This is a project that I did not come up with, but it is one that I love. Many years ago I was home on winter break from college and I went to the holiday gathering of my Mother, Step-dad, and their friends. They call themselves “The Gang”. That year, in addition to the normal Christmas presents that they exchanged, they all opened up journals. I thought, well that is interesting that everyone is getting a journal. I was then able to look at one and it was filled to the brim with all sorts of stuff: poems, drawings, receipts, lists, daily thoughts, recipes, etc. They explained that each person bought themselves a journal and proceeded to pass the journal to each of their friends. They did not see their own journal for months while it was being filled out and Christmas was when they were able to see what everyone had created. It was just so neat to see all the creativity and love that went into each section of each journal and I have to say I was slightly jealous.
Fast forward in time and Nick and I had a close group of couples friends. We pitched this journal idea to them instead of buying Christmas gifts for each other. Folks seemed a bit skeptical, but were willing to try it out. Below are pictures from all the journals I worked on that year.
Now its a Pandemic and we are approaching winter. Since most of us can’t travel right now and we are staring down many more months of staying inside and not seeing friends and family in person, this seemed like an opportune time to do another round of the Journal Exchange. Nick and I thought it could be something fun to look forward to each month: that feeling of hope and possibility when you open up a new journal to read the entries of your friends and add your own. This also seemed like a pretty extraordinary year to record in writing, so we started calling people and pitching the idea. WE HAVE 18 FRIENDS (including us) PARTICIPATING! This will span a year and will be epic, to say the least.
There you have it: a unique way to be creative and connect with your family and friends. Pitch the idea and make it your own. Its fun. Trust me.
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