Great post, and loved this: “My journals weren't for anyone's eyes but my own. Not because they were salacious or contained secrets—they were just pages and pages of me working things out.”
I’ve been trying to figure what I’m doing with my own 1500-word spree every morning and you nailed it. I’m just working things out and for me there’s no other way to do it.
Would love to read more of your writing about journaling!
I loved everything about this post--from your reflections on your mother, to the snippets of your diary (the too small and too large smiles), to the scraps adorning your bedroom walls. Just beautiful! I especially love how you inserted all this new vitality into old pages by repurposing them. Also, so much of what you wrote about journaling resonates with me. I honestly don't know how people think without journaling.
I think your journals are for sure your life’s work, or one of the major ones up until now. Seeing your pages, reading your reflections on them, following you through your brilliant plan for tearing, stringing, transporting, and hanging in the bank vault for your show…so inspiring and connecting. Your torn pages are like feathers fluttering from a thousand flights you’ve taken, and seeing them takes me on my own flight into thought, memory, creativity. I hope you continue journaling and sharing your pages and thoughts!! Love your work. xxDawn
I’ve tried to convince my offspring of the satisfaction of journaling. I use my old journals to help me remember to my maiden self, as though I’ve been diluted by mothering and time. My Jungian perspective places high importance on the games we play as children. Writing it all down then has been a gift to the future me. Maybe if I tell them Betty Ann journals it will start to sink in.
I loved everything about this Project... your sharing of vulnerability, ingenuity, artistry, life itself.
I kept "diaries" from 14 - 17, 1973 to 1977, filled with teenage angst, emotions, secrets, family dynamics, and interestingly politics of the day: Nixon and Watergate. Politics are still an interest for me. A few years ago, I read them all again and ritually burned them in my fireplace. Now wishing that I had taken photographs of excerpts and the covers of them. You are inspiring!! Keep the public service announcements coming! xoxo
Thanks for this! I too have kept journals for decades now and going back into them always gives me insights I didn’t see at the time. It’s me talking to myself in a way. I loved the art you created from the journals. So many layers of meaning there.
You are sweet. A newsletter that I mention in my last Feed the Monster just sent out a post about different ways you can keep a diary... maybe something there would pique the girls' interest? (maybe not 😬): https://jillianhess.substack.com/p/10-ways-to-use-a-diary
Great post, and loved this: “My journals weren't for anyone's eyes but my own. Not because they were salacious or contained secrets—they were just pages and pages of me working things out.”
I’ve been trying to figure what I’m doing with my own 1500-word spree every morning and you nailed it. I’m just working things out and for me there’s no other way to do it.
Would love to read more of your writing about journaling!
I loved everything about this post--from your reflections on your mother, to the snippets of your diary (the too small and too large smiles), to the scraps adorning your bedroom walls. Just beautiful! I especially love how you inserted all this new vitality into old pages by repurposing them. Also, so much of what you wrote about journaling resonates with me. I honestly don't know how people think without journaling.
I think your journals are for sure your life’s work, or one of the major ones up until now. Seeing your pages, reading your reflections on them, following you through your brilliant plan for tearing, stringing, transporting, and hanging in the bank vault for your show…so inspiring and connecting. Your torn pages are like feathers fluttering from a thousand flights you’ve taken, and seeing them takes me on my own flight into thought, memory, creativity. I hope you continue journaling and sharing your pages and thoughts!! Love your work. xxDawn
I’ve tried to convince my offspring of the satisfaction of journaling. I use my old journals to help me remember to my maiden self, as though I’ve been diluted by mothering and time. My Jungian perspective places high importance on the games we play as children. Writing it all down then has been a gift to the future me. Maybe if I tell them Betty Ann journals it will start to sink in.
The installation looks amazing! What a great way to use the journal scraps that you're not keeping — that entire process seems cathartic.
I loved everything about this Project... your sharing of vulnerability, ingenuity, artistry, life itself.
I kept "diaries" from 14 - 17, 1973 to 1977, filled with teenage angst, emotions, secrets, family dynamics, and interestingly politics of the day: Nixon and Watergate. Politics are still an interest for me. A few years ago, I read them all again and ritually burned them in my fireplace. Now wishing that I had taken photographs of excerpts and the covers of them. You are inspiring!! Keep the public service announcements coming! xoxo
I feel like these snapshots encapsulate something that’s so hard to put into words!! I love it so much !!
Thanks for this! I too have kept journals for decades now and going back into them always gives me insights I didn’t see at the time. It’s me talking to myself in a way. I loved the art you created from the journals. So many layers of meaning there.
Such a good post! Loved seeing the photos and just all of this!
You are sweet. A newsletter that I mention in my last Feed the Monster just sent out a post about different ways you can keep a diary... maybe something there would pique the girls' interest? (maybe not 😬): https://jillianhess.substack.com/p/10-ways-to-use-a-diary