Had a brainwave today…

Background:

I started playing with bullet journaling last fall. I was attracted by the pretty pens, the lure of little bound books, and the excuse to justify my constant doodling. I really liked the x use it gave me to stop the world and be purposeful for a few minutes each day. As a scrapbook supply addict and staff meeting doodler, and someone who loves organizational supplies but is horribly disorganized, BUJO had it all. So I bought a dot grid journal, found a few pens, and dove in.

While my first attempts were cautious and self-indulgent, they helped me get used to the ideas. I played with icons and abbreviations, decided charts and grids suited me best, and started exploring lettering and brush pens. It’s now become my daily little creative break to take stock in my calendar events, add something artsy, and feel as if I’ve accomplished something for myself. It brings me a little joy mid-day.

Present:

Its poetry month. Many of my kids shudder to think about poetry – mostly because the stylized forms and structures don’t appeal to them. Today we did a 20 minute stream of consciousness writing activity – just to force their writers’ brains out of park. After the time was up a few actually said “wow, that felt really good.” They enjoyed the catharsis of getting bits and bobs of ideas out of their heads and onto the page. A-ha moment time.

BUJO!

I quickly pulled up multiple sites on Bullet Journalling and journalling in general.

They were interested.

So I talked about how a purposeful list could be a poem.

A list of 10 things I swish I could ask my Gramma….

A list of 5 places I want to be when I want to run away…

A list of 16 reasons for not liking sixteenth notes…

Heads popped up. From the back corner I head a “….huh…!”

And so it begins. Tomorrow we will set aside some time for bullet journalling. Whether they make a homework list, make a plan for next week’s studying, or explore script and doodling, it will show them another aspect of writing that might appeal to them. Their interactive language journals will work fine for these explorations, and remind them daily that BUJO is writing. BUJO is reflecting. BUJO is a way to keep your head above water. BUJO is a way to combine language and life and art in a way that engages your brain and maybe, just maybe, brings some calm to the chaos.

And I’m going shopping for more journals. Wanna come? I can add it to my weekly page layout in blue felt tip I use for “fun errands” and then ….

MPJ