Why Art Journaling Changed Everything for Me
And Why It Might Change Everything for You, Too
Art should be an essential part of our lives.
And yet, I’m constantly amazed by how many people have stopped making art.
We’re born with unrestrained imagination. As children, we are fearless, wild, and expressive. We scribble with abandon. We create with no goal other than joy. But somewhere along the way, many adults lose touch with that part of themselves, the creative part. The curious part. The part that doesn’t care if it’s “good enough.”
Art journaling is a way back.
Back to your voice.
Back to your instincts.
Back to a version of you that doesn’t need permission to be real.
Why Traditional Journaling Didn’t Work for Me
I used to keep a traditional journal. I wrote about my dreams, my fears, my frustrations, and my to-do lists. Sometimes it helped. But more often, it left me stuck, ruminating, spiraling, comparing my present life to an idealized future that didn’t exist yet.
I was writing around my feelings instead of through them.
Obsessing over what wasn’t working instead of reflecting on what I was learning.
Then I found art journaling.
And everything shifted.
What Art Journaling Gave Me
Now, even on the hardest days, I can take my sadness, tension, restlessness, and spill it onto a page. Through color. Through line. Through layers. It becomes something tangible. Something meaningful.
It transforms.
Art journaling doesn’t ask for perfection. It doesn’t require a plan. It doesn’t care if you’re trained, experienced, or "good at art."
There are no rules.
There is only your emotion, your intuition, and your play.
Your voice, expressed in shape, texture, symbol, shadow, and color.
Art Is Healing
Art journaling helps express what we don’t yet know how to say.
It can:
Boost self-esteem
Invite deep relaxation
Cultivate curiosity and joy
Ease symptoms of depression and anxiety
Provide a space for processing, releasing, and discovering
I am deeply passionate about creating space where this kind of creativity can thrive, where people of all ages, all backgrounds, all abilities can come home to themselves, gently, wildly, honestly.
If You’re Curious, Start Here
You don’t need fancy supplies.
You don’t need a clear idea of what you’re going to make.
You don’t need to call yourself “an artist.”
You just need to give yourself permission to try.
Try layering color without thinking.
Try tearing paper and gluing it with feeling.
Try showing up on the page like no one’s watching, because they aren’t.
This is for you.
Final Thought
Art journaling isn’t about being good at art.
It’s about being present with yourself.
It’s about creating space to feel, to explore, to make something new out of something hidden.
You don’t need a plan.
You don’t need to be perfect.
You just need to begin.
There is no wrong way to start.
There is only your way.