Helps to reign in the inner dialogue. At some point, a soft, friendly voice was discovered. She'd tell me to be nicer to myself. Seemingly we're 3-4, maybe 5 ppl inside this skull. Lately she changed into a nice granny and I found that it would be nice if she became my dominant self.
The current dominant self is all about herself, addicted to gaming, distracted, annyoing and anxious, and yearns for the end of life when frustrated. I'd never noticed these things if I hadn't given them a voice.
goes like this:
I'm dumb, I'm worthless, everyone would be better w/o me
her voice: What happened?
current me: I can't do this, this should be easy, I want to be dead
her voice: That so? What's your fear with this?
current me: I could be seen as lazy, I'd rather be dead than be seen as lazy
her voice, ironic tone: seems rational
Then the voices just stop and I can refocus... it's really weird. Anyways. Journaling really helps!
That was beautifully put. Thank you for that story.
I have also used analog sketchbooks and notebooks for a long time. Recent years it has been mostly text in Apple Notes. But I think my mental health requires me to start using paper notebooks and doodle more again.
I also love the tactile and aesthetic experience of paper and pen/pencil.
I read The Artist’s Way a long time ago that suggests you should start each day with writing two pages in flow (morning pages). I have some friends who are very hooked on this and I’m about to try that as well. It is really something with expressing thoughts regularly into words in physical space.
If this is a description of your own experience then I would very much recommend reading No Bad Parts by Richard C. Schwartz, if you haven't done so already. It will probably resonate with you and hopefully give you some tools to expand the process you're describing.
Absolutely. Internal Family Systems \ Voice Dialogue perspective enables this process to continue and deepen. I would say that IFS puts too much of an accent on trauma, healing, changing (it is therapeutic approach after all), where VD is (in my opinion) more allowing, more positive, less patologizing. It does not matter after all, the perspective of having these voices is key.
I was exactly the same. It really helped me during some of my darkest teenage years, but after few years, it just stopped. Sometimes i really missed it because i liked a lot the arguments we had. It was like someone smacked my head during various times and told me to stop with the non-senses.
Go get a notebook and a pen. Sit outside. Write about something that's on your mind from a different person's point of view. You'll discover what he's talking about.
This isn't unusual or new-age at all. Writing from a second point of view or imagined conversations as a tool for thinking goes back to at least Plato's Dialogues.
During the Renaissance/Enlightenment, there was a lot of discussion among intellectuals on how to best keep notebooks/journals. A widely used system was to carry a small pocket notebook which was filled logbook style, with things entered as they came up. The material from the pocket notebook would later be transcribed to topically arranged journals. I believe I've read reference to this practice going back to Classical times. Given the frequent discussion of jornaling on HN, I'm surprised at the lack of discussion of this method.
Yes, for years I would carry around an index card or a small notebook. I would jot down significant thoughts or events in bullet point format. Later, I would write out longform a blog post about the ideas and events of the week, trying to weave it together into a coherent essay. Having something light on me at all times was critical to capture ideas. Letting them marinate for a while was typically a good thing, since I could continue thinking through the angles and making horizontal connections to other things going on in my life.
I tried to keep a physical notebook/common-place book, several times, but after a while i just stopped. I like handwriting but since i started using obsidian i don't believe i will return. I'm thinking perhaps of using papers as first draft or impromptu writing, and then final drafts will be stored or transferred to Obsidian.
I use paper notebooks as the first point for very quick rough notes which I then build on in Notion, for me it works really well as I can quickly write the point down without really needing to look which is better for focus in meetings etc. The act of capturing it twice also seems to embed it better in my memory as well, but your mileage may vary with that.
I've tried maintaining a diary and a sketch book and can't usually last more than 6 months before they are lost and totally forgotten. It's still nice to find them in all fairness.
I've never found any personal benefit in the moment using them, I'm not sure if 6 months is not enough or for whatever reason they don't work for me.
Posts like these make me wish I could be consistant and keep a single notebook until its done and then move to the next. I always end up starting a project or scibbling down a thought on random scraps of paper. I try to organize and consolidate but really there is not much point after the fact since, if the note is made, transfering it is just busywork.
I leaned into it last couple of years, I have a 2 corkboards (a bit larger than A4 sized) on the back wall of my desk and I actually mounted a stationary clamp under one to have blank papers (A6) handy. It works pretty well until I fill them and move on to another notebook scrap paper etc.
I wish I could stick to a notebook and have everything from each time period but I have too hectic thought process I think. Maybe I could somehow combine them...
I bought a Supernote recently as a note-taking device, and that's worked out really well. It's almost like pen on paper to write on, but I can open new documents freely to make notes in, then consolidate them later because they're all already in one place. The stuff that's just working out or temporary diagrams I can delete later, and the rest I can archive.
On the other hand, I have gone from having a clutter of paper on my desk to having a clutter of notes on my Supernote, so maybe I've just moved the clutter from one place to another. But at least it's now less visible!
Digital notes are not for me, they seem to put up a mental barrier and have tradeoffs that I am not thrilled about. The epaper/e-ink ones have the best battery life, best feeling when writing but the delay when the display changes just halts my thinkin. When changing documents to reference especially. Also the process of changing implements (e.g. from pen to highlighter) in tablets in general just annoys me.
They are awesome for pdf annotation though, If they ever get to be a bit more affordable I would enjoy having one of these just for that purpose (maybe even in color! probably in about 10 yrs).
As i said on another comment: I tried to keep a physical notebook/common-place book, several times, but after a while i just stopped. I like handwriting but since i started using obsidian i don't believe i will return. I'm thinking perhaps of using papers as first draft or impromptu writing, and then final drafts will be stored or transferred to Obsidian.
This is awesome. I love this kind of stuffs, especially when it involves pen and paper. Reading the article, and seeing the dates on the notebook, made me felt bad. The author did realize the logic of a better dating system than we use everyday; the Big-endian is, to the best I know, easily sortable, sequential, and likely to be understood by all other cultures.
In normal conversation (either for business or personal), I like to use the "MMM DD, YYYY" format as it is easier to read and there is no ambiguity. While for recording/archiving or appending as part of a file-name, I've found YYYY-MM-DD to be most reliable.
> Plus, I love the disconnectedness of a sketchbook. I can sit and think and plan in a sketchbook, and it doesn’t distract me from what I’m doing.
This is why I still keep pens and physical notebooks on my desk. It's so much faster to flip it open and start writing than opening a 99th browser tab and navigating to an empty page on Notion, all while more desktop notifications start popping up on screen. Another side benefit is the act of writing / drawing out stuff actually helps me remember things better. Sure, my handwriting is atrocious but I rarely go back and read them anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Noice!
Reminds me of a bookbinder in my city that gives you full control of the journal: type of paper, type of cover, textile used on cover, side font and engravings.
It's not expensive. My yearly journal is around 20 euros.
I tried my best to explain to the owner in making an online "journal creator" but failed.
For those interested - - > ://www.bottegafagnola.it
This additionally reminds me of a Bullet Journal; for me, a Bullet Journal fulfills the role of the author's sketchbook; the creator, Ryder Carroll, brands it as a planner, diary, sketchbook, calendar, and a 'catch-all for life': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_journal
A quick note on the history of sketchbooks. Though artists have always drawn, it was the rise of the atelier system in France which saw sketchbooks become a thing. An atelier was a small private art school, usually run by an older experienced artist. The best ones encouraged young artists to find their own creative identity, and a part of this was going out into the wilds of the Parisian night life to draw direct from life. What distinguishes the drawings in a sketchbook from those done in a studio was that there was (and is) no need for sketchbook drawings to serve any real purpose of application. It was drawing for the hell of it... as an exploration of the world.
Readit News
The current dominant self is all about herself, addicted to gaming, distracted, annyoing and anxious, and yearns for the end of life when frustrated. I'd never noticed these things if I hadn't given them a voice.
goes like this:
I'm dumb, I'm worthless, everyone would be better w/o me
her voice: What happened?
current me: I can't do this, this should be easy, I want to be dead
her voice: That so? What's your fear with this?
current me: I could be seen as lazy, I'd rather be dead than be seen as lazy
her voice, ironic tone: seems rational
Then the voices just stop and I can refocus... it's really weird. Anyways. Journaling really helps!
I have also used analog sketchbooks and notebooks for a long time. Recent years it has been mostly text in Apple Notes. But I think my mental health requires me to start using paper notebooks and doodle more again.
I also love the tactile and aesthetic experience of paper and pen/pencil.
I read The Artist’s Way a long time ago that suggests you should start each day with writing two pages in flow (morning pages). I have some friends who are very hooked on this and I’m about to try that as well. It is really something with expressing thoughts regularly into words in physical space.
This isn't unusual or new-age at all. Writing from a second point of view or imagined conversations as a tool for thinking goes back to at least Plato's Dialogues.
Dead Comment
I've never found any personal benefit in the moment using them, I'm not sure if 6 months is not enough or for whatever reason they don't work for me.
Ann Blair (2010) Too Much to Know: Managing Scholarly Information Before the Modern Age
Deleted Comment
I leaned into it last couple of years, I have a 2 corkboards (a bit larger than A4 sized) on the back wall of my desk and I actually mounted a stationary clamp under one to have blank papers (A6) handy. It works pretty well until I fill them and move on to another notebook scrap paper etc.
I wish I could stick to a notebook and have everything from each time period but I have too hectic thought process I think. Maybe I could somehow combine them...
This is the book: https://amzn.to/3OQxX4J
I started with these, and got through them easily: https://amzn.to/3YJwBx7
Now I use notebooks like this: https://amzn.to/47VJeJI
On the other hand, I have gone from having a clutter of paper on my desk to having a clutter of notes on my Supernote, so maybe I've just moved the clutter from one place to another. But at least it's now less visible!
They are awesome for pdf annotation though, If they ever get to be a bit more affordable I would enjoy having one of these just for that purpose (maybe even in color! probably in about 10 yrs).
In normal conversation (either for business or personal), I like to use the "MMM DD, YYYY" format as it is easier to read and there is no ambiguity. While for recording/archiving or appending as part of a file-name, I've found YYYY-MM-DD to be most reliable.
This is why I still keep pens and physical notebooks on my desk. It's so much faster to flip it open and start writing than opening a 99th browser tab and navigating to an empty page on Notion, all while more desktop notifications start popping up on screen. Another side benefit is the act of writing / drawing out stuff actually helps me remember things better. Sure, my handwriting is atrocious but I rarely go back and read them anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It's not expensive. My yearly journal is around 20 euros.
I tried my best to explain to the owner in making an online "journal creator" but failed.
For those interested - - > ://www.bottegafagnola.it
This additionally reminds me of a Bullet Journal; for me, a Bullet Journal fulfills the role of the author's sketchbook; the creator, Ryder Carroll, brands it as a planner, diary, sketchbook, calendar, and a 'catch-all for life': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_journal