With nothing on the horizon, and feeling rudderless, I booked a ticket to Costa Rica on Thursday and flew out four days later, on the Monday. I don’t really know what I’m doing here, or WHY I’m here, so I’m excited to find out.
Halfway through our life’s journey
I woke to find myself within a dark wood
because I had strayed from the correct path.
Oh how hard it is to describe
how harsh and tough that savage wood was
The very thought of it renews the fear!
~ Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy
My Leuchtturm1917 journal being put to good use. https://www.instagram.com/leuchtturm1917/?hl=enHappened upon my feeling whilst wandering the streets of Orlando on Saturday 9Feb, before flying out to Costa Rica on the 11th.Bullet Journal ~ Leuchtturm1917
On the 5th, I finally pulled the trigger and booked the ticket, still not knowing at all why I was doing it, and then I read this on a friend’s IG page:
FEB 4/5th NEW MOON IN AQUARIUS
This is a time for cutting the cords binding us to anything that we know has been holding us back or where we are settling rather than thriving. It is also for making bold decisions that lead us to fresh new starts. – Alex Myles
I can relate to this freaked out monkey.
Free as a bird right now. This is by artist, Gabriel Dumani. His IG page is https://www.instagram.com/graficajaguar/?hl=en and this is his description in Espanol, of this piece: “Avistamiento de #quetzalesmesoamericanos en San José, Costa Rica! Mural comisionado para nuestros amigos de @frentealaplazateatro. Gracias totales por la confianza y el apoyo 🙂 Siempre soñando con un mundo sin fronteras y América Latina libre en él ✊🏽🔥”
The collection I had to have in my BUJO, is my BOOKSHELF. I read 5-7 books at a time, so, on the left-hand page, are the books I am reading, and when I finish them, I highlight them (you can see the blue and yellow highlighted ones.) On the right-hand page, are the books I want to get, whether I’ve heard about them on my own, or if someone in particular has recommended something to me. The two books next to the apple were recommended to me, so I wrote my friend’s name above them, so that I know who to follow-up with once I’ve read them. 🙂 Also, you’ll notice one has been highlighted in blue. That means, I have procured the book. This collection is all about foreign films and tv shows/series. On the left-hand page, you can see, I made a list of the Golden Globe nominations for best foreign language film this year and I just watched “Roma,’ so I was able to highlight it as ‘seen.’ And “Roma” was the overall winner, as well, so I’ll need to indicate that with an asterisk or something. There’s another box of past award nominees I haven’t seen yet, but want to, and a random list of others plus documentaries, I want to see, and also a box for Oscar nominated foreign language films and documentaries. I travel around the world so much, so I don’t watch regular tv and I have found it difficult to remember when a series is starting, etc, so I note that stuff down here. This is Movies to See (I need to add ‘to see’) – and I list ones I hear about and also ones that are recommended to me. On the right-hand page, I will take note of Blog Ideas and Photo Projects I want to do throughout the year. An Instagram page for particular addresses I want to remember for tagging purposes, for hashtags, for photo series ideas I have…and the Twitter page is also for taking note of particular addresses I want to remember for particular themed photo tweets I do (i.e. if I’m posting street art and graffiti, I want those addresses. If I’m posting surfers, I want addresses for surfing…)I write a lot of postcards throughout the year, so this page will keep track of who I’ve sent what to, and to make sure not to duplicate…this other page is to keep track of all of the books I read about teaching methodology. I am currently reading “Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer” by Roy Peter Clark, but I haven’t written it in yet. Yes, I just think it’s a good idea to keep this separate from my Bookshelf.I also listen to audiobooks so I made this collection to keep track of them. 🙂 Ok, so, on the left-hand page here, I have a Top Ten List of Books (highlighted ones have been read) and a list of Books 2 Friends to keep track of who I give to and what I give, for a number of reasons. Note: One of my favorite books to give is “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. On the right-hand page, I have Random Thoughts. It’s just what it sounds like. Sometimes I get a semi-original thought and I need to write it down somewhere for that book I’m eventually going to write. 🙂 Now, this is going to be a FUN one! 🙂 I am a huge Trappist Ale fan (if you’ve been to Belgium, you get what I’m saying) so I wanted to understand better about its history, how it came to be brewed in monasteries, etc. And like I tell everyone, I feel like I’m doing my part for charity every time I drink one because once the monasteries are taken care of, any money left over goes to charities. 🙂 I have had quite a few of them already, but I feel it’s important to start all over and this time, put a check next to each one I try… 🙂 – There are a couple more listed on the next page, if you were wondering…
So, there you have it, a few of my collections – I have others, like a Travel page where I have my airline membership #s, passport #, travel insurance info, etc, a Music page, etc, etc… – so, for YOU, you will just want to make collections for the things that you are passionate about! 🙂 Enjoy !
Happy 2019 ! To make a long story short, I spent a month in Frankfurt, Germany last year and as I wandered through various stationery shops, my eyes and hands kept going to the Leuchtturm journal displays. As an impassioned and committed journaller / world traveler, I am always looking for journals to record my life experiences in. I researched Leuchtturm first, before contacting them to see if they would sponsor me with some products for this glorious year, 2019, just to see what kind of company it was. It’s important that my principles align with companies I wish to use and promote. I liked what I saw immediately; a family-run company proud of over 100 years of service to the world. In each journal, you receive a signed note of appreciation for purchasing their products and information on how the company began and what it provides. Here’s a link to the US website: https://www.leuchtturm1917.us
I’ve begun my first bullet journal a.k.a. BUJO, and because so many seasoned bullet journallers recommend Leuchtturm as the journal to use, this all aligned perfectly for me. Here’s a quote from https://littlecoffeefox.com/ultimate-bullet-journal-cheat-sheet/
LEUCHTTURM1917
This hardcover journal comes in blank, lined, squared, or dot grid paper. For bullet journaling, I always choose the dot grid first or the squared second. I never get lined paper for bullet journaling! This journal comes with a pocket, two bookmarks, pre-numbered pages, and a pre-built index. Plus there is a huge variety of colors, so you can always find something for your taste! I have bought this journal again and again, and I will always recommend it to newbies because it is worth every single penny.
I still have a lot to learn, and Bujo-ing is an ongoing process, but here are my monthly spreads for 2019 in progress:
There is still a lot more to do as I figure out how I want to organize all of my goals and everything, plus, I haven’t gotten a hold of any stencils yet, to give the layouts a ‘sharper’ look, but at this moment, I am content with where I am.
A big thank you to Leuchtturm for doing 2019 with me and I strongly recommend Leuchtturm to you, for any of your journalling / life organizing needs.
