For Katie Gish, a graphic designer residing in the Southwest USA, journaling has become an essential means of preserving memories and unleashing her creativity. Through her unique approach to journaling, Katie demonstrates how this practice can be a delightful blend of documenting everyday life, reminiscing on funny moments, and embracing the sentimental. In this interview, we dive into Katie’s journaling journey, uncovering her tips, favorite features of the Day One app, and the joy she finds in capturing her everyday life.
Remembering Moments (and Pizza Orders)
For Katie, journaling allows her to cherish precious moments with her family and friends. She shares, “It also helps me remember that when I order pizza for a family get-together, that 13 pizzas is 8 pizzas too many.”
Journaling serves as a reminder of the joyous times shared with loved ones, as well as the humorous anecdotes that make life memorable.
“To remember moments with my family and friends. Also to remember that when I order pizza for a family get-together that 13 pizzas is 8 pizzas too many.”
Topics that Fill the Pages
When it comes to the content of her journal, Katie’s entries span a wide range of subjects. She explains, “People, events, vacations, and crud I’m supposed to remember. Like ‘Hey look! We painted our house. Next time the kids throw mud balls at it, touch it up with SW 7044. #houseprojects.'” Katie’s journaling encompasses everything from personal experiences to practical reminders, ensuring that no meaningful detail escapes her attention.
Timing is Everything
The frequency of journaling varies for Katie depending on the circumstances. During vacations, she makes it a point to journal nightly. However, for daily life, Katie admits that her journaling practice is more sporadic, often finding time after her kids go to bed. She humorously adds, “When Binge-Watching ‘The Mandalorian’: There is no time for journaling.”
Katie’s Tip for Building a Journaling Habit: Use Photos as Triggers
Katie’s advice for those looking to build a journaling habit is simple yet effective: take more photos. She suggests, “For me, what worked was to take more photos. When I go back through my photos, I have a visual reminder that I want to journal about this or that.”
By utilizing visual cues, Katie ensures that her journal entries capture the moments that matter most to her, making the process more engaging and enjoyable.
“For me, what worked was to take more photos. When I go back through my photos, I have a visual reminder that I want to journal about this or that.”
Journaling as Alternative to Social Media
Journaling has become an avenue for authentic self-expression, free from external validation or judgment. Through her journaling journey, Katie has gained insightful lessons about what truly matters to her. She shares, “Documenting what is important for the people I actually care about. Journaling really started taking off for me when I decided to stop posting on social media. It was a refreshing change. No one can ‘thumbs down’ a journal entry. 😉”
Katie’s Unofficial Templates and Funny Entries
While Katie doesn’t utilize the provided templates in the Day One app, she has developed her own unofficial templates to capture specific aspects of her life. Embracing the lighter side of life, Katie combines humor and real-world events to create a comprehensive snapshot of her journaling journey.
She shares a few examples:
- Overall Thoughts: “If I go on a trip/host a party/complete a big project, I make notes of overall thoughts, what worked, and what I’d do differently next time. It’s such a huge help for when I or a friend plan something similar.”
- Funny Moments: “An entry of all the funny moments from a trip. I share them with my travel buddies when they show up in my “On This Day” the following year.”
- Current Event Memes: “Sometimes I document what’s going on in the world through memes I’ve come across. It’s basically what got me through the pandemic.”
- Calendar: “I also take a photo on the last day of the month of my family’s white board calendar from that month. Sometimes it’s cool to remember a glimpse of my life through my schedule.”
- Profile Photo: “Every time I take a new profile photo, I make a journal entry of it. That way when I die, they’ll have a decent photo for my obituary.”
- “Practical Jokes on the neighbor” is a tag I like to use. Thanks to Day One, I have a documented list of who is the better jokester. (It’s me.)”
- Sentimental Garbage: “Family members give me gifts that they want me to love and cherish forever, but I can only keep so many masking tape creations and spider-man drawings. So I snap a photo, journal about it, and then bury it deep in the garbage can.”
Katie’s Favorite Day One Features
When it comes to the tools that aid her journaling practice, Katie highlights some of the key features of the Day One app:
- On This Day – “Hands down number one reason just recommend Day One. It’s part of our family’s morning ritual to read the On This Days together.”
- Tags – “I fostered a little boy for a while and gave his mom a printed book of all the journal entries that I tagged him in. Day One makes it easy to turn your journal entries into such a personal gift.”
- Search – It’s like Google for my past life. “What number of hair-clipper does our son like?” Search: haircut he didn’t hate. “What restaurant in Vegas gave us food poisoning?” Search: Puked 13 times today
- Metadata from Photos – “I backfilled my journal clear back to when my son was born 3 years before I started journaling consistently. I just went through my photos app on my computer and created entries for my favorite photos and videos. Since it posts based on the metadata, I know the dates are correct.”
Celebrating Life’s Quirks and Stories Through Journaling
To conclude our conversation, we asked Katie what she would like to share about herself or her journal. With a touch of self-deprecating humor, she remarks, “If my journal could talk, it’d say: ‘She’s not actually as lame as she appears.'”
Katie’s journal is a testament to the multifaceted aspects of her life, filled with love, laughter, and the occasional practical joke. Through journaling, she has found a unique voice that captures the essence of who she truly is.
Start Journaling Today with Day One
The Day One journaling app makes it easy to build and maintain a daily journaling habit. Daily journaling reminders, daily writing prompts, and journal streaks are designed to help keep you motivated and consistently journaling.
