Here's how I set up my new journal for 2020.
In prepping for the new year and new decade, I really wanted to set up my bullet journal in a way I'd love all year round. I coincidentally have had to moved into a new journal in the perfect timing to correspond to the new year. I know we are a few days into the new year. This is my set up for 2020.
The Internet has been a tizzy about coming into a new decade and particularly over entering the '20s again. Perhaps the 2010s were such a dumpster fire that we all are hoping for an entirely new start, perhaps we are looking for any reason to descend into hedonism, embracing opulence and extravagance in a manner of which Jay Gatsby could only fantasize... Either way, bullet journalers have really been loving the excuse to rediscover the Art Deco style that helped define the decade, and I am here for it.
I was particularly inspired by Amanda Rach Lee's January set up and especially the theme by Plant Based Bride in a drool-worthy gold. I don't really care if it makes me basic, I'm leaning into this trend as hard as I can. It pairs my love of Art History with my obsession with order and symmetry, and it doesn't really require you to be that talented at art, so long as you are patient with a ruler.
I chose a quote page to sit opposite the cover, and the quotes I used are from Panic! at the Disco's "Roaring 20s." It was one of my favorite songs off of Pray for the Wicked, and I remember scream singing in it my car when I first got the CD (I realize no one used CDs anymore, but my car is from 2002 and that is my only option). I love how this song embodies the spirit of change that I feel is sweeping over me. I have barely scratched the surface of my twenties, and I am still searching for myself. I enjoy the idea of the past being so far behind that it is smashed on the pavement below you.
Since the pages of my new journal (the Leuchtturm1917) are incredibly thin, I cut out paper blocks from an empty journal and colored them in with an Expo marker. I wrote the quotes over them in a white Gelly Roll pen (the 08 in Sakura) and then glued each whole block onto the page once everything was finished.
Making the grid pattern behind it was much more difficult for me, and it took me the greater part of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to complete (I have decided it's probably not worth my time to attempt to dissect all of the differing problematic elements in that film and also that I would surely let a young Harrison Ford ruin my life).
I cut out a paper square in the size I wanted in order to trace out the preliminary pattern. Then I straightened everything out with a ruler. The important thing is to not get too overzealous with your line drawing as you want that impression of space between the tiles. I drew all the additional details in with a Crayola marker.
I decided to go for a more simple layout on the title/name page given the intricacy and boldness of the opposite page. The block arch is a pretty common motif in Art Deco. If you sketch it with a pencil first, it is pretty easy to replicate by tracing a semi-circle for the top and bottom edges. The raining lines below my name were more of me filling space rather than a common theme, but I did use a common divider that I found on Pinterest for the center panel. My ruler slipped and I messed up one of the center lines. I mostly patched it up by coloring over it with my white gel pen and re-drawing the straight line over that. It was... mostly effective.
The Leuchtturm1917 has pages labeled at the front for the future log, which I personally found really annoying. I'm not the biggest fan of having my journal choices dictated. I still used it though, dividing each of the pages into three tall columns so I could fit all 12 months in the dual page spread. I have a feeling I may finish this journal before this December, but I'm trying really hard to be less forgetful of important dates. Wish me luck. All I have so far are the birthdays I remembered off the top of my head, the Met Gala, and my doctor's appointment on Wednesday.
I like the look of the columns, but I am a bit frustrated with how cramped these pages ended up being. I would have liked to have my future log behind my title page and to have spread it out over more pages, but beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.
Many of my other pages for 2020 are list making spreads with Art Deco motifs thrown in for good measure. I reserved a whole three pages for a recap of the 2010s.
I did not have the best time in the past ten years, but I went through a ton of major life changes. I graduated middle school, high school, and college. I fell in love and had surgery on my knee. My mental health went in the garbage. I interviewed Jane Lynch and she called me honey! My title for this list spread really reflects my begrudging acceptance of the impact of the decade.
I capped those pages off with a quote from Søren Kierkegaard. I liked this idea in particular. You can't understand the result of a moment or a decision while you are living it, and we can't spend all of our times attempting to deconstruct the past without living in the present. A perfect idea for 2020!
I also used a single page spread (the other half of the final '10s recap page) to list out some gratitudes. I try to do this regularly as I think enjoying even the smallest of things can really make your life worth living. The first list item is obviously Miss Pepper, who wanted to ruin this spread by sitting on it, and it sort of devolves from there.
I used two pages to detail out my goals for the next year. One side is overarching goals, the general accomplishments I hope to achieve. Resolutions on the other side are specific. I like to use the SMART method in making goals, in that your goals should be Specific, Measurable, Action Oriented (or Attainable), Realistic, and Timely. My college therapist taught me this method and I've had a lot of success in using it. This method requires you to consider the actions you specifically take to achieve your goals, and makes it less likely that your dreams remain as dreams. I try to link the resolutions to one of the goals to better delineate what must be done to accomplish them.
That's a wrap on my planning for the new decade. Happy New Year to you all, and I hope we all make 2020 one for the books!
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