I am 45 years old right now. I will say it continues to matter most for handwriting despite how advanced digital technology, from digital journaling, with photo, audio, geotag and can print it out as the printed book, but you like it or not, that cool media.
Handwriting journaling is warm media. For those who practice handwriting journaling, I no need to explain, from the book cover, to paper type, to pen you use, whether fountain pen, then fountain ink, and the stationery you choose, whether with washing masking type, reused print media and cut them or stick them into your handwriting notebook, and how you found them, all is despite old fashion compare with the modern digital journaling, but it offer the time when you write away from this always-connected digital media. What we write and think happens at the same time, despite I admit it does not come in the speed compared with the two hand typing speed with the keyboard, but it offers the touch, feel and sense of belonging, in particular once it is complete the whole book that you can touch and flip here and there. It is something that complete, tangible and no need to worry data lost, despite I can not edit once I write, but for expression thought and capture the moment, why so I edit, that is historical record after all.
I myself being move digital journaling from one platform after another, from local sync to cloud hosted, and since COVID-19 pandemic, i sudden got more time to think, and kick start back the old fashion handwriting journaling, and the result is I found a peace in the time when I engaged in the handwriting for the various subject matter I choose to write instead of typing in the digital way.
World moving toward the cloud, technology keeps replacing one after another, and this will not stop. Either being forced to move from one version to another due to software phase out or vendor lock in, I can choose to just do it in the more simple fashion, write it in the handwritten notebook. In this way, regardless of how the technology changes, for the 10 years leap perspective, if I choose to write in a notebook manner, I believe, until I die from this world, I will already document my life more or less with the old fashion notebook already.
I am not against digital journaling and notebook technology, as I did use them occasionally for various purposes, for digital sketch, for digital journaling from tablet, laptop, smartphone, or to write about photos I take. Those are effective ways to do so in the digital media manner. As the handwriting journaling strategically few photos make sense, but it is not a photo album, else it is just too time consuming for me, this is how i thought this way.
At the time I almost tried out all the handwriting journal methods, from a fixed book that was useful to keep writing till it finished, I learned the power of discipline and focus. I also adopted an organizer planner notebook to use as a binder to help me clip my notes and thoughts that I want to keep writing on the subject matters and worth continuing this way. I found it particularly useful to let us “jump” the time dimension this way, I can write the past, now and future and bind them into respective sections. I also used TN traveller standard and personal size, same like Hobo weeks, beside Hobo A6 and A5. Everyone’s journey for self discovery is different, depending on what you encounter during your journey.
I am not an expert, but I believe somehow I end up being more or less knowing about how I want to keep notes and journaling for the rest of my lifetime. Below is the video capture flip over one of my complete handwriting journals.
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Below is some of the handwriting journal I made and previously shared.
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Digital sketch completely do in digital way.
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Digital sketch Oia village, Santorini island, Greece.
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Digital journaling capture my thought for Shikoku pilgrimage route (or Shikoku Henro) .
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My thought capture in digital journal regard Southern Italy family trip.
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Travel journal during the trip with me.
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Travel journaling can not do without photo I take along the trip.
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I do use smartphone to capture what I experiencing in the trip. This one is I wear Star Wars Jedi full set of cloth and walk in the Sahara desert in the sun rise moment, a special memories, it can only capture by video.
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Travel photography capture during the trip. This one capture in one of the garden while in Kashmir, come in the right timing, it can not explain in the writing, it can only capture via the visual photo while you saw them.
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Some live culture and performance event, we can only capture via video. This is taken during a family trip to Baltic states countries.
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Capture important moment in life, and that what you want to remember for the rest of your lifetime. A scene capture while kid is actually taller than my wife and we are saw the sunset together. I snap it behind them.
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We all live our unique life, we all are special, we are encounter different things, people, culture, place in our lifetime. How you capture it? for me, take photo/video, write it.
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Why do handwriting journaling matter even though we are now in the digital era, I hope I did answer the topic I answer for this post like the above thought expression. I hope I am not just talk, but I demonstrated out with the various actual example how I use it, where you can see how it work for your own context.