what I've been up to lately
published: 2024.04.22
tagged:
journaling
now playing ー [sunflower] by Snail’s House
lately, I’ve been getting back into journaling regularly and have tried to incorporate some aspects bullet journaling into my journal >w<…how many times can I say journal in this entry I wonder…
I’ve gathered a sizeable collection of washi tape and stickers for decorating, which has sparked quite a bit of joy for me lately! 
I also amassed a small collection of colorful highlighters and pens and have been using those to decorate my entries and make them more fun & unique. All in all, thanks to aliexpress, I’ve spent maybe $25-$30 USD on everything I’ve gathered so far >w<
but part of getting back into journaling is learning to accommodate my needs, which have changed since I last journaled regularly. (in middle and high school, so well over 10 years ago at this point…) 
as I’ve stated before, I have pretty severe rheumatoid arthritis, having been diagnosed when I was 23, and writing easily makes my hands cramp up and my wrist hurt and all other sorts of nasty painful side effects, so finding a comfortable-to-use pen has been paramount.
as of right now, my go-to pen is a pink and white Zebra Sarasa dry airfit grip 0.5mm (this link is for educational purposes only, I highly recommend if you’re interested in this pen checking your local stationery shop or aliexpress/some other cheap retailer based on your needs/availability; I don’t get any kind of commission from linking them.) I love it so much, it’s VERY gummy on the grip which makes me reflexively loosen my deathgrip on my pen (trust me this is very good). It writes INCREDIBLY smoothly (always a plus). My only gripe so far is that the letters it forms are a little large for my taste, so I find myself writing larger which isn’t as comfortable for me. I much prefer smaller lettering, it’s just always how I’ve written, so I have ordered the same pen in a 0.4mm to see if that helps, but it won’t be here for another week or two…;w;
before I settled on the zebra I’ve been using, my go-to pen was a Pilot Precise V5 RT 0.5mm, which is still a very nice pen, and lets me write smaller, but doesn’t have the gummy cushion the airfit does, and so my hand tends to get fatigued writing with it for any amount of time. I’ve kept it and plan to continue using it but for now, I prefer the sarasa airfit. 
I’m really thankful to my friend lucidiot for infodumping to me about pens and taking the time to help me understand what features I should be looking for in a pen to accommodate my arthritis; thanks to him I’m writing more than ever! (thanks, homie!)
anyway! the airfit has enabled me to write more and for longer, so my daily journaling has been happening more often, and since the bullet journaling/habit tracking stuff is still kind of new to me and I haven’t formed the habit just yet, I’ve been slacking in that regard. 
I’m also still kind of experimenting with bullet journaling and different methods of tracking stuff to determine what exactly I need to keep track of, as in, what I would benefit from keeping track of, so that aspect of my journaling is very much a work-in-progress. 
If you have any suggestions you think I could use to track things or just layout ideas you want to show me or anything like that, feel free to contact me! Until next time~! 