March Journal Set-Up

For over a year I have been using "Silk and Sonder" to journal and plan my daily life. I still remember the theme of my first journal (October 2022) - Acceptance. There was a heavy weight of worry for my oldest dog at the time. He was having routine surgery for an aural hematoma (blood blister in his ear). Then, he was 11 going on 12 years old. Although the vets had cleared him "healthy as a 6-year-old", he is a very special dog to me that I stressed over obnoxiously. The journal prompts through "Silk and Sonder" helped me accept what I could not control, and trust the vets to take excellent care of my baby. After many tears, Dino came out of surgery completely fine and is still going strong today!

This is a prime example of why I need therapy. "Silk and Sonder" has been that therapy for me ever since. Currently, I do see a professional therapist and take medication to manage my crippling anxiety (a story for another day). But I will always rely on my journals because they have propelled me through many rough patches in my life.

My favorite aspect of "Silk and Sonder" is the combination of a structured planner with the freedom of a bullet journal. It is easy to re-purpose sections or pages into something more useful for the individual. The weekly and daily sections are perfect for making general plans, and then creating a more detailed timeline for the day. Personally struggling with control issues myself, it's been a fun journey to explore how to be more flexible through these journals.

Every month has a theme, which is the focus of the prompts and questions to answer. "Silk and Sonder" is paired with a mobile app, which gives "Daily Rituals" to journal with. The physical journal itself has multiple guided journaling exercises and plenty of blank space to brain-dump. This month's theme, "Momentum", perfectly aligns with my present situation. After a period of being bedridden, I lost a lot of work and have been scraping by. I spent February exploring all my options for a paycheck and getting projects started. This month, I need all of the efforts I've started to continue rolling forward so I can meet my financial goals.

One of the first pages defines the monthly theme. A new feature in the journals this year is an open space to define what the theme means to you. I love how the company is always tweaking the internal designs of the journal! It prevents the experience from becoming stagnant. This month, I defined momentum as "creating motivation by accomplishing baby steps, building on my foundation, and using that feeling of progress to get closer to my goals". I learned recently: in order to feel motivated, we first have to take action. Small accomplishments make us feel proud, which gives us the energy to continue working. That feeling of compounding tasks and achieving goals is what I want to experience this month.

Flipping past the calendar spread, we get started with the fun parts! First is the reflection of the past month, February. Normally I would pair this page with my "monthly check-in" through the app. This month, I decided to reflect in a list format. The "wins" section is doodled with flowers to symbolize my growth. I've worked hard to prioritize my health, which has turned into a very consistent lifestyle. I'm proud of the diet, exercise, hydration, and positive mindset I've kept up. After the wins, is the challenges. Life is never without negatives. Some problems we can fix, other times it is something we cannot control. Focusing and fussing over the negatives is never the goal. Instead, take note of them. If possible to fix that problem, create a plan of action. If there is no action available, accept what is and move on. Once the stress is processed, we circle back and list out the favorite moments of the past month. Memories created, joy experienced, and hope gained. Finally, we take our first step to creating over-arching goals for the month. In March: I want to start focusing on work/projects to reduce my stress over money, stop using fear as an excuse to hide or not take action, and continue using my healthy coping skills and resting when my body needs it.

Now that we've reflected on the past/present, we get to plan for the future! Instead of goals, "Silk and Sonder" has an intentions page. Setting intentions feels more actionable than listing large goals. A vision board style is what I go for on this page. Ideas, priorities, and values. Recently, I've been studying Buddhism so I did not repurpose the spiritual health section. Normally, that box would be for dog care/training, but they have a whole page dedicated to them now (which will be shown). The personal life box usually holds my priorities for my home and self-care. For physical health, I focus on what my body is able to do. Having endometriosis, and chronic pain, I have to keep exercise light. Key relationships focus on family and my partner. I'm not a very social person, but I hope to change that when I feel the time is right. Money management is an aspect that is difficult to control, but I always plan and adjust my spending habits as needed. Professional goals are not linear at this time of my life. I've been feeling lost and attempting to find the right situation that works best for me morally and financially. Every area of my life has realistic steps I can take this month to continue progress.

Right after the reflections and intentions, we get to plan our moods and habits for the month. Two of my favorite pages! I take note of emotions I have felt often in the past couple of weeks. The most prominent feelings are important to track. For example: if I don't often feel sad, I won't add that to the tracker. When picking moods to track, I select two negatives, two neutrals, and two positives. Recently, I've been struggling with moments of anxiety and frustration. My body gets tired easily, which translates to fatigue. There are a lot of days where I'm simply surviving, not feeling negative or positive. I've concluded coping is a good word for these days. Happy and proud is something I've been experiencing on my busier, good days. I am happy with my home life and family. I am proud when I accomplish tasks and goals. When tracking these moods throughout the month, the days are never one color. If I'm feeling anything noticeable in the morning, I'll swipe one color to start the day. As the hours pass, or when I journal in the evening, I'll add more colors based on what was felt. Below is an example, based on February's mood tracker.

The habit tracker is filled with tasks I'm confident I will stay consistent with. The weekly set-up pages also have a section for habits, which serves as a daily tracker for actions I would like to try completing more consistently. For the monthly habit tracker, I've listed out habits from morning to night. My AM routine includes washing my face, brushing my teeth, and getting ready for the day. Picking up the house so the Roomba doesn't run over any dog toys usually happens next. Reminders on my phone have weekly chores I don't want to repeatedly write down. Scooping poop out of the yard usually happens every other day, but it's a good goal to walk the yard with the dogs once a day. Typically I'll shower in the evening, which is why it is lower on the list. The PM routine is a new addition, something I've been struggling to accomplish. This will be the most challenging habit to achieve. Usually, I crash hard at the end of the day. It's easier to go straight to bed or pass out on the couch with the dogs. I intend to do the same AM routine tasks before going to sleep every day, mainly to improve my dental hygiene.

The next page is usually the sleep tracker, but I have re-purposed it into my dog care/training tracker. Owning four dogs is a lot, and one of my goals is to prioritize them better. As a dog trainer by trade, it's easy to feel unmotivated to work my dogs after hours of training others. Recently, I switched companies that I work for, which has given me a less chaotic work environment and more time at home with my furbabies. On this page, I track physical therapy with Dino, cleaning Courage's paws with his medicated wipes, and outdoor training with Remix and/or Eevee. The monthly calendar is where I track "nail trim days". There is space to the right for notes about training and health.

Next to the dog page is the gratitude jar. This page is usually in list format but sometimes is a large blank "jar" space. My jar this month has a few fireflies floating in it to remind me of spring approaching. This will be a fun, daily activity to fill out. Gratitude journaling helps to focus on little and big joys in the mundane day-to-day.

After all of the monthly trackers, the journal prompts begin. I will not show all of them, to preserve the whimsy of the journal. However, I have shown the first two to give an idea of the prompts. The "daily rituals" in the mobile app have guided sessions for each prompt in the physical journal, but I typically do these without.

Resuming our tour takes us to what was once the monthly budget page. Since I have a separate journal for my finances, I plan to use this page as a blank space to journal. Areas are pre-planned for journaling because, at the end of the month, this journal will be cut up and moved into a different book. Sections of my "Silk and Sonder" journal that hold memories are taken out. They are transferred and saved so I can burn what is left of the original journal; truly letting go of the past. A ritual that has proven cathartic for me. (Videos of this bonfire are usually posted on my TikTok - linked at the end)

A glimpse into my weekly and daily set-ups shows how I sort all my lists, trackers, and plans into day-to-day life. Everything is written and planned out. Everything is sorted into a place I can reference instead of holding ideas and schedules in my head. Every morning, I complete the "daily ritual" and plan out the day. I take breaks throughout my day to check in with my journal and mark off what has been completed. There are many doodles as a way to release stress and create a space that fills me with joy.

Three major goals focus on my most important priorities for the week. The to-do list has chores and other tasks that don't have their own space. An intentional feeling or mantra is set for the week to inspire and motivate. Every day has a "one thing" square where I highlight the biggest event of the day. Time slots are written so I can remind myself to take breaks at certain times, or when to get ready to leave the house.

For more visual content of my journaling, see my socials listed below. There are often "journal dumps" posted on my Instagram and Lemon8. I have also recorded the set-up process, which can be viewed on my TikTok.

I hope I have inspired some momentum in your life today.