Shifter: Journal Technique

Where do I start? This was my first question after receiving so many comments and emails regarding how to journal. We live in a world where much of what we do is controlled by something else or someone else, so suddenly facing an activity with no rules can be, oddly enough, daunting. Wait, I can do anything? Okay, what is it I actually want to do?
I feel that the most relevant hurdle to modern journaling is the idea of audience. We now have generations of humans who live their lives for public consumption. An act, if you will, designed to be palatable to the masses, popular or controversial. Living a life like this is traumatic, and it is also tough to turn off because it plays on the chemistry coursing through our veins. Code-based chemical dependency.
Journaling, if done correctly, can immediately identify who you are. For some of us, this is precisely the prickly point. Finding out who we are can be sobering, to say the least. Journaling without borders is liberating, but discovering newfound freedom often brings growing pains.
The key is to start. No matter the pen. No matter the paper. No matter the brand of journal. No matter the ambience the internet tells you is required. No matter the time of day or your mood or state of mind. No matter the music playing through your headphones. These phony requirements are part of the act I mentioned above. Do you want to be a photographer or do you want to dress and talk and act like a photographer without actually being one? Sound familiar KZbin?
I believe if you journal every day for two weeks you will never stop. Even a paragraph or two of random thoughts or bullet points. Read back to yourself. Annotate, script, imagine, and explore the deepest, darkest recesses of what is left of your brain. Good luck, have fun.

[@debbieatkerson5241]

Ah, I loved this! Great ideas! I have a disorganized mess of journalling, dozens of spiral notebooks, a suitcase filled with poetry from high school, loose unlined printer pages with stream of consciousness thoughts, random paper scraps with notes, various drafts of several novels and one little story book with my own illustrations done when I was about 8 years old. I don't have any children, so my stepchildren will probably find all this someday and throw it all in the trash bin. If they do read any of it, they'll probably think I was a nut case. Please come back to You Tube when you can.

[@aimwalk]

Just stumbled across this video. The thought of being free to do what ever pops into your head, without restraint, makes me uncomfortable and I am not sure what to even do with this 😂. Wonderful timing on this video popping into my feed, thank you for the share/insight.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

You are not alone. This, oddly enough, freezes more people than you can imagine. It's why I often start new projects with a journal. No rules.

[@IanKnight40]

Hi Daniel, this video is pure Gold. You really did hit the target with this one. Cheers Ian

[@rickharsh7005]

I started journalling on 01 January 2023 and wrote it in everyday. It is interesting. Was a police officer for 30 years, real interesting stories and also my daily life. I love it, very liberating.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Oh man, cops have great stories!

[@rickharsh7005]

@@DANIELMILNOR505 yeah there have been some crazy stories, some are funny, some are sad and other are horrendous. I wish I started journalling when I started policing 30 years ago.

[@julienpasternak]

So glad to see I’m not the only weirdo with multiple colors and motifs of washi tape. It’s a f…king rabbit hole if you start looking at what’s available. I spend quite some time and money between this and the choice of inks for my pens (because why would I want to write in blue or black as everybody does?)… but I love it as it is part of the creative process!! My next step for journaling is learning how to draw, I feel I’d have a lot of fun adding little scenes in my journal like that.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

You and me both! Drawing keeps escaping me.

[@BehindThePhoto]

Man, I really hope you are not really quitting KZbin. (Although I totally get it!) Your knowledge, enthusiasm, skill set, and personality are awesome. I love every video you put out, and you've been a huge inspiration to get out there and make real stuff. Hope you're well & hope I see you back sooner rather than later. All the best, Benjamin.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Hey Benjamin, yep, for the most part it's over for me. I just released a film that explains why, at least to some degree...

[@benjaminfargen]

@@DANIELMILNOR505 I appreciate you and will follow you on the channels you still ride on. Rock on, and hopefully, I'll see you at a workshop someday. Cheers, B

[@TheLefse]

Cool! That tiny black and white coyote…

[@bradrandel1408]

Thank you, Professor Milner… 🦋🕊🌹

[@skiddlybatch]

The timing of this video has just collided with me at the perfect time. Thank you for being one of my mentors from a distance, Dan.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Good. start writing.

[@PatrickDodds1]

I feel a bit absurd enjoying this video so much but there you go - journaling: it's the freedom between life's cages and slowly it leaks out into your life and before you know it, your freer for more time each day... Thanks for this and all the others Mr Milnor.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Yes, it's like your best friend, a safe zone, etc. Always there and never complains.

[@mononomadic]

Your journals are so neat! I've been keeping journals for many years, since my creative writing class, my senior year in highschool. But, seeing how creative you are with your journals makes me want to step up my game. For whatever reason, I've never combined my photography with my writing. I have been watching your channel since the days of lockdown, and the seed you planted in my mind about book making has only grown more, and more since then. (Thanks for that!) Also, thank you for sharing this video, it is awesome to see what is possible when stop giving a f*** about what others might think. Anyway, that's all, thanks for being genuine in what you say, and share, it's a breath a fresh air. Now, if you don't mind, I have to practice my hook kicks, and launching snot rockets, just 'cause!

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

I"m fortunate. It's not that I don't value the opinion of others, I do, but to your point...ultimately, I kinda do what I want. SNOT ROCKET is mandatory.;

[@ZenoWatson]

A personal and inspirational insight, Dan ❤

[@MikeLangfordGoogle]

Excellent & inspirational, thanks Dan!

[@liminaltart]

I’ve just commenced journaling for the first time this year. I’m inspired by your journaling and you’ve given me so many ideas. Thanks for making it look simple and fun.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Right on. This channel is working.

[@adamcook6396]

Thanks for the work you put into these. Had a bit of a flashback to this and your other videos about this topic during a walk earlier today. I had my camera with me and came across some graffiti that would not be appreciated by polite society. I had an internal struggle over whether to document what I saw or not because the subject matter was inappropriate. Much like journaling, I had to come to the realization that I'm not shooting for other people. I'm shooting to remember. Without that picture, it would not tell the whole story of the area. Thanks again.

[@gregsg01]

From quite awhile back when you first mentioned journaling, I started soon after. And never stopped. The practice then made subsequent starts to both lifting and diet logging so easy too, which were also important in those areas if one wishes to get results. Thank you, sir.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Those are all good uses. Glad you began and have stuck with it.

[@burneshollyman2621]

You have a Peter Beard vibe you are channeling with your journals.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

He was a master. I am JV at best.

[@photom3]

Love this. 100% agree, no rules. Only two steps 1) open journal 2) write, draw, glue, whatever you want. Gives me some ideas

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Yes, there is just the doing part.

[@kstrohmeier]

Process improvement - fold your two page journal addition before applying glue. I learned the hard way it works better that way. 🤔

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

oh yes, prep before.

[@francovogt8363]

Very inspirational..

[@C_R_Saltwater]

Thanks. So inspiring and refreshing!

[@mikemanning8253]

10:35....that's pretty cool. Your journals are very interesting. This is going to be like nails going down a chalk board, but here goes, in my senior year of high school, my English teacher had the class start a journal, we all had to write in it for the first 15 mins of the class, he said he was trying to get us into the habit of doing a journal for the rest of our lives, he said can you imagine how special that would be and to look back to when we got into our 50's at all of our completed journals, I really wish I had done that, but sadly, I did not. Kids, if you're reading this....start to journal and don't stop, you'll be glad you did.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Modern kids, my guess, nearly impossible. I got my tires rotated yesterday. Of the 25 adults in the waiting area, vast majority were overweight. ALL twenty five were on their phones. I went outside and read my book. Humanity is doomed.

[@niktoten]

Great topic and video (and blog post).

[@johnlaw6735]

Your journal setup is amazingly creative 😮👍

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Or a total mess depending on who you ask.

[@adventureStaley]

This is the way.

[@mathieumorel448]

You need to see the last wim wenders's movie, "perfect days", if not already, it echoes strongly with your last sentences, plus it's a great movie, at least for me. Cheers!

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Love his work.

[@terencemorrissey4413]

Cool

[@DougCunnington]

Awesome. I do the same freestyle approach. I will start printing pics to paste I. How do you find or reference the material? I started making indexes for my journals so that’s been helpful. Any other tips?

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Hmm, sometimes I number them but the covers will often give away the time period.

[@peterdadson7713]

I have personal journals since 1967. Some more complete than others but no year is empty. I have a friend who discarded his journals a short time ago and now regrets the decision as it represented a large portion of his life. Gone.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Not sure why I would discard them, but life goes on. Painfully.

[@guillaumebouqueau]

Movie you were looking for at the start: Ed TV?

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

That's it!

[@paulgero]

You’re a machine

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

You know it. I'm like the artificial appendix.

[@JohnPatrickWeiss]

Journals, birding lists, Nazis, Hindi symbols, double exposures, slow drying oil paint, color coding…phew! Think I’ll take a nap now. Oh, I love the coyote photo.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Just a normal day here at the ranch.

[@PeterLariviere]

I have to buy a glue stick!!! My use of scotch tape is so passé!😅 I loved your story about your dad. I thought my dad was a true blue Progressive Conservative. But when he passed away 4 years ago my mom said he wanted me to have his old slr and a .22 rifle. Was I surprised to see that his camera was from East Germany and the .22 was made in the USSR. HA he was a socialist!! Explains my DNA!❤

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Most likely, KGB. Winters in Moscow, summers in Detroit.

[@PeterLariviere]

@@DANIELMILNOR505 haha...he actually rarely traveled outside our traditional Annishnaabe territory. He liked what he was comfortable with.

[@qnetx]

Do you ever need to refer back to something in a previous journal? If so, how do you even know where it would be hidden within the 300+ journals in your archive?

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Oh yes. The cover and dates.

[@rosemanbridge1000]

XT5 or XH2, new cam?

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

XT5 on loan. I've owned the XH2 for over a year, maybe longer.

[@rosemanbridge1000]

I’ve used a pair of XH2 since 10/22 and think they’re great. How does the 5 compare? Same sensor so I would imagine it’s down to the ergos?

[@_smsb_]

embrace the banding. now you've got a lined page.

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

OPTIMIST

[@_smsb_]

@@DANIELMILNOR505 I've been called worse

[@gregglambton-carr3377]

What are your feelings on Peter Beard ?

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Loved Peter Beard. Loved the earlier 1950's and 60's Africa version of him before the party lifestyle took their toll. I have a Beard on my wall in the office. Well, it's an Art Brewer/Peter Beard combo.

[@cydengel]

Go check out Dan Eldon: Art of life. Rabbit hole warning…

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Yes, have his book. He was greatly influenced by Beard. I met his mother and sister after his death.

[@MJDU2]

Bellas -> bˈɛshəs in Rioplatense Spanish

[@DANIELMILNOR505]

Yes, the "ella" with a "y" for the double ll replaced with the "sha" sounding which is why the Spanish in the Tina is SO difficult for us gringos.

[@MJDU2]

Ik…. We have the most perverse Spanish dialect in the world…. The Scottish English equivalent of sorts.

[@wolfherold7760]

@@MJDU2 how about some lunfardo...?

[@MJDU2]

@@wolfherold7760 Intractable....