it. It's about getting
creative and using your imagination to practice
the art of storytelling, which I believe is one of the most valuable skills that had one can have
because we use it all the time and work in
our relationships anytime we're having any sort of
interaction with anyone, really. Hello, I'm lawn obliquely, I'm a YouTuber and podcaster, and I also write the
Monday row newsletter and a few other things, pretty much everything that I do have one thing in common and that is storytelling
in my YouTube videos, for example, are basically my journal entries
brought to life. And so basically everything
that I've built online, my brand and my community
started with me wanting to share what I was already
writing in my journal. My first journal
or diary rather, dates back to 2003. So 19 years ago, writing has always been my way of making sense of my thoughts and my feelings and actions
and ultimately of the world.
2. Class Overview: So what is memoir journaling? My marginally is when
you take a moment from your life and he writes
a story about it, that could be a mundane
moment or a significant one. In this class we will be talking about the journaling philosophy, some of the history of journaling, why
storytelling matters. And most importantly, we will break down memoir journaling. I will give you all the tools that you need to get started so that you can start your
journaling practice today, journaling is by far the most impactful habit
that I've acquired. And I want more people
to experience that. Once you dedicate
yourself to the practice, you will start to take note of the little things
in life that you might have otherwise overlooked. So emotions and
details and practicing the art of noticing
and putting it into texts makes life richer. And we'll be talking more
about that later in the class, but perhaps more than anything. Creating and having
an archive of my memories is a
way for me to say that my life and the things that I experience are
worth writing about, that my story, story worthy. And perhaps one day I can pass them on and they
will continue to live. And to me that is a very beautiful thing.
For the class assignment. We will be writing a
five journal entries over the course of five days. And each day we'll have a theme and I will tell
you more about that later. And I really hope
that you decide that you want to join in
on all five days. And if you do feel
comfortable doing so, to share at least one of your entries with the
rest of the class.
3. The Journaling Philosophy: Journaling is hardly
an unknown practice. Names like Leonardo da Vinci, who allegedly started
journaling at the age of 26 and proceeded to write an average of three pages a day until
he was 67 in 1519, he would run thought
experiments and write about observations and questions
and explanations. Frida Kahlo is another
example of someone who kept a journal and who did
not only write on it, but also drew in it. And that was a way for her to establish a relationship
with herself, to connect with
her own feelings, to express worries and pains, and to convey your ideas
on her artistic practice. Marie Curie, Charles Darwin. There are a lot of names of people that come to mind
when it comes to journaling. And what's so
interesting is that each of these people had their own unique style
and purpose for doing it. And I myself to have tried a variety of different
styles of journaling. I like the good old
dear diary entries where I simply live. My thoughts just flow freely by just writing down anything that comes to mind
at that very moment. And there was no
structure and I always feel so light after doing that. I also enjoy gratitude. Journaling and research
has shown that creating a regular gratitude practice can help improve your
overall well-being. And I always feel so much
better just after writing down a few things that
I'm grateful for. And there's always something
to be found if you are a visual and a creative cue, am I prefer doodling
and drawing as a way to express your thoughts rather
than writing them down. I'm not much a drawer. I mean, I enjoy it. I'm just not very
good at it myself. But ITU, sometimes
enjoy doodling because a simple drawing can often speak
louder than words. The point is that when
it comes to journaling and really any form
of self-expression, it's important to make it yours. That is what art is. And you're about to
create some art.
4. Why Storytelling Matters: There is no greater agony
than bearing an untold story inside you wrote my
Angelo hemocyanin telling stories and forever in all cultures and some of the
earliest evidence of stories date back to 30
thousand years ago in the form of cave drawings, stop trade, animals,
humans, and other objects. So why do these stories matter? Much of our lives are
devoted to telling stories about what we did
and where we went, and who we spend time with. When you get home from
work and you tell your spouse or your
roommate about your day when you're at a job
interview and get asked about past experiences and when
you're out meeting new people, even when someone
asks you how you cooked a meal, everything
is storytelling. It's how we communicate
with the world and even with ourselves. And the way in which we tell a story or a story
is told to us, plays an important role in how what's being
said is perceived. It influences
things like whether or not what someone
said is going to be remembered bias and how engaged we are with
their message as well as the connection and even the empathy that we feel towards them through stories, we find order, we
find explanations and things that hadn't previously made sense may start to do so. Now asked for this class whether you have
been journaling for half your life or if you are a completely new
to the practice, it doesn't matter
in the slightest. This is your novel and you can make it into exactly
what you want to. I'm only here to guide you. Stories are everywhere. Let's put some in your notebook.
5. The Class Project: For the assignment
for five days, you will be picking moments
from a day in your life. So one moment for each day, whether that's today
or a day in the past. And then you're going to
turn that into a story. And for each moment
that you pick, you'll be focusing on
one of five senses. So for day one, that will be site for they
to sound, smell, taste. And finally, you can make
each story as short or lengthy as you would like with as much or as little
detail as you prefer. I really mean that
some of my entries are no longer than
five sentences, while others are well
over a page long. Neither is better than the
other, it's just different. Now the reason I want us
to write within the theme of our census is that not
only is it really fun, but you're going to
start to remember and recall information on things that you might have not
thought of recently. So it's also a bit of a
challenge and I think that's good to get you started. Now, let's meet the blank page.
6. Meeting the Blank Page: If you are new to
journaling, meeting, the blank page can be
quite intimidating. It's kinda like a blind
date where you have no idea what to talk about
or where to even start. Now, if that is you think of the blank page as a
good friend of yours. It's on your team. There was no judgment. So before you do anything, I think you should
just shake it off and have the nerves that
you might be feeling. Just leave your body. Know that you are
in a safe space. We're all friends here. Now that we're all comfortable, I like to think of
writing, like cooking. So first there is
the preparation, then there's the actual
making of the dish. And in journaling, I simply
call that prepared to right. And right.
7. Prepare to Write: So first things first, you
need to pick a medium. So start considering what
tools you want to use. So you really have two options. One is using a physical
notebook and a pen, and the other is writing
judicially so on your computer or any other device through the years I have obviously
been using both. I still use both for different purposes and depending on what I have available. But my opinion here are some
pros and cons with both. So starting with analog crows, It's more satisfying when
you're writing by hand, even when you are reading. Because I think the
physical handwriting also is part of the story. It might tell you what mood
you were in when you are writing or something about
how you were feeling. And I like that. It also
feels more personal and real. When I write by hand, I never erase anything, I scratch it, or
I just let it be. And that also means
that there is room to mess up and there
was no editing, which I think makes it
more authentic in away. And it also means
that I need to think more before I write. And then finally, I
just loved the idea of collecting
physical notebooks. It's a nice thing to have. Now some cons are that
it can be inconvenient, carrying around your journal
everywhere with you because sometimes you just get in the mood to write
something down. So convenience is
definitely the main column. Another thing is you may have roommates or family
that may be a bit too nosy and may want to take your journal
so can you keep it safe? Only you can answer that. Then the final column
that I can think of is that for longer entries, your hand is going
to start hurting. Now the pros of writing
digitally, mainly, I think instead it's just
available everywhere, across all of your
devices at all times. So whether you are
waiting for the bus, if you're on a picnic on the
train, or if you're at home, it's just very easy to grab
your phone or your computer, open up an app or whatever
you're writing and do it. You don't really have to
wait till we get back home and have access to
your physical notebook. And also for longer entries, it's a lot easier. Your hand is not
gonna get as tired and is more forgiving for when you misspell something or if you're changing your mind
about what you're writing, you can just erase
it and start over. Some other pros might be that if you don't like
your handwriting, writing on a computer is easier, although you're not
gonna get the chance to improve your handwriting. So there's always that. And maybe the biggest
pro in my opinion is that if you want to look
up an old entry and maybe you can search for
a word or the name of a person and you have all the entries
right in front of you. Now, what are some cons
are writing digitally? It doesn't feel as
personal and real. It's a bit more sterile
and you don't get the satisfying experience of
keeping physical notebooks, which is some people are almost
wholly, I'm one of them. Now, once you have
decided on a medium, there are a few other
things to consider. One of them is music. So I often prefer to write
in complete silence, but sometimes I need a bit
of a push in one direction, or I need my emotions
to come to the surface. And music is really
good for the OK. So it's going to really depend
on where you feel like, however do keep in
mind that music can really affect your
mood, at least for me. So if I'm writing and I'm
listening to sad music, I'm just going to feel
more sad even if I wasn't even really feeling
sad to begin with. So anytime I do listen
to something I always right at the top of my entry listening to and then
the name of the song. Because then I'm going
to know for the future, if a entry is more sad or
happy or leaning in direction, I'm gonna be like, oh, I was
listening to Celine Dion. That's why I was
feeling emotional. And of course, you can
listen to other things like ASLR or rain sounds, whatever works for you, then the final step
for preparing to write is to write down the date. Always, always, always. You want to know when you
are writing this in also, what time you were writing this, because, you know,
our thoughts and our mood may be affected
by the time of the day. So Ignite, we may be feeling
a bit more algebraic, a bit more in our feelings, whereas during the day we
may not be feeling that way. So I always make sure to
ride the date and the time. Alright, the kitchen
has been prepared. We are ready to write. It's time to get to the cooking.
8. Write: Now the writing process
looks something like this. First you pick a
moment to write about. Any moment. They can be serious,
it can be goofy, it can be getting proposed two, or it can be just you
making your morning coffee. In other words, big or
small does not matter. And small does not
mean insignificant. That just means that it wasn't
very meaningful to you. Once you've picked your moment, you want to recall details, details and rich stories. And by including things like the amount of money you
paid for something, rather than just saying, I bought a coffee or even
things like what you wore, what the weather was like, how you were feeling, what you were hearing. All of these things will bring your entry to life as Rob
Walker wrote in his book, The Art of known as saying, it's all about taking
in as much of what's out there as you can and not letting the excuses and
the hairiness of some of the obligations you'll soon
be incurring narrow or lives. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager, stay eager to stay
eager to connect, define interests
in the every day to notice what everybody
else overlooks. These are vital
skills, unknown goals. They speak to the difference
between looking and seeing, between hearing and listening, between accepting what
the world presents and noticing what
matters to you.
9. Day 1: Sight: They want to, journaling
is all about site. You're going to write about
something that you can see either where you
are right now or something from your past. I think this is a great
way of practicing, collecting information
and noticing. So you can simply lock eyes on an object of you or anything that you're
seeing right now. And this could be a
painting hanging on your wall or this
could be bypass or if you are sitting at
a cafe or if you are by a view of some sort, try to really describe the details of the things that you would have
otherwise overlooked. So that can be shapes, that could be colors, that could be the depth, the texture of something. Try to really describe
something as accurately as you can and only write down the things that
you can actually see it. Now, if you're logging
eye on something or describing something
you're currently seeing, try and also explain why
you think they're being drawn to that thing and
how is it making you feel? What is it that's making
it interesting to you? Now you can also instead pick
a moment from your past. So can you recall a moment in time where
you saw something interesting or someone
that moved you somehow. Perhaps a painting, perhaps
the eyes of another person, perhaps a pet playing, or perhaps the world
from an airplane. Pick one moment, focus on the details and see
what you come up with.
10. Day 2: Sound: Welcome to day two of
memoir journaling. So today we're writing
about something that we can hear or have heard. If you want to write
about right now, what are some
sounds that you can identify at this very moment? I can hear cars passing by. I can hear my pet my
dog licking himself. There are a lot of things
that I can identify, especially you if you're
sitting in a quiet environment, I'm talking right now, it's a bit more difficult. Perhaps you can hear someone
talking outside your window. What do you think is going
on in that conversation? What is the tone of
that conversation? Or perhaps you can recall
something from the past. Like maybe you heard
a song that made you want to dance or
you're at a concert. Perhaps we would
like to describe how one of your favorite
songs makes you feel. Why do you listen to
that song on repeat over and over again without
getting tired of it, there are so many things
that you can write about. Just pick any sound
that comes to mind and try to recall
as much detail as you can see where it takes you and be curious and explore
what you're hearing.
11. Day 3: Touch: Alright, so we are
midway through this journaling
journey and for d3, but writing about
something that we can touch or had touched. So you can either
touch something right now and feel the texture. Is it cold? Is it warm? Does it
feel good on you? Do you enjoy it? When material, do you think that is any information that
you can collect? You can also think
of some time in the past where you
touch something such as a blanket or the hands of someone
that you like or water. You can take this
as far as you want. You can think of a
time in the past where you wanted to
talk, something like, let's say you were traveling and you saw landmark
and you thought, I wish I could touch that. What do you think touching
that would have felt like I could also use
your imagination. So for instance, think
of a time when you were unable to touch something that you
would've liked to, something that you
were curious about. So I know that I
often wonder what the texture of certain art
pieces would feel like, like when I'm at a museum. But obviously you cannot
touch the art museum, but I always wonder. Another fun way of writing
about touch is thinking of something that
you enjoy touching. So I really like swimming
and being in water. And trying to describe why I enjoy that feeling
is very interesting. Like, Do I like the
weight of the water? Do I like the feeling
of having wet hair? What is it that is making that experience enjoyable for
me instead of just saying, I like being in the ocean. What about being in the ocean? How can you describe that with as much
detail as possible? Yours does not have to
be being the ocean. You can think of
something else that you enjoy where you try to
describe the sensation of it.
12. Day 4: Taste: Day for journaling and
it's time to write about something that you can
taste or have tasted. Now, the point here, just like with every
other entry thus far, is to take a moment and
to bring it to light. So rather than saying or
writing something like, I had the best
burger of my life, try to describe why was the
best burger of your life. What made the burger or
that moment so great? Was it the temperature
of the meat? How could the dish
had been improved? Did perhaps a taste
remind you of something from your past? Maybe like a childhood memory. Do you think the location of the place and the atmosphere and the overall experience added to your personal experience and
the company, the plating. Can you identify at least
one ingredient that was in the burger
and the dressing that made it as good as it was. So see how many details
you can recall and see what other contributing
factors surrounding factors may have added to
that tasting experience. For me personally,
I know that I'm a very visual person
and therefore, whenever I'm having a NEO, I always feel like things
like how it's plated, what actual place they're using, add to my experience and even
treat my mind into thinking that it tastes better than
maybe it actually did. So not that long ago, I was at an outdoor
restaurant by the water. The plating was beautiful. The overall atmosphere
was amazing. I had a solid, the
solid was okay. But in my mind, it was a great salad because
everything else, the rounded was so great. So trying to really
describe those things, it's very interesting just to get to know yourself as well, to see what you are drawn to and what things add to
your experience in life. What kind of things
do you appreciate, what things don't matter? That's also something
that you weren't going to gain from trying to recall the details from the things
in your life to really get to know yourself in a way that you might have otherwise
not even thought of.
13. Day 5: Smell: Welcome to day five, the last day of our memoir
journaling journey. It's amazing how smell can bring back such vivid memories. That's why I think this one in particular is so interesting. I remember sitting on the
train about two months ago and a woman walked in and she took
a seat pretty close to me. And as soon as she
walked past me, instantly recognized a
smell from my childhood. And at first, I had
no idea what it was. I cannot figure it out, but then I quickly realized
that it was her hairspray. It wasn't hairspray
that someone from my childhood and adult
at the time would use all the time and I had not smell that hairspray
and probably 15 years yet in
just a few seconds, all these memories were
brought back to me simply from smelling
that same smile. Again, smell is very powerful and for that
reason I think it's particularly interesting to try to recall details from
and to write about. So for this entry, you could write about something
that you are currently smelling or smell of
something in the past, or just the smell that you like. Perhaps a smell of a particular meal that
reminds you of something. Maybe makes you
think of a memory. And if it does, can you
describe that memory like a home-cooked meal
that you would eat at home as a kid with your family. Maybe you want to
simply describe why you liked the smell or you want to describe
the emotions that you feel when you
smell this thing. So do you feel nostalgic? Do you feel happy? Do you feel sad? Use
are missing someone? Do you start
appreciating something? What emotions is
the smell bringing, and how can you
describe this picture? That is hopefully
even if it's vague, popping up in your mind and try and be as detailed
as possible about it.
14. Final words: Congratulations on finishing this class on memoir journaling. I hope that you've found the
class to be fun and they will want to continue
your memoir journaling, practice and
Nationalists an earlier. One thing that's so great about
writing and journaling is that I think it's
really important that you make it your own. You know, it really
is about capturing those snippets in life
and developing them. Enriching them by recalling
details and turning it into something more than it would have been had
you just let it be. And when you do this long
enough, your writing may, if you want to and
if you allow it, translate into your speech. So when you are eating
at a restaurant, while in the past, you might have simply
thought, this is a good meal. You might feel entry to. Think about more details for why it was good and
about the experience. And overall, I think these
are the things that make the mundane experiences
in life that much richer. Now, if you'll go to
this class and you are interested in seeing more
of what I'm up to you. You can follow me everywhere,
YouTube, podcasts, Instagram at Sloan obliquely and sign up for our newsletter, the Monday TO newsletter. You can find it on my
website lawn obliquely.com. And I really look forward to reading your journal entries, so please upload at least
one if you want to do so. And I cannot wait to read it. Thanks for being here
and I'll see you there.
